My mom will always tell me stories when I was little about me hiding my hearing aids in strange places…

under the bed
in the closet
in toy chest

and even trying to flush it down the toilet!

One thing I will never figure out at that age is… how the heck did my parents find my hearing aids!?!

Now I know why… apparently my hearing aids makes noise! Thats how they found it.

Now you wonder to yourselves, my students will do the same thing, trying to sneak the hearing aids inside the backpack, in the classroom and other strange places. Why do they do that? Why do they hate their hearing aid so much?

I will give you my top 9 tips.

Tips 1:

Battery dead?  Did you check to see if the battery is good or needs to be replaced?  For obviously reason, student can’t hear and they don’t know how to let the teacher know that battery needs replaced.  This can be a great self-advocate skills to teach the student.

Tip 2:

Is there any wax build up inside the ear?  Sometimes with hearing mold being in the ear for so long and the waxes has no where to go so it ends up building waxes inside the ear canal. Make sure the wax is clear up.

Tip 3:

Is the ear red? The ear could be irritated. Make sure to check to see if the mold is fitted correctly. It might need new ear mold to fit comfortably. Students continue to grow therefore their ear continue to grow as well. On average ear mold replacement needs to be replaced between 5 to 8 months.

Tip 4:

Is there blister inside the ear? Do you remember the pain on your heel from new shoes? If so, think about that pain inside the ear, it is very sensitive when you touch it. So check the student’s ear to see if there is any blisters. If there is one presented, leave hearing aids out for few days for the blisters to heal.

Tips 5:

Is there any fluid/sweat present inside the ear canal? Usually that is very common in warm weathers and sports. Let the ear breath so taking it out for a few minutes to let the ear dry. 15-20 minutes are usually reasonable.

Tip 6:

Is the hearing aids/cochlear implant falling out?  This is very annoying to continue putting it back over and over. There is a special tape made for hearing aid and cochlear implant to stick on the ear and won’t hurt the skin.

Tip 7:

Headaches/background noice?  This is very common to have headache all the time. I mean ALL THE TIME. When there is a lot of background noises going on, it makes the brain work twice as hard to focus and help filter the sounds so we can at least hear what we need to hear. Pep rally, concerts, assembly is an example of times we do get head aches. Best solution for that is to try to keep the classroom background quiet as much as possible.

Tip 8:

Devices could possible be broken?  This is where we do device testing and sound check with the device to ensure it is working properly. This is where daily hearing aid checklist comes in handy to track how often it has happened.

(you can find this in my TPT store Click Here)

Tip 9:

Middle school and high school:
At this age is where self image comes in, they want to feel like they fit in. So wearing hearing aids/cochlear implants may make them feel different. Make a compromise with them, let them know that they can wear without their devices during other classes except for any important classes such as English, Reading, and any self-contained classroom. This will allow the student to feel like they have control of themselves.

 

Tips: Its okay to have the device off for a few minutes, sometimes we need a break from it. Choose your battle on this.

 

You can get this poster and hang it out in your classroom wall. Click Here