hearing aids and school support

[mumofteenss]

My 14 year old DD has been given hearing aids, its been a long road of infections and referrals resulting in a moderate hearing loss diagnoses. Up until now i have been telling school she is under investigation with audiology and ENT and asked them to ensure she is sat near the front and away from distraction noises. School have basically dismissed concerns as nothing, and not put into place any adaptions for her. Now she has the aids, the audiology dept have done a referral to educational support to ensure school are doing enough to help her, however, im not sure how long this will take. In the mean time, i have again, asked, that school take this seriously, but they arent. She is still sat near kids that make alot of background noise, at the back of the classroom, with the aids it is now even more difficult for her as everything louder, and its taking her a lot to get used to them, so causing her to take them out when it becomes overwhelming.

AIBU to expect the school to adapt to a child who has been given aid on the NHS, has this referral, has hard undeniable evidence of a difficulty?

Other than moving her in the classroom to where she is more comfortable, is there anything else you would be asking of the school as a parent?

The other issue i have is them dismissing other children commenting on them and laughing, they basically say "yes she has hearing aids, its not a big deal" and try to move on the conversation, however, with teens, this doesn't work. I feel they need addressing more seriously, and being told any form of negative commenting is bullying and will not be tolerated, not just dismissing the comments?

As aside note, any who has, or has a child, teenager specifically, with hearing aids, how long did it take to adapt to having them, and get used to them? And any other advice that can be offered to me as a parent of a teen with them (over ear as i cant afford inner ear hidden ones at the minute)

Thanks.

Can't answer much but in terms of what you should expect the teachers should be looking at her when they speak (not the board). There might also be an argument for headphones during listening exams (languages /maths) depending on the effectiveness of the hearing aids.

there is statutory help available in school or young people with hearing impairment. usually accessed via the SENCo ..
their contact should be on school website. also information on council website or council local offer look for sensory support / hearing impairment..
NDCS.org used to have good info as well....

Can't help with the teenage part but have a look and see if there is a sensory impairment team under your local authority.
My daughter is still in primary but once a term they go in and do environmental assessment make recommendations to improve accessibility for the hearing impaired child and offer equipment to help. My daughter has a radio aid. She has the style that the teacher wears around their neck but you can get some that come with a sort of speaker thing that can be put in the middle of a table for group work or in a restaurant.
With radio aid there shouldn't be a need to be at the front - although if your child finds it easier school should try to make adaptations.

Your school sound absolutely crap.

She should absolutely be at the front, ideally central where she can see the Teacher.

The comments are harder to deal with. As a teacher who wears hearing aids, it's very difficult to differentiate between conversations and unkind comments. If reported I'll speak to students but I don't punish if I don't hear it myself.

Classrooms are loud. I find it tricky to manage whole classes of noisy children at times. She'll struggle to work out where the noise is coming from. It takes 4-5 months to blur out the noises you didn't used to hear and now can but don't want to. Sometimes longer, or new noises/frequencies start being audible that weren't.

In our area children have support from the specialist teaching service (no need for an ehcp). They are really good. I'd enquire about this.

I'm partially deaf tho wasn't known at school

Background noise is awful for hearing stuff

Or if two people talk at once I struggle won't hear both or sometimes neither as brain is saying something and ears another

I think it's dreadful school won't sit dd at the front /away from Noise

Surely kids should be quiet in the classroom anyway

My daughter has hearing loss. She has a teacher of the deaf who leases with school and provides attachments to go on the aids that can link to a radio aid, that means she can hear ten teacher above the background noise. Audiology should refer you to TOD.

My son was diagnosed with moderate hearing loss in one ear after an infection when he was 13. As others have suggested contact the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) they should be working with you and your daughter to see what adaptations are needed and making sure the support is in place. The Audiologist also sent a referral to a teacher for thr Deaf through the LA and they would work with school to make sure DS had support and they understood the impacts on him.

DS sat at the front of classes and teachers were expected to regularly make sure he understood. A radio aid didn't work as he had so many different teachers at secondary school. He would have had support for speaking and listening exams but his GCSEs were impacted by Covid.

Luckily he didn't have many issues with comments or bullying even though he had over the ear aids, they are still quite discrete. I think school would have clamped down on any issues though so would expect your school to do so too. Ds was however very self conscious particularly as he wore glasses too and thought they made his ears stick out, so he swapped to contact lenses. He soon accepted it as it made such a difference to his quality of life.

He's now at Uni and gets adaptations and support there too. You need to keep pushing and advocating for him with school. Good luck!

The teachers can wear a transmitter on a cord around their neck to ensure that she has the best chance to hear even when they inevitably turn their backs, cover their faces, put on background music, speak over videos instead of stopping them before speaking and generally do all the things that drive anybody deaf or hearing impaired absolutely nuts.

Of course, there were always some who refused, but ten minutes in a room with the SENDCO usually sorted that out.

The Local Authority should have a specialised 'unit' or responsibility as well.

https://www.ndcs.org.uk/information-and-support/being-deaf-friendly/information-for-professionals/education-resources-for-managers/

My DC got theirs in early primary school
and the teacher for the deaf would go in once a year to deliver training to her teacher.
she always say at the front of the class, ideally away from the door. She now has a microphone that the teachers wear which means she can sit anywhere. Now she’s in high school she just has to remember to take the hearing aid.
she wears her hair long so hearing aids are covered.
I do worry as she gets a bit older that it might a cause for bullying but I think as she has had them for so long people have
kind of forgotten.

@mumofteenss, she absolutely should have support (and possibly radio aids if she needs them - her aids won't look any different, but the teacher uses a microphone which is more discreet than it sounds). Kick up a stink with the SENDCO. While you're at it, contact her Head of Year and ask them what is going to be done about the ableist hate speech she is experiencing. I'm a teacher (and a mum of a (now adult) child with a disability - I'll mention more about that further on). Interestingly, my school has recently held a series of assemblies about inappropriate speech, covering all sorts of discrimination and intolerance. Ableism was one of the subjects covered - and sanctions are applied as appropriate.
Taking to you now as a mum, my DC2 has a severe visual impairment. Where we first lived, I referred her myself to our local visual impairment service. After we moved, it was called sensory services. Find out what it is called in your area and contact them yourself.
Between all of that, you should be able to get some arses kicked into action.
Meanwhile, I feel for you as it must be heart-wrenching knowing that your DD is having a tough time. Keep telling her she has the same right to access an education as anyone else, and for yourself, off-load back here if you need to. It gets better once things are put in place, but you might have a bit of a fight to get her needs recognised. Good luck.

If you aren't in the schools face they won't do anything.

You need to be a complete pain in their asses. On the phone everyday. Turn up and demand to see guidance teacher. Etc until they act.

Oh, and this might make you smile OP...
In my last school, I taught a girl who wore radio aids. Of course, she was treated like any other member of the class. There was a particular day when I asked her to run an errand for me. Knowing that my mic was still turned on, I whispered 'I know you can still hear me (I was still talking to the class at this point while we had a pause'). Hearing her laughter ring out down the corridor was lovely!

Oh this is lovely!!

Our primary the staff wear those chunky lanyards with a black device on in the classrooms with children with hearing aids.

I'd be really cross with the school, and not let it lie, if they don't sort this.

I love this. Was less keen when teacher acquaintance mentioned forgetting to turn it off when she went to the toilet 😱
Fortunately that hasn't happened for dd but every so often she very innocently gets some excellent gossip from an overheard convo usually asking me to explain what it means 🤣😂

Ex ToD here. He absolutely need to have accommodations made. He needs to sit near or at the front of a well lit class.
Teacher needs to stand at the front, not wander round the class and not stand in front of a window as this makes it much harder to lip read. Background noise needs to be controlled where possible- close windows and doors etc.
Subtitles should be used on videos and if possible teacher give him some notes ( like power point slide print outs) to support the lesson ( very hard to make notes and lip read at the same time.)
Push for a radio aid mic which blue tooths into his aids as this would really help to cut out the background noise ( if he has Oticon hearing aids then this would be something called an Edumic, for Phonak aids then there is an equivalent mic or something called a Roger pen.) The teacher of the deaf should provide this.

I would have made a new referral like your son an absolutely priority. At the very least They should send in a list of adaptions staff need to make in order for him to access lessons. Hearing loss is a recognised disability and the school have an obligation to ensure access.

I would second what other people have said about contacting the NDCS. Loads of great advice and perhaps a handout you could give the school in the interim before the ToD can visit.

People often don't realise the impact that even a mild hearing loss has on an individual.Hearing aids do not restore hearing in the way a pair of glasses would for a visual issue. One of the biggest issues is fatigue caused by trying to listen in an imperfect acoustic environment. The training I used to do involved providing the teachers with a pair of ear plugs to simulate a mild/ moderate loss and make them try to have a conversation with someone in a noisy hall. Most gave up after 5 minutes as they would find it exhausting!
Good luck!

Oops sorry realised it's your DD not your DS!

That is really bad! You need to make an appointment with the SENCo. It is completely normal for teachers to make sure the pupil is sitting at the front, to wear a microphone around their neck(if required), to face the pupil when speaking, to make sure subtitles are on for any video clips/documentaries and to l make sure important information is provided in a visible form on the board or worksheet etc.

Obviously, it won’t always be perfect but they should at least be trying pretty hard!

This

you need to read the disability act and remind them of it in writing

As other posters have said, contact the SENCO and ask what support is available. Many LAs have sensory impairment teachers who will come in and advise the school on the best way to support your child. When I was teaching I found them very helpful and really practical.

On another note, Greg Davies has a very funny story about when he was teaching wearing a radio mike and going to the toilet!

This is a really sad read. I have a couple of hearing impaired students. One has other issues so prefers to sit at the back at the end of a row. She carries a radio mic which she switches on & gives to me at the start of a lesson. It works well until we do group work, when I ask her what she would prefer. Wherever there is one available, I allow her group to work in a practice room to keep the extra noise down. She doesn't seem to have any issue listening to music played on normal speakers. Although I have only taught her this academic year, she will message me if she is unsure.

OP you need to get onto your school's SENCO and request (firmly) that provision is put in place so your DD can access the curriculum fully.

Tip from 14yo DS when he got comments 'oh sorry, they don't pick up bullshit'

There's lots of tips on how to deal with school upthread so I won't go over them, but another thing to be wary of is shouty teachers, one of them really gave him a fright one time yelling right next to him at someone misbehaving at the back of the class, he did get an apology for that.

Bit different for my DD as she was born profoundly Deaf so has never known anything else. However, couple of things from a parent perspective:
Listening fatigue is a huge issue - my DD gets lots of headaches and eye strain.
It's difficult in all situations, not just school. Be mindful of family gatherings, eating out etc. Mealtimes where there's background noise and people chatting while eating can make it hard to follow conversation and the Deaf person can end up left out of the chat.
Never say "It doesn't matter" if they haven't heard something, always clarify.
My DD is now 17. She is in a Deaf school so obviously has good arrangements there but additionally was entitled to extra time in her exams and her GCSE french oral was read to her rather than having to listen to the recording.
Most Deaf kids go through a period of wanting to hide their aids. Being the same as everyone else is v important as a teenager. See if there are any local NDCS events near you for kids her age, if she'd enjoy that (despite the aforementioned embarrassment).

People often don't realise the impact that even a mild hearing loss has on an individual.Hearing aids do not restore hearing in the way a pair of glasses would for a visual issue

this is a really important point, that most people who do not have hearing loss don’t realise. Hearing aids amplify sound, but that can mean being in a noisy, echoing room is almost unbearable and overwhelming as it is impossible to focus in on what the person next to you is saying.

Hearing loss really has a significant impact on your life. i was diagnosed with tinnitus and hearing loss in my mid 50s and wear hearing aids. The number of adults who make a “joke” when I tell them is disturbing. I have no compunction in telling them how pathetic this is, but I fully appreciate your DD probably won’t want to do this!

the school need to acknowledge your DD has a disability and make reasonable adjustments to allow her to access lessons. Hearing loss can make people feel very isolated

sending her my best wishes.

I have complete loss in one ear and have had since birth, though it was not discovered until I was 6. I had hearing aids and the comments didn’t worry me too much, it was more just people saying ‘oh my grandad has one’ that made me feel rubbish but it wasn’t exactly bullying so hopefully that passes over quickly for your DD.

I’m sure I used to have someone come in once a term and check out my environment and how I was getting on.

By the time I reached middle school I only wore my hearing aids in some lessons, always out by lunchtime though. Then in high school I practically never wore them. The reason for this was that, for me, the fatigue of trying to ignore background noise was way worse than fatigue of struggling to hear without my aid. I found the constant background noise absolutely debilitating and exhausting.

My college actually paid for me to have a private, in-ear hearing aid to try and convince me to wear it but the background noise issues were still the same and I think that fatigue caused by everything being amplified isn’t very well understood by hearing people.

Teachers should definitely be sitting her near the front and not facing the board when talking. Also, they should be checking with her one to one once they’ve set some work to make sure she has understood. My teachers always did this for me.

Hope your daughter settles in well with the aids, but equally don’t worry if she finds life easier without them. This might not be her experience though if her hearing has been fine before now.