Hearing Disability and Disorders

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that there are 360 million individuals worldwide who have some form of hearing disability. Of those, about 32 million are children. Hearing disabilities can have numerous and complex causes, some more common than others. The auditory system involves both peripheral and central mechanisms, and hearing disorders can range from congenital or injurious causes to environmental and genetic causes. Thus, hearing disorders encompass some medically correctable disorders as well as those that require other rehabilitative forms of management.

Hearing disorders may involve one or more parts of the peripheral or the central auditory system, or both. The peripheral auditory system comprises the outer, middle, and inner ears, as well as the eighth cranial (hearing) nerve. The outer ...