Hearing aids

I don't know where to post this, so I'll try here...

My oldest son will be tested for a hearing aid soon. He lost a lot of his hearing due to infections. However, his left ear is really bad. The school won't leave me alone about it, so I have to take him back.

However, my worries with him are: will he wear it? Will it be harder on him at school? I know it will be easier for him to hear, but he never complains about it. It's the school that wants me to get it fixed right away. He doesn't want to wear it and is worried he'll be picked on. It's not like he is completely deaf. He can hear us fine because we are a loud family.

Anyone have experience with this in their Jr. High age child?

Thanks!!!

 

Caleb has been failing his hearing tests since last year in Preschool. He had them checked at K screening and then they just checked them again a few weeks ago and failed both ears (He had only failed the right ear before). So on Wed. him and I both had our ears checked, because I have had bad hearing since I was 5 yo. He did fail and has a cookie bite hearing loss, the same as mine. The Audiologist recommends that he get hearing aids, as well as myself; so we both tried on hearing aids there and he was so excited that he could hear. My dad came in after us to pick up his new hearing aids so we were all there together and the dr. said that we should want to give him the best advantage possible in the school environment, which is such a good point that I quit second guessing the questions of what the other kids will do to him... He said that he would wear the hearing aids, and she (the dr.) referred us to the health department in our county to multiple handicap children who will help us pay for his hearing aids. He will also be getting glasses (poor kid) and she is sending the results along with her recommendations to the school. She is also suggesting to the school that they use an FM amplifier system in his classroom and requesting an educational audiologist evaluate his classroom for the best possible seating location for Caleb in the classroom. So, I will be pushing for the school to put him on an IEP for this disability, just because I know that later on in his educational career he will have problems with verbal tests, i.e. spelling tests.... Hope that his helps... Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with about this, since we are going through the same thing right now...

 

I have a friend who had to get hearing aids quite young. They really haven't stopped him from doing much. He does have some hearing without them but he couldn't become a firefighter (his childhood dream) because you need perfect hearing.

He was my work partner for a couple years and hearing aids have changed a lot from the over the ear ones when we were growing up. If you didn't know he had one you couldn't tell it was there. I don't know if your son would be picked on but I've found that attitude is everything. My friend and I worked with kids in elementry school and he was very frank in his answers to the kids questions and really joked around about it.

 

Thanks guys!

Jacob has to sit up front in every class. Which does help a lot. So far he's still an all A & B student. However, he's in the 6th grade, so most of it is text book work instead of lecture.

He's a pretty easing going kid, but he's very sensitive. I'm worried that he wouldn't be the type like me to joke about it. I can see him more fighting about it. So that's what I'm trying to weigh. I wouldn't even hesitate if his grades were bad. I just know this is a very hard age and kids can be cruel.

 

I have worn hearing aids for about a year and a half. I lost some hearing due to ear infections when my girls were infants, and my ENT thinks I probably had some genetic hearing loss before that I'd just adapted to.

I feel very strongly about the impact of hearing loss ... on learning, on social skills, on pleasure in the world and life in general. I cannot imagine learning to read right now, with my hearing how it is, without aids. I have about 80 -85% of my hearing, and I miss a lot of distinctions in speech. I know for a fact I have withdrawn some over the past couple of years, because listening takes so much effort at times.

My aids improved my life sooo much that I've never needed any extra motivation to wear them. They can sometimes be uncomfortable - especially when worn with glasses or a hat. I have to make sure I keep them dry. I can't rest my head against anything without getting feedback. Sometimes, especially in a crowded room, the amplification becomes too much --all sound is louder, not just the sounds I want to hear.

But, I gladly accept all that because I can hear. I know what my little girls are saying to me, I can carry on a conversation in the car or while eating. I can talk on the phone and hear most of what is said -- all things I couldn't do for the months before I got them.

I don't want to say too much because I realize this is very personal for me and I can too easily get on a soapbox. But I'd love for you to see that I can maybe articulate for you what your son isn't able to and may have a perspective he hasn't yet developed because he's a child. A hearing loss is a disability, a very real one. It's not like you can try harder to hear and WHAM!, you'll be able to. But a hearing loss doesn't make you any less smart. It is something that can be helped, and someone who is motivated can overcome most of the problems.

I'd be glad to answer any questions you have.

 

i wouldnt wear them :S
i need glasses but i dont wear them even though i cant see well...
but i dunno, your son wight be different.