why children lose their hearing and what we can do 217
After some time, Ruk had severe pain again. Both his ears
always smelled bad and lots of pus came out of them. His neck got
swollen and he had very high fever. The health worker told them to
take Ruk to the hospital in the city. Ruk’s parents had little money
and did not know where they would stay, but they followed the
health worker’s advice.
Ruk almost died because the infection got into his brain and
bloodstream. At the hospital, they gave him a lot of medicines but
he was still very ill. Luckily, a visiting ear doctor drained the pus
from the abscess, removed a lot of infected bone, and repaired his
ear drum. The doctor explained how to take care of Ruk’s ears and
said Ruk should use a hearing aid. Ruk’s parents just looked at the
doctor and nodded.
Sandra, why
do you think
Ruk lost his
hearing?
Maybe he lost
some hearing
during his
difficult birth.
He had many fevers and
colds. And his family
didn’t know that ear
infections could damage
his hearing.
There was no
health worker
nearby to tell
them what to do.
I’ll bet the smoke and
the dust made his
nose run and made
his ear worse!
Why did Ruk stop going to school?
Ruk had really wanted to go to school and learn like the other children.
Children who lose their hearing become disabled when teachers,
family, and friends do not know how to communicate with them. If the
school and the teacher knew that Ruk could not hear well they might
have tried to communicate differently with him. They might even have
helped other children understand that ear infections can cause children
to lose their hearing. If the school had accepted Ruk and helped him to
learn, he would have made friends and had a better future.
Helping Children Who Are Deaf (2004)