Hearing and Kids

The world of audiology has changed dramatically since I started in this field in 1963. I was fortunate to have a wonderful mentor, David Luterman, who helped me to understand the role of grief for audiologists and for the families we work with. The work of Kris English, Johnnie Sexton, and others has made it clear than many audiologists do

Spring time and a bunch of newly minted people will graduate as audiologists. Some will even be pediatric audiologists. (Hurrah – we need as many as we can get!! ) What does it take to become a good (or great) pediatric audiologist? Pediatric audiology is different than adult audiology. For both you need to understand  all the basics of testing

I have recently started taking piano lessons again after many years and am having a wonderful time. While I have continued to sing and to play guitar but the piano is different. It is reminding me of how important music is to brain development. The Brain Volts Lab at Northwestern run by the brilliant clinician Nina Kraus has done a

Years ago, when we were only implanting one ear, there was a great deal of discussion about whether to implant the right or left ear. Sometimes the two ears have significantly different hearing. When only one ear was being implanted or one ear was implanted first, there was a lot of discussion about which ear to implant first. Some thought

I have recently gotten hearing aids and it reminded me that we need to remember that adjusting to new technology is an effort for everyone. I remember in the olden days when people moved from analog to digital hearing aids both children and adults were certain that the new hearing aids weren’t working because they just didn’t sound as loud.

We know how important it is provide support services to children with hearing loss in school. It is just as important to provide support with after school activities. There are several things do consider. Vocabulary Does the child know all the words associated with the activity? Don’t assume. In sports activities think about all the words that might come up

It’s a new year. What do we have to do during this year to help children with hearing loss succeed? Listening is the basis of success We have to be certain that the children are hearing what they need to hear. For children to succeed they need to hear everything that is happening in school and out of school. Remember

There have been several studies recently which remind us how important it is that children with hearing loss use their technology every waking hour. The Boys Town group has done many wonderful studies over the years. Several years ago they reported that children who wore hearing aids 10 or more hours/day performed significantly better than kids who did not wear

All the research has shown that if babies wear technology 10 or more hours/day they will have good access to language and brain development. But all of us who work with families who have a difficult time keeping technology on children. Why is it that some families have a difficult time getting children to accept technology? What can we do

When I was supervising new audiologists I always recommend a very old book about diagnosis. It was a book by Helmer Myklebust and was entitled AUDITORY DISORDERS IN CHILDREN: a manual for differential diagnosis. It was published in 1954. Myklebust was  a professor of audiology in the School of Medicine at Northwestern University and Director of the Children’s Hearing and