By Susan L Fenrich, BC-HIS
*Board Certified in Hearing Instrument Specialist

Better Hearing Tips for the Classroom:

• Hearing Aid Maintenance: Having your child’s hearing aids cleaned professionally will improve the hearing aid’s performance. With all the heat and humidity from these past few months, we have removed a lot of moisture of our patient’s hearing aids. Our REDUX, removes all moisture from the hearing aids, significantly improving the sound clarity and preventing costly repairs caused by corrosion. In addition, with a needle vac, debris, dead skin cells, and earwax are suctioned out of the microphones, speaker, and battery door.
• Batteries: You don’t want your child’s hearing aid to die in the middle of class. Make sure that you have plenty of extra hearing aid batteries, or an extra charger stored in the locker, desk, or back-pack.
• Storage: It is good to store the aids in a hard case or even a Super Dri-Aid™ desiccant jar, when not in use during a swimming class or contact sports during physical education. Hearing aids are not waterproof and should not be stored in the gym locker room due to the high humidity generated from the showers and/or the swimming pool.
• Cleaning Kit: Hearing aid cleaning tools such as a brush or wire pick, along with Audio Wipes™ and wax guards would be good to have on hand if the hearing aids get dirty or full of wax.
• Small Notebook: If your child’s hearing loss prevents them from communicating well with others, it would be a good idea for them to carry a small notebook for writing notes to the teacher or to classmates.
• Assistive Hearing Technology: If your child uses hearing technology to make them hear better in the classroom, make sure the teachers know how to use it too. Most hearing aid manufacturers make small body worn microphones that the teachers may wear to wirelessly send their voice directly to into the student’s ears via the hearing aids.
• Schedule a check-up: If there has been a decline in your child’s hearing, a visit to a Hearing Professional for a hearing test and reprogramming will ensure the hearing aid is optimized for communication in the classroom.
• Communicate: Make sure that you talk to the teachers and principal about your child and the expectations you have regarding your child’s educational plan. Tell your child to tell the teacher if he is not hearing or understanding what is being said in the classroom. If your child is a lipreader, have the teacher wear masks that have a clear window so the mouth is visible. Have your child sit closer to the front of the class if needed.

Reviewing these hearing tips will help ensure a happy and productive return to the classroom for your child.

The content contributions of Welsch Hearing Aid Company should not be considered by anyone as a substitute for medical or other hearing health professional diagnosis, treatment, advice, or recommendation.