What type of hearing loss is classified as "Prelingual"?

Prelingual hearing loss refers to hearing impairment that occurs before the development of spoken language skills. This type of hearing loss can be congenital, meaning it is present at birth, or may develop during the critical period of language acquisition in early childhood. Children with prelingual hearing loss face significant challenges in acquiring spoken language, as they lack auditory exposure during the formative years when language skills are typically developed.

The other options describe different contexts or age-related aspects of hearing loss. Hearing loss that occurs after the acquisition of spoken language would classify as post-lingual, and hearing loss that occurs during language learning does not specify a timeframe that applies to the critical period before language acquisition. Additionally, hearing loss acquired in adulthood is unrelated to the prelingual category, which specifically pertains to the developmental stage before language is learned.