DD going to have her hearing aid moulds taken this week. What should we expect? What will they do? Is there anything we should ask? Thanks.

[TroublesomeEx]

That's it really.

When they told us 6 weeks ago that she'd need hearing aids I was shocked into saying no more than

"Ok, that's great. Well thank you very much" and "no, no questions" when asked.

The only thing we can think of at the moment is about the Teacher of the Deaf. Do they automatically make a referral is there anything that we have to do? How long should we wait? Will they do a home visit or just contact school?

I've read the leaflets from NDCS from cover to cover again and again but I'm still not clear on how things happen.

When they talk about radio aids, does that include hearing aids, or are they discrete pieces of kit?

Ta very much for any knowledge you can impart. x

I think you just need to ask all the questions that you have listed here!!!
The 'system' will vary from one area of the country to another.
DD was referred for hearing aids at a very young age and as far as I can recall all the other referals were done automatically. Teacher of the deaf used to come and do home visits as DD was pre-school, but once DD started school, the teacher visited there and taught the staff how to deal with DDs aids as well as how to communicate with her (my DD has a learning disability and a number of other problems - not just hearing).

The radio aid is in addition to the hearing aids. The child wears one part and the teacher will wear the other part. It is designed so that the child can hear the teacher (or whoever is wearing the transmitter) above all the other background noise/chatter that the hearing aids alone would pick up.

Re the moulds - it is a long time since my DD has had any made, but the method they used for hers was they used a sort of plasticine type product, which they squirted into her ears, and allowed it to set for a minute and then removed it. That is then sent away to make the mould for the hearing aid to fit your DC's ear.

I have always found our Audiology team to be extremely helpful and willing to answer questions - so I hope yours are too.

Oh, and you may get more experienced posters if you re-post this or 'report' it and have it moved to the Special Needs section. I know there are a few parents on there whose children used hearing aids and are very knowledgeable

Hi, thanks for your reply, bigbluebus. I think I'll do that.

I wasn't really thinking!

Hi there,

We've moved this one to Special Needs: Children now.

Best of luck to the OP and her DD.

basically what bbb said. Referrals should be made automatically but always better to ask to make sure, or check your local council site for sensory impairment service (or similar wording) usually under education and refer yourself. It depends on how old your dd is and what her hearing loss is as to what will be on offer, so if you're not sure what her loss is, ask them for a copy of her audiogram.

moulds are quite easy, just if she is little, take something along to distract her as first reaction is usually to try to take it out of their ear. They do as bbb said, a goos look in the ear to check for wax first then a little bit of foam on a string is pushed gently in, followed by the squishy stuff, it sets in a couple of minutes. She may need it done quite frequently if she is quite young, so you soon get used to it. Moulds have to be sent off to be made, you should be offered a choice of colours or pictures to have in them, hearing aids also come in various colours, but you probably won't get those until the moulds come back in a week or two, but do ask about colours if they haven't offered in case they need to order some in.

radio aids are in addition to hearing aids, they can be body worn or wireless with a little adaptor that plugs into the bottom of the aid but generally wireless radio aids are given to slightly older children because they are quite expensive bits of kit and the teacher wears a small microphone. Have a look at connevans if you want to know what things look like. There's also soundfield systems that can be used in school, your ToD should be able to sort all that out if your dd is school age.

the ndcs is fab and have loads of great advice on their website as well as a parents forum, they also run newly identified weekends all round the country and I can't recommend them enough, so see if there's one going near you.

Hi, as others have said taking the moulds is quite straightforward and painless. DS gets to choose little pictures they put in his. His current one gave thunderbird 1 in. Hearing services generally run very well ime, totally different to ENT.

DS has the radio aids with the recieved permanently in the aid & the teacher wears the mic. He's had this since he started school. It certainly seems to work well. It's also brilliant for out & about. There is no point shouting him back in a busy place as he just won't hear us whereas with the radio mic he can hear me straightaway. He then just needs to see where I am!

Good luck.

Thanks!

DD is 6 (just gone into year 2) and has mild/moderate hearing loss. I didn't realise I could ask for a copy of the audiogram, so I will definitely ask this week!

It does sound quite straightforward. She's very positive about it and is quite looking forward to having them at the moment. I just wanted to be able to tell her what it was going to involve before we get there.

If we automatically get referred for a ToD, then I suppose I will just have to trust that they all know what they're doing and that it will all be done.

We've already requested a place on the next Newly Identified weekend. So fingers crossed there are spaces. She was only diagnosed recently and the weekend is in a few weeks time.

I too would definitely recommend joining the NDCS. Every issue you can think of is addressed in the parents' forums.
And re school, certainly my own daughter's ToD has been fabulous, having seen her through the early days and still looking out for her in her last year of primary school. There's a whole programme that the ToD follows, including teaching the child about his/her aids and ears, raising awareness among fellow pupils and generally being on the child's side and being part of the child's academic life. I can't fault my daughter's ToD and hope that your daughter is lucky enough to get someone similar.

Thanks you bonce that's really reassuring!

Thank.