Hearing aids

[Sunshine78]

my dd 4.5 has had glue ear etc for a while with little improvement to her hearing. She is now having hearing aids fitted to try and help her while they figure out what her problems are.

What should I expect?

Any tips?

How long till we get them any ideas on process?

Presumably she's both had a hearing test and seen an audiologist who has recommended hearing aids? Did they mention what type? Probably standard behind-the-ear (BTE) digital aids.

So you should soon get an appt to have earmoulds taken - this involves getting some stuff like pale playdoh and shoving it in your ears (feels cold) until it expands a bit and sets into polystyrene (10 min or so). Then they should ask dd what colour moulds she wants (eg pink with glittery bits...) and she may get a choice of what colour aid but they may only come in 'skin' colours. But if she's lucky there will be a range of patterns (eg Man United logo...)

Then a few weeks until they turn up, when you get a fitting appt. This is vital - if the moulds hurt or the aid squeaks she won't wear them so stay and be fussy for as long as you need until the moulds feel OK and she can get them in herself. Make sure you know how to turn the aids on and off, change batteries, etc, and if there are any different programs on the aid (eg one to use in really noisy places, one for phones etc). You should get a follow-up appt to see how she's getting on.

Bear in mind that listening with hearing aids is tiring and they aren't a magical cure - in particular people with normal hearing can pick out voices from background noise that's louder, whereas people with aided hearing struggle if the background noise is significant. So getting her attention before speaking to her etc will still be vital.

Hope that helps!

Ta notcitrus

Shes had loads of heairng tests and none have bee "normal" They have held off for so long giving her them as was hoping it would improve but its not and she is soon starting school so have decided she needs them as she is begining to really suffer.

hello has she had gromits? My dd had had glue ear since she was 18mo and is now 5yo, she has had 2 sets of gromits both times there was an immediate improvement but hearing startings to tail off after 6 mo or so.

She had her last set done august last year and Ive recently asked for her to be re ref to ent as her hearing is so variable. Im thiking if asking re hearing aids as esp at school she does struggle

what notcitrus said, except here they use a faster setting putty for children that takes 2-3 minutes dd3 has a pink hearing aid and a pink glittery mould atm.

Also ask about being referred to the sensory impairment service to see a Teacher of the Deaf, they should be able to advise you and school. If you haven't already found them, ndcs are pretty fab, loads of info on their site and a good helpline.

ooh, good points from NinjaGoose!
And also don't assume anyone has ever told dd's teachers about her hearing problems, so do make a point of telling her teachers that she will need to face the teacher and they will need to get her attention before giving out instructions.