Monday, September 17, 2007

"in class"

I spent my time researching more hearing disorders and effects on children. The problem I'm running into is that everything seems to be the same and just repeated. I found some cool stuff on Cued Speech (a hybrid of lipreading and sign language). I'm going to have to make a trip to the Health Science Library soon.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

revised again...

Listening is way people learn how to live and learn. However, some children never had this option and are born with hearing problems. I would like to research the causes of childhood hearing problems and understand how they can be diagnosed and treated.

I am interested in this topic because I have difficulty hearing. Though I was not born with this problem, I have experienced its adverse effects most significantly on my ability to learn. So much in the world utilizes your ears and one doesn’t quite appreciate this fact until he can’t hear. I wanted to know more about how children who have always had considerable hearing damage and how they are able to function in society. Also, how can doctors tell if newborns and babies have hearing trouble? They can’t speak up and tell their caretakers that they cannot hear. I am also interested in how doctors can help these children or if we should let the children make their own decision in their hearing treatment.

Main question: What causes hearing problems in children and how can these problems be diagnosed and treated?

Sub questions: Should we allow children to have an opinion in their treatment? How can doctors conduct hearing tests on newborns? How do doctors identify the source of a hearing problem in an ear?

Still working...

So I think I've somewhat narrowed my topic. I have been researching practically all day and I think I would like to focus my research on hearing loss in children. I think I have more of a point in my research now. I found a really good website for about hearing problems in children (http://www.medicinenet.com/detecting_hearing_loss_in_children/page3.htm#toce).

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Another Exercise

I spent the last twenty minutes researching how ears work and the different types of hearing loss. I visited several websites to make sure I understand how ears work
(www.entnet.org/healthinfo/ears/ear.cfm, www.entmags.org/ears.asp, and health.howstuffworks.com/hearing.htm). Then I looked at cochlear implants to understand how they work (http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/coch.asp). And then something cool called SSHL (http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/sudden.asp). I felt better that I actually started researching but at the same time overwhelmed that there is so much information. I need to either create a better plan and/or focus my ideas.

In Class Exercise

Well right now the focus of my research is the diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss.
Subquestions:
How do doctors identify the source of a hearing problem in an ear?
How do hearing tests work? Are they always accurate?
Are there any other diagnosis options?
Is there always a treatment option of hearing problems? What are the treatments available?
How do hearing aids work?

Monday, September 3, 2007

Kulthau's theory

I have to admit after I read Kulthau's theories, I felt very relieved. I felt very confused, conflicted, frustrated, and worried that I wasn't going to find a topic. I was kind of glad that these kind of feelings were normal when researching at first. I am still in the initial stages of gathering information and am still wanting to discuss with others as Kulthau also stated.
I still feel a bit of apprehension because I don't know much about the mechanisms of hearing. I feel a bit overwhelmed that I have to accomplished all of this research from the beginning in a semester. All of these feelings support Kulthau's hypothesis. I suppose I need to research first how an ear works. I'll look at a much of medical books and websites. Then move on to how an ear can be damaged and finally get to different treatment options. Information on how to fix hearing problems will probably be the hardest to retrieve.