Link to booklet on childhood deafness and Down's Syndrome

The Down's Syndrome Association (UK)

The National Deaf Children's Society and the Down's Syndrome Association have published an illustrated booklet giving information about childhood deafness which may be of interest to many users of this website.

The booklet's introduction is as follows:

'All children use what they see and hear around them to learn about their world and to develop communication and language skills. Good hearing plays an important role in developing speech skills. Children with Down's syndrome all have some degree of learning disability and at birth it is impossible to tell what degree that is. Many children with Down's syndrome also have some degree of deafness. Deafness that is not diagnosed or managed can have a negative effect on a child's social and language development, especially for a child with a learning [intellectual] disability. This booklet explains about different types and causes of deafness, how hearing is tested, what the results of a hearing test mean and how deafness can be managed or overcome'.

Please see the following link to the booklet, published in 2007 and updated in 2011.