Anyone's child wear a hearing aid?

[geogteach]

Found out DS1 3.5 had a problem hearing about 6 months ago. Numerous tests and investigations later he is getting a hearing aid next week. Wondered if anyone had any tips on persuading him to actually wear it?

my daughter wears hearing aids - but we only found out when she was 9 or 10 - she is now 11. so didnt have the problem you are having. hwever i will say that as an11 year old she was able to communicate to me more effectivley i think the ifference in her using a hearing aid and the level of sound which is quite enormous.

this obviously would depend on the amount of hearing loss my daughter has 40%. when she first put them in she had to put her hands over her ears when a train went past - as it was actually painful. with two brothers her life is pretty noisy .#

wht i am trying to say is that she used her aids a bit at a time - getting used to them, and i was told that this is fine. so dont worry if your child takes them out at home but put them in ( as you would put them on a hat and gloves) when going out for instance - then a kinda routine takes place.

if he is in nursery this is a wholeother ball game - you must make sure by pestering and pestering that your child sits closest to teacher, that your child doesnt get negative consequences from not hearing properly an instruction given. make sure the schools knows your presence. make sure you have a senco and make sure you pester for a microphone aid - which amplifies the teachers voice at a distance - make sure you get a SENCO.

gosh hope this helps

ps my daughter was allowed to pick colour of aids and moulds - there was an option for fav footy team moulds and such - ask if this is avail near you and maybe this will help your child embrace their aids more?

hey i did a bold !!!

want to add that although the schools and the senco in particular have been very supportive and very informative the actual voluntary associations set up around supporting families with deaf children have been useless. i have contacted them all and have had replies with mothingness answers in.

i was keen for my daughter to learn sign. and to become a part f the deaf community, trying to find a signing class for a partially deaf child has been improssible.

we were told to get the aids insured on home insurance - as - if she breaks them a lot - there will come a point where the NHS will tell us to buy them ourselves. however she has had the aids about 18 months - and had lost a set, had the moulds eaten by the dog twice broken the battery cover - i dont know how many times - an the hospital repairs people have been absolutley wonderful, and charming and brilliant.

sorry to go on and on - but as you can see i dont EVER get to speak to another adult about this usually

the point in tht was to get them on your home insurance!

sorry to laugh custardo, but we have the same problems with our dogs and dd's glasses!!!

damn dogs....not to mention they opened the fridge again and ate a packet of fresh prawns (which were a bloody treat, on BOGOF) and a pack of I cant beleive its not butter

and to get to the fridge they had to open a stairgate and a door

an audiologist told me that lots of people shower in them, believing them to be waterproof...oops.

I wear hearing aids myself (started in my 20's) and definitely agree with the advice to only wear them for very short periods to start with. Ds may take them out at first because the sudden burst of noise can be a real shock to the system.

In our house the biggest cause of hearing-aid troubles is ds2. Leave them anywhere within reach and he hides them. If they're in my ears he tries to pull them out so that he can try to wear them.

Can't help re the DS1 3.5 hearing aids situation, however, my DH wears a CI (Cochlear Implant) and we were given a soft toy with a toy CI, the softie had velcro on the head to allow Darling Boy to get used to the idea. Just wondering if the audiology dept might have some defuct ones (out of ears ones) that they might be able to let you have and you could find a way of fixing them on to a chosen softie. BTW the RNID have a fabulous community of deaf and nearly deaf on their bulletin board and will be happy to answer any question you may have.

my daughter is also 3.5 yrs and has been wearing digital hearing aids since January. Amazingly, she practically never takes them out and even asks for them in the morning. Because we never had a problem she has always worn her aids all day long and also never lost a pair. So you never know, your ds might stun you and be as compliant as my dd?!
I've heard that the best way of dealing with little ones who take them out is to put the aid back in again without any fuss, but your teacher for the hearing impaired should also be able to offer advice on this.
Anyway, I hope the aids work out well for him - I thought it was such a disaster when we first found out dd needed them, but now I'm so used to them, they're just like a pair of glasses really. And you get to choose fun designs for the ear molds.

Thanks for the replies, we've already chosen a tweenie ear mold! Not sure he really understands what its for. I have seen the teacher for the deaf. My son's communication is basically good and i've had conflicting advice about whether he needs speech therapy, he will have another review after christmas, but as the mother of 3 kids under 3.5 (youngest 3 weeks) I could do with cutting back on the current 2 medical appointments a week!