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Are you worried that your child isn’t learning as well as they should be? Do you feel like their peers are able to understand concepts faster, or are leaving your child behind? If your child isn’t learning as quickly as their peers, the best thing you can do is schedule a hearing test, and determine if they’re suffering from hearing loss. Early intervention and treatment are key if your child is struggling to hear.
This May, join the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) as they celebrate Better Hearing and Speech Month. This is a great time in look after the hearing health of your whole family, and for more than 90 years, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists have spent the month of May raising awareness of speech and hearing disorders, and encouraging Americans to seek treatment. The theme for 2019 is “Communication Across the Lifespan” and you can find more information about the ASHA and Better Hearing and Speech Month at http://www.asha.org/bhsm/.
Hearing loss takes a toll at any age, but for children struggling to hear, every day that they can’t hear clearly affects their whole future. Childhood is a time of rapid growth and learning, and hearing is closely linked to learning how to speak and communicate. When a child has hearing loss, they’re not able to hear what’s been said, and struggle to learn listening skills. Their speech development is also slowed, and this affects their writing and reading skills. Since writing and reading are the foundation for all future skills, children with hearing loss are at a huge disadvantage compared to their hearing peers.
Childhood is also the time we learn how to interact with our families, develop friendships, and learn to communicate. For a child living with untreated hearing loss, just getting through each day is a struggle, and they’re often delayed in developing social skills, and risk being ostracized by other children.
It might be difficult to recognize the signs of hearing loss in your child. In fact, their teacher might notice it before you do. Signs include seeming distracted, or not answering when called. You might think your child is ignoring you, when really, they never heard you call them. Other signs include answering questions in a way that doesn’t make sense or asking you to repeat what you said. Children with hearing loss often have limited speech and are frequently inattentive.
When it comes to treating your child’s hearing loss, the first step is to schedule a comprehensive hearing test to determine their level of hearing loss. This non-invasive test is fun for the kids, and all they have to do is listen and indicate if they’ve heard a sound or not. Once you know more about their hearing loss, you can find the perfect devices that will help them hear, and allow them to learn and grow along with their hearing peers.
If you’re worried that your child might have hearing loss, visit us today at Sate Hearing and Audiology to book a hearing test. We have hearing aids just for children, and they’ll be excited to put them on each morning to hear rich, full sound. They come in a variety of colors to match skin and hair tone, or if your child wants a chance to show them off, they also come in bright colors that will make all the other kids in class jealous. Our hearing aids come with a range of features to help your child learn, from directionality technology to speech enhancement that will help them hear the teacher. The devices will also reduce background noise, and help your child focus.
Along with getting hearing aids, your child might need to visit a speech and language pathologist to help them improve their speaking abilities, and catch up with their hearing peers. This could be through listening and speaking exercises, as well as using hand cues, or even learning some ESL.
Call us today at State Hearing and Audiology, and celebrate Better Hearing and Speech month with us.
