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conferenceseries
.com
Volume 7, Issue 6 (Suppl)
J Nov Physiother
ISSN: 2165-7025 JNP, an open access journal
Physiotherapy 2017
November 27-29, 2017
November 27-29, 2017 Dubai, UAE
5
th
International Conference on
Physiotherapy
Multidisciplinary intervention for a child with hearing loss and vestibular concerns
Kern Rebello and Samir Dalwai
New Horizons Child Development Centre, India
Introduction:
Children with congenital hearing loss have speech and language impairments. Profound hearing loss leads to
vestibular dysfunction, which results in balance and co-ordination deficits. Thus, the child has difficulties in acquiring gross
motor skills, which in turn limit her interaction with the outside world and acquisition of academic and life skills. We have
documented the comprehensive evaluation of a child with hearing loss and vestibular concerns, under various disciplines
within the same clinical setting and the successive interventions that the child received.
Case Report:
A 12 year old girl with speech and hearing concerns was evaluated at a multidisciplinary child development
center. MRI-cochlea and auditory evaluation indicated Mondini dysplasia with moderate to profound hearing loss in the
left and right ear respectively. Developmental evaluations revealed balance and co-ordination deficits; gross and fine motor
delay and sensory concerns. Academic evaluation indicated difficulties in reading, spelling, writing and comprehension.
Psychological evaluation indicated moderate sub-normality in social and intellectual functioning, associated with behavioral
concerns.
Intervention:
Multidisciplinary intervention was implemented over 18 months. Hearing aids enabled the child to express her
needs using single words and improve receptive and expressive vocabulary. Physiotherapy and occupational therapy improved
depth perception, balance and attention span. Pre-academic skills improved significantly (e.g., shape, color and number
recognition; phonemic awareness). Parental counseling and behavior modification techniques reduced tantrums and stubborn
behavior.
Conclusion:
Multidisciplinary intervention is incumbent for optimally reducing vestibular concerns associated with hearing
loss. Functional improvement across multiple developmental domains is essential to improve quality of life.
Biography
Kern Rebello has completed Bachelors in Physiotherapy from Father Muller Medical College at Mangalore, India and Post-graduation in Health and Rehabilitation
Sciences from University of Pittsburgh, USA.
kern_27may@rediffmail.comKern Rebello et al., J Nov Physiother 2017, 7:6(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2165-7025-C1-020