Babies with normal hearing or babies with hearing loss generate all their communication with the environment and their mental development by making use of the verbal stimuli they receive from their environment. Indeed, human beings have been aware of this since almost from the beginning of first ages. As soon as it is born, a foal can walk within a few hours. Likewise, a goat can stand up on its legs half an hour after being born. Aren’t these observations an indication that these animal breeds are innately prepared to stand and walk? However, after the birth of a human baby, far from standing on two legs, they can even stand on all fours within 10-12 months. Similarly, babies can recognize and express the conversations around them after witnessing them for as long as 12 to 14 months. On the other hand, in any way, if the human baby is left alone in the forest and did not verbally communicate with his environment, he/she will not be able to acquire a native language and understand the conversations. Unfavorable stories of children who grew up isolated from people can be watched on the internet.

If we accept humans as highly social beings from the birth, we need to ensure that they socialize and communicate from the birth. But how should this be resolved if an insidious obstacle occurs which prevents her/him from socializing and communicating? The National Newborn Hearing Loss Screening program, which has been successfully carried out in Turkey since 2014, is an important public health program. The National Newborn Hearing Loss Screening program, which has been successfully carried out in Turkey since 2014, is an important public health programme. Within the scope of this programme, sensorineural hearing loss, which can be recognized from birth in our country, is a clinical entity which will prevent a baby acquiring native language by witnessing the conversations around her. 

If hearing loss develops from birth (congenital) or just before learning the native language (prelingually), it creates a real obstacle for the acquisition of the native language. These two pictures create more or less similar results. However, this type of hearing loss not only prevents the acquisition of a native language but also creates an obstacle to mental and psychological development. It does not allow the child to adapt to the social environment with the impression of being “mentally disabled” that he/she makes around him/her.

It’s hard to acknowledge Helen Keller not to be right, who said, ” Blindness cuts us off from things, but deafness cuts us off from people’’. He became deaf and visually disabled as a result of an inflammatory disease (probably an infection like febrile meningitis) at the age of 19 months before he could learn his mother tongue, and he is one of the very few people who can compare the effects of both disabilities on himself. Therefore, we need to pay attention to him.

Well, after examining all of these, is it possible to enable our babies with hearing loss to learn to speak despite their hearing loss? Yes, they can learn to speak despite having a permanent severe hearing loss by identifying all aspects of hearing loss, experiencing the most appropriate treatment processes, and then choosing and applying hearing aids appropriately if necessary. Let’s summarize briefly the process. Our initial goal is to overcome the communication barriers related to hearing impairment. If we cannot achieve this purpose, then electronic devices such as hearing aids or cochlear implants should be utilized to improve the communication links. In other words, it is possible for infants and adults with hearing loss to acquire native language by using hearing aids or cochlear implants so that hearing-impaired kids may join normal education. Eventually, hearing-impaired young adults may develop a proper professional life and gradually  live as happy and productive members of the society.