If you’re the parent of a child suffering from hearing loss, you’re probably wondering what exactly you’ll be facing when it comes to the areas of reading and vocabulary. Many of these problems are related to “whole language” types of understanding, which means phonics could be useful in helping them to sound out words. Depending on the type of hearing loss, it can be helpful if your child has a hearing aid from a trusted source like Miracle Ear. Some children will be able to use the hearing aid to process spoken English, while others will only be able to use it to sense sounds.One of the biggest obstacles in children with hearing loss is that vocabulary develops more slowly. It is easier for these children to learn concrete words that refer to objects, such as ball, cat, and jump than it is to learn more abstract words. Abstract words can include feelings, function words like the and an, and prepositions like before and after. Words with multiple meanings cause extra difficulty.Hearing loss also heavily affects speaking, since children with such loss cannot hear the quieter sounds that “s”, “sh”, “f”, “t”, and “k” make. Without understanding that these sounds are there, the speaker cannot replicate them in their own speech. Associating the sounds with letters and memorizing words may be one way of dealing with this difficulty. Children with hearing loss also may not hear their own voices, which can affect the volume or pitch at which they speak.In addition to reading difficulty, most children with hearing loss experience difficulty with mathematical concepts. If intervention is not started early, the children usually cannot progress past 3^rd- or 4^th-grade educational levels. However, with the help of patience, family and friends, and organizations like the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, many children with hearing experience greater progress.