Approximately 2 out of every 1,000 children are born with some degree of hearing loss. The beginning of your child’s journey with hearing aids is going to be emotional and overwhelming for both you and your child, and we understand that. To help you and your child feel more comfortable and confident with the process, let’s discuss what you can expect to happen at their first hearing aid fitting appointment.
Explaining What Hearing Aids Do
First, let’s cover some quick basics. If your child is feeling nervous, it may help for them to know more about hearing aids and how they work. Knowledge is power, and kids are naturally curious about the world around them!
Your child’s hearing aids will have four basic parts: the microphone, which picks up sound; the processor, which receives the sound from the microphone and amplifies specific tones as prescribed by your child’s hearing loss, and it decides which sounds to amplify (like speech) and which sounds to suppress (like traffic noise); the speaker, which projects the processed sounds into the ear canal; and the battery, which powers the whole device.
Step 1: The Hearing Test
The old proverb “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” certainly applies here. Before we can make any decisions about hearing aids for your child, they need to sit for a comprehensive hearing test.
An audiologist may use a couple of different tests to get a complete picture of your child’s hearing loss, but all tests are quick and non-invasive. The most common tests involve wearing noise-canceling headphones in a soundproof room and interacting with audio played through the headphones.
Note: this is for a child; a hearing screening for an infant will look different.
Step 2: Selecting the Right Device
Using the results from your child’s hearing assessment, the audiologist will make their recommendations, and you, as the parent, will discuss options. Depending on the age of your child, they may be involved in this discussion. In fact, we encourage it! Participation in the process can help children feel more connected to and excited for what’s to come.
Step 3: Taking Ear Impressions
Children are active and constantly growing. Therefore, we make sure that your child’s hearing aids are custom-fit to their ear canal shape and size to ensure the most comfortable fit and minimize the risk of them falling out.
To make custom-fit hearing aids, the audiologist will take an impression of your child’s ear canal using a soft, squishy impression material. This material will fill the entire ear and will take a couple of minutes to set, so your child will need to sit patiently for this part and not touch their ears.
Once the ear impression molds have set, we can order the earmolds for your child’s devices. Many children have fun choosing what color they’ll be!
Step 4: Putting the Hearing Aids in for the First Time
Steps 1–3 all take place in the same appointment, after which the audiologist will order the hearing aids and earmolds for your child. Once those have arrived at the clinic, you and your child will return to have them properly fit. Get your child excited for this appointment; they’ll walk out of the building with their brand-new custom-made hearing aids!
At the office, the audiologist will place the hearing aids in your child’s ears and ensure that the earmolds fit properly and the hearing aids are programmed correctly. Immediately, your child will begin to hear sounds like never before!
Step 5: Education and Guidance
Bring a notebook for this part. At this stage, your child’s audiologist will go over basic care and maintenance instructions for the hearing aids. They’ll talk about how to take the hearing aids out and put them in, why you need to keep them dry, how to clean them and how to change the battery, among other things.
Beyond
After this, your child has begun their hearing aid journey! We’ll be with you and your child with follow-up care and access to in-office hearing aid maintenance. We encourage both you and your child to ask us any questions you have. Contact Lakelands ENT to learn more.
