Introduction to Hearing Impairment and Guest Profile
📌 The program aims to raise awareness and educate society about individuals with disabilities, emphasizing that no disability exists with willpower.
🎙️ The guest is Professor Jamal Abu Zeitoon, ranked among the top ten globally in Special Education, and nicknamed the "Scourge of Special Education" by his students.
🌟 Professor Abu Zeitoon has long specialized in Special Education, particularly with the hearing impaired, and is recognized as one of the world's most influential scientists in this field according to Google Scholar.

Classification and Definition of Hearing Impairment
👂 Hearing impairment is classified into three categories by law: Hard of Hearing, Deafness (Deaf), and Deaf-Blindness.
📉 Hard of Hearing involves partial, permanent, or fluctuating hearing loss (often defined between 20 to 70 decibels) manageable sometimes with hearing aids.
🗣️ Deafness involves severe or profound loss, leading to deficits in receptive and expressive language, potentially resulting in a student being deaf-mute if speech development is affected.
⏱️ Early intervention is crucial; neglecting hearing impairment, especially near or above 50 dB, can exacerbate the issue and negatively impact speech articulation, as students mimic what they hear.

Causes of Hearing Impairment
⚠️ Professor Abu Zeitoon introduced the "Abu Zeitoon Triangle of Danger" for causes: Ignorance, Poverty, and Disease.
🧬 Pre-natal causes include genetic factors, accounting for approximately 80% of pre-language hearing loss (hereditary deafness), often linked to consanguineous marriages.
💥 During-birth causes often involve complications like oxygen deprivation, difficult labor, prematurity (being born too early), or issues with underdeveloped incubators.
🤕 Post-natal causes are varied, including Rh factor issues in jaundice, high fever, accidents injuring the ear, severe infections, harmful drugs, and increasingly, noise pollution (e.g., living near airports or loud industrial sites).

Intervention Programs and Services
🤟 Communication methods include manual approaches (Sign Language and Finger Spelling) and oral/aural approaches (lip reading and utilizing residual hearing).
❌ A major issue in Jordan is the over-reliance on Finger Spelling, even for students with moderate loss (50-70 dB), instead of prioritizing Sign Language for those who are profoundly deaf.
💻 Assistive technology is vital, including devices that can translate sign language into text or vice versa, and FM systems within classrooms.
🤝 Effective service delivery requires specialized training for specialists in Sign Language, lip reading, and designing Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), involving coordination between the Ministries of Health, Social Development, and Education.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ Early detection through hearing and vision screening every six months for young children is a critical preventative measure against escalating hearing problems.
➡️ There is a significant need in the region for in-depth training programs for specialists in Arabic Sign Language and Finger Spelling.
➡️ Comprehensive services for the hearing impaired require a major national effort and integration among multiple governmental bodies, not just the Ministry of Education.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Nov 13, 2025, 17:04 UTC