“Does hearing loss affect speech in adults?”
My 75-year-old grandfather lost his hearing. It seems he is getting some speech issues. Does hearing loss affect speech in adults?
6 Answers
Yes, hearing loss can affect a person’s ability to speak clearly. This is because part of the speaking process includes vibration in your ears. Losing this sensation makes it a bit harder to feel what you’re saying.
Yes, when you cannot hear yourself or others speak or if you are missing certain sounds due to hearing loss it can negatively impact the verbal output.
Yes, it definitely can over time because our hearing provides speech feedback naturally. If we do not receive that feedback we begin to form habits that are not being corrected.
Terlenda Lassiter
Speech-Language Pathologist
Yes it does. He could benefit from a speech language pathology evaluation and treatment in the area of aural rehabilitation -which is a type of speech therapy that helps persons with hearing loss enhance their speech/oral communication and speech reading.
Hi,
It is possible for hearing loss to affect speech in adults. If you have concerns, I would seek out a speech evaluation or confirm with his primary care physician there’s nothing else going on.
Ali Matisse, MS CCC-SLP
It is possible for hearing loss to affect speech in adults. If you have concerns, I would seek out a speech evaluation or confirm with his primary care physician there’s nothing else going on.
Ali Matisse, MS CCC-SLP
It can, but the typical effect is that someone speaks louder to hear themselves. If his speech is declining differently than that, there may be other factors. Does he wear hearing aids? If you're concerned, I'd take him to the doctor.
