A quarterly publication of the Autism Research Institute
Summer 2025 | Number 3, Volume 39
A literature review by researchers in Spain concludes that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may be at significantly increased risk for hearing loss.
Miguel Caballero-Borrego and colleagues, who reviewed 21 studies investigating a possible link between ASD and hearing problems, report that “seventeen studies found a predisposition to developing either central or peripheral hearing loss.” In addition, children with ASD had an increased incidence of ear infections.
The researchers note that because of the similarities between the symptoms of ASD and hearing loss in young children, physicians may often miss one diagnosis or the other. For instance, they say, in one study of 46 children with both hearing loss and ASD, hearing loss was overlooked in five of the children and ASD was overlooked in half of them, because the symptoms of the conditions overlapped.
While the researchers note that the connection between ASD and hearing loss needs to be explored further, they conclude that “numerous studies have shown an increased prevalence of both central hearing loss, due to changes at the level of the brain stem and auditory cortex, and peripheral hearing loss, due to an increase in complicated ear infections in autistic children.”
They add, “This can lead to disruptions in language and communication development. Therefore, it is recommended that all children with suspected ASD have their hearing monitored on an ongoing basis to provide them with the best therapeutic option at an early stage.”
“Autism and central and peripheral hearing loss: A systematic review,” Miguel Caballero Borrego, Aina Valverde-Domínguez, and Marta Sandoval, Medicina Clinica, August 2025 (free online). Address: Miguel Caballero-Borrego, Otolaryngology Department, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, Spain, [email protected].
