Children and young people with CP commonly have some level of hearing impairment. In Australia, 1 in 20 people with cerebral palsy have some level of hearing impairment, 1 in 50 children with cerebral palsy are deaf.

While it’s not always clear why this happens, some possible causes include oxygen restriction to the brain during development, infections or low birth weight. It can also be due to genetic variations.

A hearing impairment does not mean your child is deaf. There are many types of impairment — some are temporary, caused by an inner ear infection or too much ear wax, some are treatable with medication, and others are correctable with hearing aids or surgery.

There are two main types of hearing impairment:

• Conductive hearing loss includes anything that stops sound from travelling from outside the ear to inside the ear, such as wax, inner ear infections, inflammation or a build-up of fluid in the middle ear caused by infection.
• Sensorineural hearing loss is due to damage to the structures or nerves of the inner ear. This can be mild, moderate, severe or profound. It is usually lifelong and may worsen over time.

Mixed hearing impairment involves both conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.

Hearing impairment can happen over time. Talk to your healthcare team about getting a hearing assessment for your child any time you believe they are not responding to your voice or if they feel they’re not hearing clearly. It is important to recognise and treat hearing loss early, but if it is not discovered until later, there are still interventions that can help your child catch up developmentally.

Hearing impairment can have an impact on a child or young person’s quality of life. It can affect their performance at school and influence how they interact socially.

There are treatments for the underlying causes of hearing loss in children with CP. Speech and language therapy, specialised language educational interventions, and behavioural and social therapies can help. Make sure your child’s school is aware of their hearing impairment and that there are processes in place to support their learning.

Advances in hearing technology are constantly evolving. Sensorineural hearing loss can be improved with hearing aids, which bypass damaged nerve receptors in the ear to receive more sounds. In some cases, a cochlear implant can help with severe hearing loss by using mechanical parts to collect and convert sounds into electrical impulses that are then sent to the brain as sounds. There are two parts to the device. One part is inserted inside the ear under the skin, and the other is worn behind the ear.

Hearing loss may not be a permanent disability for a child or young person with CP and can be managed well with the rights supports.