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One of the biggest problems most parents of newly diagnosed children face
is keeping the hearing aids on the child. Even some who have been wearing hearing aids for
a while persist on taking them out. Why? And even more importantly, what can you do about
it?
Lets look at it from the child's point of view. Suddenly these things are stuffed into
their ears and fill their world with noise, lots of it. Their first response is, quite
naturally, to get rid of these things. Slowly, as the child begins to make associations
that turn that "noise" into sound with meaning, the child begins to leave them
in for longer periods of time. When my son first got his hearing aids, we were told:
If he takes them out, just put them back in. If he takes them out 1000 times in one
day, you put them back in 1001. Don't show anger. Don't show frustration. Don't scold.
Just put them back in.
Recently I had an opportunity to read what
Carol
Flexer wrote in
Facilitating Hearing and Listening in Young Children:
The most unconscious function of hearing is the primitive level which carries the auditory background, sounds that serve to identify a location. A hospital sounds
different than a school. Typically, we do not think about these sounds; however, if a location does not sound as expected, we become uneasy. If you have ever
entered an empty hospital or school, you have probably felt a bit anxious.
Biological sounds are also heard at the primitive level. Sounds like breathing, swallowing, chewing, heart beat, and pulse furnish proof that we are indeed alive
and functioning. People who suddenly lose their hearing have been known to experience acute psychosis due to feelings of disconnectedness with the environment,
time and their own bodies.
Less dramatically, a new hearing aid or assistive listening device alters the wearer's auditory background by amplifying sounds previously not heard. This
change in auditory background may make a wearer nervous and anxious without understanding why. Certainly, a baby or young child cannot explain that an altered
auditory background may be a factor causing him or her to resist amplification. Yet, as professionals, we should be sensitive to the fact that there is often an
adjustment period to amplification (typically, at least 1 month), due in part to the user's altered auditory background. (p.11)
I think if I had it to do all over again, I would allow a 5-10 minute resting
period before putting them back in my child's ear, but remember, if your child is to get any benefit from hearing aids, he must be wearing them!
Many parents recommend distracting the child or giving them something to keep
their hands busy for a few minutes after putting the hearing aids in. One
parent writes that he puts his child on a swing and swings the child as he is
talking to him.
Marie sent me one of her tips to help transition the child to wearing hearing
aids:
I suggest to parents, to get started, that they keep a special set of toys
available for their child to use only when wearing the hearing aids. (This
happens automatically with me because I home visit and bring a bag of toys with
me.) The parents introduce a toy and put the aids in. If the child takes the aid
out, the toy "goes away". Then, as the hearing aid is calmly replaced,
the toy is given back to the child.
 There are a few things you should look into if
your child is not beginning to leave them in, or if they have been leaving them in but are
now removing them:
- Are the hearing aids and settings appropriate for your child? Are they working?
- If the hearing aids are not working properly, have disturbing sounds or are of no
benefit, the child just will not leave the hearing aids in.
- Are the earmolds new?
- Sometimes new earmolds just don't fit right and the child can't hear as well with them.
- They may be rubbing a sore spot on the ear, making it painful to leave the hearing aids
in.
- They may be allergic to the materials the ear mold are made of, or the
dye used to tint them. Each of the earmold manufacturers can make earmolds
that are hypo-allergenic.
- Are the earmolds old?
- Sometimes when they outgrow their earmolds, feedback isn't the first noticeable sign. In
my son's case, he notices a drop in his hearing before we get feedback problems.
- Are the earmolds appropriate?
- The best hearing aids in the world won't help a child if the earmolds are not
appropriate. Slight changes in the earmold or tubing can cause drastic differences in the
sound your child receives. Appropriate, proper fitting earmolds are as essential to
providing sound to your child as the hearing aids are.
- Is your child getting an ear infection?
- This can make it painful to wear hearing aids. If hearing aids cause discomfort or pain,
the child won't leave them in.
- Does your child have hardened ear wax in the ear canal?
- Hardened ear wax can cause discomfort to a hearing aid user.
- Does your child think they make them feel different and they just want to be like
everybody else?
- Sometimes comments from others can make your child feel uncomfortable or embarrassed
about wearing hearing aids. I'll give you a few ideas for making their hearing aids
"cool" below (click here to go there now).
- Does your child have tubes?
- Normally, tubes do not interfere with hearing aids. However, when the
tubes come out of the tympanic membrane and lay in the auditory canal, placing the earmold
into the ear may be pushing the tube back up against the tympanic membrane causing pain,
and the possibility of damage to the membrane. We went through 8 doctors (and 2 months)
before they figured out the problem. I've heard from a number of parents
whose child went through this. If your child has tubes in addition to hearing
aids and suddenly gives a pain reaction when you put the hearing aids in, please have your
doctor check to see if this could be the problem.
- Is this happening only in the car or near a computer?
- Make sure your child's hearing aids aren't switched to T-coil (my son's have a setting
where the mic and the T-coil can both be on at the same time). If his T-coil switch is on
all he hears are the sounds of the car engine. The same type of thing happens near a
computer.
- Road noise could also be the cause. There is so much background noise in the car that
gets amplified that your child may just be overwhelmed.
 If the problem is the
hearing aids won't stay behind the ear, but flops around, make sure the child's
hearing aid has a pediatric sized earhook on it. While this may not completely
eliminate the problem, it can help.
 OK, so you're working on the above, but in the
meantime what can you do so that your child doesn't lose these expensive devices? .
- You can make the hearing aids easier to spot in the event that your child leaves them
laying somewhere:
- Super Seals cover the hearing aid casing and
come in a variety of colors. A blue or yellow hearing aid may be easier to spot in the
grass than a beige one. If their colors don't suit you, I've heard from others who say
that they just cut off the lower part of a balloon, roll it down like you would a sock,
and use that over the hearing aid. You may have to experiment a little to see what shape
and size balloon give you the best fit. If you use this idea, it would probably be a good
idea to use some method of moisture control. If you want to take this idea just one step
further, almost all of the hearing aid manufacturers now have
hearing aids that come in colors. Here
are Phonak's
and Eurion's. If you use Super Seals or
Balloons on a young child's hearing aids, please be careful not to allow
the child to chew on them due to the risk of choking. (The Super Seals
site appears to only load with Internet Explorer. If the above link
doesn't work for you, I've put some info about them on a Super
Seals page on our site.)
- Earwear are fashion hearing
aid covers.
- Colored earmolds come in bright colors and can also make hearing aids
easier to spot. Check out
some of the colors they come in.
- You can attach the hearing aids to the child's shirt or blouse so that they don't go too
far. Huggie Aids has a product out to do just that. Also
available are Critter Clips/Oto-Clips, Kid
Clips, and SafeNSound security
straps.
Click on the links to see a picture of these products or to find out more.
Also, many of the ideas presented in the section below about dressing up
hearing aids would work as well. Some
folks use dental floss to connect the 2 hearing aids and pin the string to the back of the
shirt. One mother tells me she uses a clip on her child's hearing aid that
was actually meant to keep a pacifier from falling to the ground. Other folks
tell me they use an eyeglass cord with the loop placed around the earhook. A
mother explains to us how she does it:
What I found to work exceptionally well was to buy those cheap little cords that hold
onto your glasses. You need the kind with the flexible loop at the ends. I was able to
take the rubber loop at the end and get it completely around the BTE power-aids my son
had. It was a nice snug fit and he couldn't get it off even when he tried. He liked being
able to pick whatever color holder he wanted for the day also. I tied a small loop at the
center and used it to hook the safety pin through, then pinned it to the inside of the
collar. Last year I decorated some of them with beads with his name on it and he loved
that!!!
- Now you can both make the hearing aid/cochlear processor easier to spot, and add the security
of a cord. Ear Gear was designed to
help cut down on loss
and damage, protect against sweat and allow
for a more active lifestyle. For adults and children.
- When I first put up the page about Huggie Aids, a mom wrote to me to tell me about a
solution that works for them:
I use a nylon and cotton string. (nylon in the core and cotton for softness on the
outside) Our audiologist supplies this to us. He also inserts the string into the thick
part of the earmold in such a way that it can't be pulled out. Then I tie the string
around where the hook connects to the HA. I put a safety pin on the string and pin it to
my son's shirt. I haven't lost a HA in 6 years. (Maybe I'm testing fate by saying
that.) Jeanne H.
She sent me an old set her son had outgrown so that I could post a picture
here for you. It looks like the audiologist put the string through the vent hole. If you
want to view the image full size, click here. *Note* Have
your audiologist do this only if your child does not normally have a vent hole in their
hearing aid. If they do require a vent hole do not plug it up with a cord (or anything
else), you may affect the acoustics! Instead, have the audie make a second hole in the ear
mold.
- A number of people have written about caps from Hanna
Andersson:
- Another thing I hear a lot about is using toupee tape to hold the hearing aid to the
side of the head. There have also been some reports of this tape causing a rash (it's made
out of latex).
We use TopStick brand toupee tape. It comes in strips about the size of a Band-Aid. I
cut that strip into about 10 small strips, which fit the back of
a mini-BTE perfectly! We like this brand as opposed to the kind that comes in a roll,
because this has backing on both sides, rather than just one side. Easy to clip a few
dozen strips and toss them in a wallet, diaper bag, etc...
The thing I *don't* like about toupee tape, though, is that once my son pulls the aid
off, which he likes to do sometimes (mmm, yummy to chew!), you have to use a NEW piece of
tape, because it doesn't re-stick very well. It also doesn't work all that well with Super
Seals. It sticks all right, but because the seals are made of latex, there's a lot of
friction when, say, a collar or something else rubs up against the aid. So I had to keep
reapplying the tape every time it came unstuck because of a rogue collar. We alternate,
now. If he's on a kick where he's pulling the aids out and chewing on them a lot (like
now!), we just use the seals, and forget about the tape. But when he's not as interested
in his ears, we forego the seals and, er, "stick to" the tape.
:-) --Kerri
- One Audiologist writes to me and tells me that some parents of the
children she serves use a product called It
Stays which can be found at some medical supply places and pharmacies.
She tells us:
"This product is great because it is an adhesive especially made
for use on the skin. Also, if the hearing aids come off, you can re-stick
them without having to re-apply the adhesive. The parents that have used
this have really liked it."
- You can use a product designed to help keep the hearing aid in the child's ears. Huggie Aids has 2 such products, one without a cord, and one with.
 Make
Hearing Aids Look Cool!
An older child concerned
with how hearing aids look can make their hearing aids "cool" by allowing them
to customize them with the ideas below. I have heard from a number of people who have
tried one or more of these ideas and it's done the trick.
The reason I mention that it's for older kids is that when you make them
look spiffy, other kids may want to touch them or grab them. So, in the case of
younger children, please keep in mind the age of the classmates/playmates and if
this would be a problem or not.
- I just ran across a site for a company in Germany that has me green with
envy. Perhaps those of use who live elsewhere can look forward to the day
when these hearing aids are available for our kids. Visit this page
http://www.heba.de/
and select your language (go ahead and select whatever you want... the site
is in German!). Anyway, there is a picture of a BTE on the bottom right
side of the screen - click away. These colorfully designed hearing
aid covers with matching ear-hooks and ear-molds would bring delight to
adults as well as children.
- Egger, an earmold
lab in Germany, has some interesting earmolds. The ones they have in silicone
are about the same as the ones currently available here, but their selection
of acrylic earmolds is something else.
Choose your language by clicking on one of the flags.
In the black bar that runs across the top of the new page, click on
'Products". In the last column on the new page, click on 'Color Collection'
Now click on 'Colored Acrylic Earmolds' on the left-hand side of your
screen. It will take a few moments for the new screen to come up. Click on the
name to view a larger picture of these. If you click on the picture, you'll
get an error message that it can't be found.
- Ear Gear are covers or the
hearing aid/CI. They come in some really great colors/patterns.
- Earwear are fashion hearing
aid covers.
- Colored earmolds come in bright colors and can also make hearing aids
easier to spot. Check out
some of the colors
Eartronix and
All American
Mold offers.
- Westone - I'd like to let you know about some of the
things Westone has to offer, that isn't readily apparent from their catalog,
but which I think is really neat. In addition to the
colored earmolds, they go beyond that. They offer custom
colored tubing to either match or contrast with the earmolds. They also
have earmolds called 'disappear' that blend in better and make them less
noticeable (for those who don't want people to notice their earmolds) and have
special tubing with this coloration as well. One thing
they offer, that my son just LOVES and no other audiologist who has seen them
knows about is GLOW IN THE DARK earmolds! They come in 3 colors: blue/green,
purple, and yellow/green. Here are some pictures of them in regular light and
glowing, but the pictures don't do the 'glow' any justice. It's really a
strong glow and I can see them starting to glow when my son comes in from outside into regular room light.
- Super Seals allow you to change the color of the
hearing aid. They come in a variety of colors. If their colors don't suit you, I've heard
from others who say that they just cut off the lower part of a balloon, roll it down like
you would a sock, and use that over the hearing aid. You may have to experiment a little
to see what shape and size balloon give you the best fit. If you use this idea, it would
probably be a good idea to use some method of moisture control. If you want to take this
idea just one step further, almost all of the hearing aid manufacturers now have hearing aids that come in colors. Here
are Phonak's
and Eurion's.
- One of my regular contributors says she solved the problem with letting her daughter put
beads on the tubing between the ear hook and the earmold. If you do this please be sure
that the beads used do not compress the tubing as this can change the properties of the
sounds the earmold delivers to your child's ear.
- Glittery stickers on the casing was another idea submitted by the same mom. If you're
reluctant to put stickers directly on the casing you could put
Super Seals on first.
- I heard from a couple of people that they use the
stickers/decals designed for
fingernails to help spiff up their hearing aids. Temporary Tattoos are
another idea. Some even come in glow-in-the-dark or glitter! Another person tells me
that they glued body jewels or fingernail jewels on their hearing aids. I found some at a local
store and tried sticking them on one of my son's spare hearing aids to get an
idea of what it would look like. This would be a great idea for a girl's
hearing aids. If you can't find any stickers or jewels to use, try looking at
your local beauty supply store. If you decide to glue these on, please use
care in selecting your glue, or else the jewels will become a permanent addition
to the hearing aid case. I've tested some and found that eyelash adhesive (the
kind for full lashes and is a paste, not the kind for individual lashes and is
a liquid) peeled off when I wanted it to - but please be sure to first test
whatever glue you choose to use on an area of the hearing aid that won't show.
Deafness
In Disguise Exhibit: Concealed Hearing Devices of the 19th and 20th Centuries
Gold
Hearing Aid as Bling Medical Gadget
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