Understanding Childhood Hearing Loss - (Whole Family Approaches to Childhood Illnesses and Disorders) by Brian J Fligor (Paperback)

About the Book

Permanent hearing loss in children is far more common than most people know, affecting thousands of newborns and older children each year. This book offers parents and caregivers a guide to what to expect when a child has a hearing loss, how to treat it, and how to support bot...

Book Synopsis

Permanent hearing loss in children is far more common than most people know, affecting thousands of newborns and older children each year. This book offers parents and caregivers a guide to what to expect when a child has a hearing loss, how to treat it, and how to support both the child and the whole family when faced with hearing loss.

Review Quotes

[T]his book is a useful read for all professionals involved with hearing impaired children. It gives insight into how parents may view clinic sessions and how we, as clinicians, can help them to understand the hearing loss and the requirement for early intervention in a way that addresses their concerns for their child's future in a more relevant way. Overall, I would recommend this book for parents and paediatric audiologists, especially those who are less experienced with paediatrics.

A must read for parents with deaf/hard of hearing children of any age.

Almost 16,000 babies are born with hearing loss in the U.S. each year. Childhood hearing loss is a life-altering occurrence for a child and his or her parents. In this educational and empathic guidebook, pediatric audiologist Fligor stresses that the aim of testing and intervention is 'breaking down the barriers to normal development' and 'to give the child with hearing loss access to language.' Chapters cover the various causes of childhood hearing loss, different kinds of tests, diagnosis, treatment options, devices (hearing aids, cochlear implants, bone-anchored hearing system), and the effects of decreased hearing on a child's everyday life. Social and emotional isolation are not uncommon. School-age children and teens with hearing loss have a higher risk of being picked on or bullied. Treatment for hearing loss should optimally begin before age six months. Managing hearing loss in children should be family centered and requires teamwork (child, parents, pediatrician, speech-language pathologist, teachers, audiologist, and otolaryngologist). Fligor emphasizes that 'hearing loss is only a characteristic of your child, and not the single thing that defines him.'

Dr. Fligor has provided an accessible and comprehensive overview of childhood hearing loss that would be a valuable resource to families as well as anyone who wants to learn more about this topic. He shares a thought-provoking perspective of the diagnostic visit and walks you through the journey with advice to help "break down the barriers" that hearing loss can present. The information he shares about the social emotional aspects of growing up with hearing loss gives essential guidance to families to help support their children in reaching their full potential.


In Understanding Childhood Hearing Loss, Brian Fligor presents a comprehensive overview of childhood deafness in an informative and easy-to-read style. This well-written book provides important information for parents regarding today's medical treatments and audiologic management options for children with hearing loss. Many of the key topics are enriched through descriptions of the author's extensive personal experiences as a pediatric audiology specialist.


This book provides an excellent description of childhood hearing loss. Fligor thoroughly and successfully covers a wide range of essential information that parents need in order to make educated decisions about their child's treatment. He discusses topics such as the challenges of gaining insurance coverage for hearing aids, the pros and cons of various treatments, and the importance of early intervention for ideal speech and language development. He also addresses the challenges that both the children and their parents encounter when dealing with hearing loss. Though the author introduces some of his topics as being more technical or difficult, he consistently describes conditions and treatments in easy-to-understand language. His use of visual aids to illustrate hearing loss at different levels is very effective. In addition, Fligor excels at conveying and encouraging empathy for children with hearing loss as well as for their parents. This book is essential not only for parents but also for students, educators, clinicians, and anyone else who works regularly with children with hearing loss. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.

This book provides comprehensive information for diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss. The content, the writing style, and the breadth of the information all contribute to the usefulness of using this book with families. I commend Dr. Fligor in compiling such a terrific book that fills a gap for audiologists communicating with families, as well as for the families themselves. The information is a strong foundation to support parents and provides a great model for audiologists as counselors.

Written by a pediatric audiologist, Understanding Childhood Hearing Loss offers a comprehensive, yet concise explanation of hearing loss in infants and young children . . . . By compacting all of the essential information about hearing loss, early detection, and treatment in under 200 pages, this book would be an excellent addition to an introduction to deaf education or audiology course.

About the Author

Brian Fligor, ScD, is a board certified audiologist and holds a pediatric audiology specialty certification (PASC). He is chief audiology officer at Lantos Technologies, Inc., a private medical device company developing novel technology to help those with hearing loss. Fligor is also founder and principal audiologist of Boston Audiology Consultants, Inc., an audiology clinical and consulting practice in metropolitan Boston, Massachusetts. He has held numerous faculty appointments at audiology programs and medical schools, including Assistant Professor in the department of Otology and Laryngology at Harvard Medical School and faculty member of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disorders (LEND) program while he served as director of diagnostic audiology at Boston Children's Hospital (Boston, MA) from 2005 - 2013. In these roles, he developed and taught courses in pediatric audiology, with an emphasis on the diagnosis and management of hearing loss in newborns. He is currently adjunct faculty in the audiology training programs at Northeastern University (Boston, MA) and Salus University (Elkins Park, PA). Fligor has authored 22 papers in peer-reviewed medical/scientific journals, 8 book chapters in general audience books and medical/scientific textbooks, given over 100 invited presentations at national and international medical and audiology conferences, and is a regular contributor to national news outlets on topics of hearing loss in children and noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus. He lives in the Boston metropolitan area with his wife and four children.