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The Importance of Early Treatment for Childhood Hearing Loss: Options and Guidelines

Getting a child with hearing loss immediate treatment is vital to his or her developmental, learning, and behavioral abilities. Treatment options will be based on the type, severity, and frequency of your child’s hearing loss. A pediatric hearing aid doctor will offer treatment guidelines after learning about your child’s medical history and doing a complete hearing assessment.

child receiving hearing aid

Why Behind-The-Ear (BTE) Hearing Aids Are Ideal for Children

There are several styles of hearing aids for adults, but children are typically fitted with Behind The Ear (BTE) hearing aids. BTE hearing aids have a casing, which sits behind the ear and houses all the electronics, which attaches over the top of the ear by wire to a speaker, which sits in the ear canal. These hearing aids are the most powerful and effective for relaying consistent, understandable sound. Due to their reliability and power, they are considered the best option for children whose language skills development is a higher priority than cosmetic concerns.

Hearing Aid Models for Older Children

In some cases, especially in older children whose language is mostly developed, a pediatric audiologist may suggest other models of hearing aids for your child. While these hearing aids may not be as effective, they are appealing due to their cosmetics and comfort. Smaller, sleeker styles including In The Ear (ITE), In The Canal (ITC), Completely In the Canal (CIC), and Receiver In the Canal (RIC) hearing aids.

Hearing Aid Accessories for Children

Along with your child’s hearing aids, there are a number of important accessories that can improve language and learning. Children and adults alike commonly use classroom-specific hearing aid accessories, as classes and lecture halls prove to be some of the hardest places to focus for those with hearing loss. For older children who understand their hearing loss, wireless remote control accessories and apps allow for precise hearing aid adjustments without having to touch the tiny and delicate controls on the hearing devices themselves. Other similar accessories can allow your child to wirelessly connect directly to important equipment like televisions, cell phones, computers, and MP3 players, which will help them relate more easily to their peers and family members.

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