[The child with defective hearing. Medical, educational, sociological and psychological aspects].

: Hearing impairment in children is considered in its various aspects: medical, sociological, psychological, and educational. After a review of the aetiologies, the biological consequences of early auditory deprivation are underlined. The necessity of avoiding or reducing them justifies the efforts made to insure early diagnosis and adequate intervention. Screening and diagnostic techniques are described and illustrated by current results. The particular features of deafness, which stands out among other physical handicaps by the fact that it has given birth to a language, sign language, are stressed and the resulting socio-cultural implications are described. The relationships between deafness and psychology are treated so as to point out that there are no psychological features which characterize deafness, but that it can lead to several cognitive and behavioural consequences. The multiple interventions requested by a child's hearing impairment are detailed, emphasizing that medical or surgical actions must be part of a team work. The physician is called upon to play an essential part in this work, which he can correctly fulfill only by taking into account the sociological, cultural, psychological, educational and prosthetic aspects. The principles of prosthetic adaptation and the different types of prosthetic devices are presented, with special mention of recent and prospective developments. After a historical survey of deaf education, the evolution of ideas and methods from 1972 to 1987 is related, and the presently utilized methods are described and discussed. The different educational structures and their respective merits are outlined, as well as the action in favour of deaf children and their families of social services and parental cooperation.