Congenital deafness is present at birth and affects approximately 1 in 1000 births. It can be caused by genetic factors, infections during pregnancy, or certain drugs taken by the mother. Without treatment, congenital deafness can lead to deaf mutism due to an inability to articulate words properly without hearing. While there is no cure, hearing aids can help maximize any remaining hearing and education in sign language and lip reading can help children learn to communicate.

1. “Talk to my Hand”

2. Scope of the Problem
How congenital deafness occurs?
How congenital deafness leads to Deaf
Mutism?
What are the treatments that can be
considered?
How to cope up with this kind of
situation?

4.  Congenital deafness is deafness that is present
at birth.
 Congenital Deafness is present in
approximately one out of every one or two
thousand births.
 Congenital hearing loss can be caused by a
genetic condition or deformity of the ear. The
most common form of congenital deafness is
through heredity.

6. Congenital deafness is caused by
the abnormal development of the
inner ear or of the
vestibulocochlear nerve, which
transmits electrical impulses from
the inner ear to the brain. In about
half of all cases, the condition runs
in families, suggesting that a
genetic factor may be involved.

7. Causes of Congenital Deafness
 Certain infections, such as rubella
or cytomegalovirus (CMV), can also cause
congenital deafness if they are transmitted
from the mother to the fetus during the
early stages of development .
 The development of hearing may also be
affected if the mother takes certain drugs
during pregnancy, particularly some types
of antibiotic.

9. Being mute is often associated
with deafness as people who
have been unable to hear from
birth may not be able to
articulate words correctly.

11.  There is no cure for congenital deafness, but
any hearing that a child has can be
maximized with a hearing aid.
 Education and support for the child, is
highly necessary.
 It is important to ensure that a child can
communicate. He or she may be taught sign
language and lip-reading. Some children are
able to learn to speak.

13.  Sign Language uses visually transmitted sign patterns
(manual communication, body language) to convey
meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes,
orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body,
and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's
thoughts.
 Wherever communities of deaf people exist, sign
languages develop. Their complex spatial grammars
are markedly different from the grammars of spoken
languages.

15. Learning to
Communicate, Having
Social Group
Maintaining Self-Esteem
and Respect for others

17. References
 Bauman, Dirksen (2008). Open your eyes: Deaf studies talking.
University of Minnesota Press.
 Mindess, Anna (2006). Reading Between the Signs: Intercultural
Communication for Sign Language Interpreters. Boston, MA:
Intercultural Press
 Moore, Matthew S. & Levitan, Linda (2003). For Hearing People
Only, Answers to Some of the Most Commonly Asked Questions
About the Deaf Community, its Culture, and the "Deaf Reality",
Rochester, New York: Deaf Life Press
 Stokoe, William C. (1976). Dictionary of American Sign
Language on Linguistic Principles. Linstok Press n.d (n.d)
Congenital Deafness. Right Diagnosis. Retrieved March 10, 2012
from
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/c/congenital_deafness/intro.ht
m.