Ear Infections and Language Development

by Joanne E. Roberts, Ph.D. & Susan A. Zeisel, Ed.D.

This booklet will help you understand ear infections and middle ear fluid, how hearing and language learning may be affected, and how you can support children’s language learning.

Additional information & resources

Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. (1994). Middle Ear Fluid in Young Children, Consumer Version, Clinical Practice Guideline Number 12. (English and Spanish versions are available). The booklet is available online at www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/mef.html

Green, A. R. (1997). The parent’s complete guide to ear infections. Allentown, PA: People’s Medical Society.

Roberts, J. E., Wallace, I. F., & Henderson, F. W. (Eds). (1997). Otiitis Media in Young Children. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing Co.

Stool & the Otitis Media Panel. Otitis Media with Effusion in Young Children. Clinical Practice Guideline Number 12. AHCPR Publication No. 94-0622. Rockville, MD: Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. July, 1994. (Medical Version, Professional Guidelines). This booklet is available online at www.aap.org/policy/otitis.htm

Watt, M.R., Roberts, J.E., & Zeisel, S. (1993). Ear infections in young children: The role of the early childhood educator. Young Children, 49(1), 65–71.

Questions & Answers about Otitis Media, Hearing and Language Development—www.asha.org/consumers/brochures/otitis_media.htm

Infections & Immunizations, Ear Infections— www.ama-assn.org/insight/h_focus/nemours/infectio/childhd/ear.htm

For more information about speech, language, and/or hearing,
call American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) at
1-800-638-TALK.

Published in collaboration with ASHA and the National Center for Early Development & Learning. This project was supported in part under the Educational Research and Development Centers Program, as administered by the National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, US Department of Education, and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, US Department of Health and Human Services (MCJ-370599 & MCJ-370649).

This publication was funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the Department or any other agency of the US Government. This publication is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part for educational purposes is granted.

For free single copies of this publication, while supplies last, write to: US Department of Education, ED Pubs, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398 or call toll free, 1-877-4ED-PUBS. Also, look for it on the Internet at www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html

U.S. Department of Education