Mild to moderate hearing loss - what next?

[TroublesomeEx]

After being under the hearing clinic for the past 12 months, my DD (6) was diagnosed with bilateral mild to moderate hearing loss - mix of conductive and sensory.

We've been told she needs hearing aids.

The school were already aware that she had some hearing loss after failing the hearing test in her reception health screening and so she has been sitting at the front of the carpet and her teacher this year has been very mindful of this fact.

The consultant told us that that hospital that deals with her hearing aids will tell us more, but I just wondered if there is anyone else here who has experience of this and has any idea about what happens.

Is there anything we need to be aware of that we might not have considered?

Thanks.

My children have conductive hearing losses. My DD has microtia and atresia whereas my DS4 has ear canals but has malformed middle ears hence the conductive hearing loss. I can't remember if you said that they performed an MRI to see what your DC's ears looked like.
My kids use a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid). You can use them on a soft band to vibrate through bone to reach the inner ear, or have the surgical abutment fitted. I have no experience with Cochlear Implants. Not every audiology service will do BAHA or Cochlear. You will need to be referred to somewhere that does and then see the audiologists there. HTH

FG My daughter had a hearing aid for mild-mod hearing loss following a severe ear infection. They are now pretty clever things, your daughter's aids will be digital and tailored to your dd's exact audiogram, compensating at the frequencies where she needs it. They are also programmed to amplify speech sounds more than background noise, so they will be particularly helpful for school. They come in different colours with moulds which can have a range of images on them such as Disney or cartoon characters. My dd wore them no problems every day, and the kids at sch thought the hearing aid was pretty cool. My dd's was pink. Your dd can do a 'show and tell' and will prob be the envy of her class! You will prob need to go back yearly for new moulds as your daughter grows.

Very occasionally they can feedback if there is a sudden loud noise, but the aids have a volume control and your dd will find the right setting which will be a good balance between amplification and feedback. Your class teacher can help by telling the class no sudden loud noises for a week while your dd gets used to them.

My dd had a perforated ear drum so I used to clean the mould each day with diluted disinfectant and soak it overnight on a Sunday.

You might need to introduce the aids slowly, maybe one at a time for an hour at a time. You will need to get good at placing each mould quickly so it sits close in the ear (so as not to feed back). You will get used to this. Kids are so adaptable and she will soon be wearing them and barely notice.

Your audiologist will explain all this. Hopefully your dd will take to them like a duck to water and they will be a very positive and life-changing intervention!

Handy Woman
x

Hi FolkGirl - my DD (2.4) has moderate conductive hearing loss due to narrow ear canals and 'glue ear' like symptoms. We initially tried the grommets route without success, so DD has had hearing aids for the past month.

The biggest challenge we have is getting her to wear them (she's going through her '2 phase', so the word 'No' features a lot!). But once we manage to get them in her ears, we've noticed a huge difference in her speech & attention span.

In terms of what happens - you will see the audiologist for about an hour where they explain the different types of hearing aids and recommend the best type for your DD. If needed, they will also take mould fittings of both ears. The hearing aids then take about 1-2 weeks to make. My DD has standard in the ear type, so they let her pick the colour of the ear mould (clear with pink sparkles!) and the outer ear part (they have some really nice shades).

When we picked up the hearing aids they test the settings on each ear & explain how everything works & how to fit them etc. They gave DD a nice little bag to keep everything in as well as several sheets of stickers so she could personalise her hearing aid.

The hearing aids are tiny, so you can't actually see them when she has her hair down. The only thing to watch out for is the whistling if they're not in properly (although in our case it's a good indicator that DD has removed them & is trying to chew on the soft ear moulds!)

Proud mum. Try a thin coating of Vaseline on the moulds. If you consistently get lots of feedback that's because the fit is poor or that the DC has grown!

my dd3 is also deaf, moderate/profound depending on which ear. Digital hearing aids these days are pretty good, they come in all sorts of colours as do the moulds so make sure they ask her which colours she would like as it all helps to make sure she is comfortable to wear them. They are a bit small and fiddly to start off with but you'll get used to helping her put them in and check they are working properly, checking batteries etc. This should all be explained to you before you leave audiology with them, so if they don't, ask. You should also be referred to your local Teacher of the Deaf, they can offer advice to you and her school as to what extra things they/you need to do.

it's not just about sitting at the front if you are deaf but also to make sure that your dd is looking at you/teacher when you speak, to help make sure she has understood instructions, it may help to break multistep instructions down so she has a chance to process everything being said, especially when this will all be new to her. There's various bits of equipment that may be suggested for school, things like soundfield systems and radio aids that may help. And if you haven't already, have a look at the ndcs site and sign up with them.

proudmum, dd3 is the same, you know they are out when you hear the whistling, also very useful to find them when they have been thrown

Hi

Thanks for the replies.

Our internet went down the night I posted and we've only just got it up and running again!

Thanks for the replies, it's really reassuring to hear that the aids are so much better now and your descriptions have also explained a lot. Proudmum I think we might be very excited about sparkles!!

It's come as a bit of a shock tbh. I don't think I'd really thought about it in terms of her needing hearing aids. We went along for a couple of hearing assessments after she failed the Reception screening and the audiologist referred her to the hospital, just for a second opinion as the loss, was persistent. She didn't indicate that she thought aids were necessary, and referring her was just a precaution, but the consultant was quite definite about it. I suppose I just thought we'd be given some basic advice and left to it!

I also think we've masked a lot of the 'evidence' ourselves - I'm an early years teacher (although have never taught a child with hearing aids) and so I know about the making sure she's looking at me when I speak to her; making sure I have her attention and giving instructions clearly; how to correct mispronounced 'sounds'.

I've signed up with NCDS, thanks Ninja. You've given me lots to think about there.

Thanks again for your replies. Even just reading your accounts has made me feel happier about the whole thing and given me a bit more idea about what to expect.