The disease impacting Indigenous kids' development
More than a third of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experience "fluctuating" ear disease, where the infection in the middle ear can change over time, making it more difficult to detect, clinical data from Hearing Australia shows.
Persistent trouble with their ears affects eight per cent of these kids.
"These type of ear infections are very common but in First Nations kids they usually occur more often, they start very early in life and it actually lasts longer," Hearing Australia's Kirralee Cross told AAP.
"It can start in infancy without any obvious symptoms."
More than 10,000 Indigenous children from newborns to six years old have their ears checked each year through the Early Ears hearing assessment program.
Data from the program has found more than 26 per cent of children have undiagnosed ear disease, and one in five have undiagnosed hearing loss.
Ms Cross said the findings show the importance of early detection.
The Yorta Yorta woman said if left undetected, ear disease can not only impact a child's hearing but also the development of important listening, speech and language skills.
"It affects the ability to connect and yarn with their mob, with others, with family, and when they get to school it can be a bit isolating," she said.
"We do hear reports of teachers saying they have kids that muck up or aren't paying attention in their class, and it's nothing to do with their attitude or behaviour, it's actually because they can't hear.
"If that's not picked up then it has long-term effects as they're growing and learning."
Ms Cross said hearing should be checked every six months.
"Every child deserves to hear and learn and thrive," she said.
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