Children who have Goldenhar syndrome have the possibility of being at a developmental risk because of impaired hearing and speech. Generally, the cognitive abilities of those with Goldenhar syndrome are not affected. The only way their cognitive abilities might be affected is if they had trouble with hearing or speech. Impaired hearing would be due to the malformation of the ear. While the typically formed ear usually has perfect hearing, it is common for the child to have either partial or full hearing loss in the effected ear. This could affect their classroom performance because they will not be able to hear the teacher correctly. If the ear canal is present in the affected ear, one way type of assistive technology that can be used is a …show more content…
In some rare cases, the child’s tongue is tethered down and it is hard for them to move their tongue to form sounds. Speech can also be effected by the underdevelopment/deformation of the jaw and/or mouth. In these three instances, children do not speak much when they are young. As they get older, certain sounds cannot be made, it can be hard to understand the speech they can produce, and their speech sounds nasally. In some cases, it can be hard for people who do not interact with them regularly to communicate with individuals with Goldenhar syndrome. Usually, the family, friends, and teachers are all used to hearing the child and can understand what they are saying. However, for outsiders, it can be difficult to communicate if you don’t know what they are trying to say. This could affect how a child performs in the classroom. They may feel uncomfortable participating in class if they know their teacher or peers will have a hard time understanding them. If they have a question or need clarification, they may avoid asking during class for fear of sounding strange. If they do speak up, they may get frustrated when not understood the first time. One way speech and communication can be assisted is through the use of an app called TouchChat on the iPad. TouchChat is a form of augmentative and alternative communication where individuals who have difficulty with speech can communicate using pictures and text. There are