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Nov 21, 2008

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Up to 85% of Indigenous kids in NT experience hearing loss

This story about “Nearly all Indigenous kids in NT have hearing problems” at the ABC caught my eye today…

In Australia, the rate of permanent hearing loss is around 20%, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. But in Aboriginal communities particularly, and for all Aboriginal peoples in Australia generally the rate is much higher. “The prevalence of ear/hearing problems, including total/partial hearing loss and otitis media (middle ear infection), was three times higher among Indigenous than non-Indigenous children.” (ABS “Health of Children in Australia: A Snapshot, 2004-05″)

Many factors contribute to poor health outcomes. In biological terms, the greatest risk factor for the early onset and persistence of otitis media is infection in the upper part of the throat behind the nose by multiple bacterial species and subtypes.

In Aboriginal communities with overcrowded households, infants are frequently exposed to siblings whose carry almost 100% of the major otitis media-causing bacteria.

In non-Aboriginal children, the body usually deals with pathogens of a low-dose infection, which, in turn, controls inflammation and limits tissue damage.

In contrast, early exposure of very young Aboriginal infants to large or frequent exposures to so many different bacteria provides constant stimulation of the immune system to inflamme the passageways, which damages the tissue but doesn’t destroy the bacteria. This begins a vicious cycle that may persist throughout childhood: early exposure, persistent bacterial infection, and chronic ear nose and throat disease. And in turn, such infants themselves become chronic carriers of the bacteria and go on to infect other, younger infants. This cycle is made worse by overcrowded and poor living conditions, lack of appropriate washing facilities, and limited access to appropriate healthcare services.

It is also made worse by the misunderstanding of western ways. It was a common occurrence in 2000 at least, for the Aboriginal children to swim in the sewage pond when the creek dried up. Had the government not intervened in the community there would not have a sewage pond… however, neither would there have been houses.

The problem is that hearing loss has very widespread impact. The “Bringing them Home” report into the Stolen Generations of Aboriginals stated,

Hearing loss is endemic in Indigenous children and linked to poverty. The incidence varies between areas, but an estimated minimum of 20% of Indigenous pupils in urban areas are affected by marked hearing loss resulting from otitis media. `Problems with hearing are one of the major causes of low performance in language skills among Aboriginal children and can also be related to behavioural issues’ (Groome and Hamilton 1995 page 25). Numerous reports, including those of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, have drawn attention to the connections between hearing loss, behavioural problems and intervention by juvenile justice or welfare agencies (National Report 1991 Volume 2 pages 364-8, House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs 1994 pages 325-31).

What is even worse is, as the Aboriginal Law Bulletin states,

Those affected by hearing loss are themselves often not aware of their disability, usually ascribing their communicative difficulties to not speaking English properly, cultural differences or others’ antagonism to them personally or Aborigines generally.

How horrendous is that?

And yet, it would seem that hearing loss may have been endemic in the Aboriginal peoples for some time. In an examination of the languages of Indigenous Australians, “it appears that Aboriginal languages are rich in sounds whose differentiation exploits precisely that area of hearing ability which is most likely to remain intact in sufferers of chronic middle ear infection…[that is] that the phonetics and phonology of a language have been shaped by the hearing status of the speakers” (Andrew Butcher, Flinders University: pdf document)

To rephrase - Indigenous Australian languages mostly use sounds in the hearing range that people who have otitis media can still hear - much, much moreso than any other group of languages in the world.

So we have a group of people who are particularly susceptible to ear, nose and throat infections, living in environments that make cross contamination almost inevitable, with little or no access to surgical intervention, amplification, speech therapy, or special education, being educated in Western style schools where “education is heavily dependent upon verbal language” (Massie, et al., 2004).

Before colonisation and Western interference, traditional indigenous learning happened outside (where is there is no sound echo), in one to one conversations (face-to-face, side by side), in the student’s first language (often accompanied by indigenous sign languages).

‘These communication difficulties have been a major contributor to the development of serious social and psychological problems.’ (Howard, 1993)

You think?

 

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