iPods for Toddlers?

by Irene Helen Zundel

Did you know that electronic gadgets and computers topped the shopping list of most parents, on what to buy their toddlers for Christmas last year? Frankly, I find this a little disturbing!

First of all, children have extremely sensitive hearing, and can't tolerate the onslaught of sound and noise like an adult can. Auditory overload can cause serious problems.

Parents, did you know:

In July 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that one of eight children between the ages of 6 and 19 is suffering noise-induced hearing loss.

According to the World Health Organization's Guidelines for Community Noise, noise is an increasing public health problem.

Noise can cause hearing loss, sleep disturbances, cardiovascular and psycho-physiologic problems, performance reduction, annoyance responses, and adverse social behavior.

Sources:

Center for Disease Control website http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hsb/noise/

League for the Hard of Hearing website http://www.lhh.org/noise/facts/health.htm

Excessive noise can also hinder cognitive development in children and impede progress in many areas of learning.

To read a summary of a comprehensive report on this important subject, visit this link:

http://www.inro.tno.nl/og/volksgezondheid/milieufolder/noisechildren.html on the Environment and Health Report, Noise and Children.

Once, I interviewed noted speech and language pathologist and author Laura Dyer, and asked her:

Do you think that a loud home environment negatively impacts the acquisition of speech and language skills?

Her reply:

Yes, I believe a noisy environment contributes to stress, fatigue, frustration and other health problems as well as hearing loss. Noises are dangerous to our ears when they reach the 85-decibel level. Ears don't adjust to loud sounds, Unfortunately they can cause permanent damage if we stay in a noisy environment for a prolonged period of time. Many people are being diagnosed with hearing loss younger than thirty years ago due to noisy environments. Parents should watch volume levels and limit the level of loudness and time listened to loud noises. For instance, a movie theatre is often played at 118 decibels according to an ASHA Publication.

(For more information on noise-induced hearing loss, visit http://www.asha.org.)

A child who has a hearing loss doesn't hear speech and language properly. They miss important cues and don't put the pieces together to communicate well. This can cause expressive and receptive delays. Hearing loss in young children due to noise exposure is rare, but the risk increases for students of high school and college age. Parents lay the groundwork for lifelong habits of good-hearing health.

Healthy hearing is essential in learning to talk, and later on in learning to read as well.

This is discussed in an easy to understand fashion in Laura Dyer's book, Look Who's Talking! How to Enhance your Child's Language Development Starting at Birth

To learn more about the book and Ms. Dyer's other work with children, click here:

http://www.irenehelenzundel.com/newsletter_special.htm

Parents should provide quiet, well-lit areas for reading and studying.

Research has shown that noise can:

• negatively affect children's learning and language development
• disturb a child's motivation to learn and their ability to concentrate
• impair memory
• reduce a child's ability to carry out more complex tasks
• cause attention deficit disorders and
• hinder reading ability

Sources:

National Institute of Public Health in Copenhagen, Denmark http://www.stoj.dk/boernstojsif.htm and

Study conducted by L.E. Maxwell and G.W. Evans (2000)

"The effects of noise on preschool children's pre-reading skills,"

Journal of Environmental Psychology,

20, 91-97

Parents should limit the time their children spend watching TV, listening to music, and playing video games and set acceptable levels for their volume. Limit the use of personal stereos with headphones, and keep their volume at low levels.

According to the Center for the Hard of Hearing, personal stereo systems with headphones produce sounds at 105-120 dBA, when turned up at maximum volume. (Hearing damage can occur over time with sustained volume over 85 dBA.)

To minimize the risk of hearing loss:

Buy a stereo that has an automatic volume limiter feature. (Sony Walkman and Sony Sport models include this device which limits the output at 85 dBA).

Don't crank the volume up to block out external sounds. Follow this simple rule of thumb: If you can't hear other people talking with the headphones on, or others have to shout so you can hear them when they are of three feet away or less, your stereo is too loud.

If you notice that speech is muffled after wearing headphones, or if you experience ringing in your ears, see a qualified audiologist for help.

Care should be taken in selecting toys for children as well.

• Some rattles and squeaky toys can have sound levels as high as 110 dBA.
• Musical toys can emit sounds as loud as 120 dBA.
• Toy phones for small children are measured between 123 and 129 dBA.
• Toys which are designed to amplify the voice are measured at up to 135 dBA.
• Toys producing firearm sounds emit volumes as loud as 150 dBA one foot away from the noise source.

Please, parents, be a responsible consumer! Listen to a toy before purchasing it. Don't buy a toy if it sounds loud, hurts your ears, or causes ringing afterwards.

Source:

League for the Hard of Hearing website: http://www.lhh.org/noise/children/toys.htm