Hearing and Kids

Children with hearing loss need access to classroom information. Ideally, they would be able to hear the teacher speak and follow conversation with their peers in a noisy classroom, but the truth of the matter is, that is not always possible. If the teacher is using an FM system, the child will likely hear her, but will he hear his

Pediatric audiology is a complex profession. In addition to diagnostic responsibilities, pediatric audiologists need to provide and monitor habilitation services including selecting and fitting technology and counseling services to the families and the children they serve. Audiologists are case managers. So what are the components of their jobs?   Diagnosing hearing loss First, we need to diagnose degree and type

Now that summer is half over it’s time to think about the fall. What should parents of children with hearing loss be looking for in a pre-school program? Perhaps the first question to ask is should they be looking for a pre-school program? And, if the answer is yes, when should they start looking?   Should children with hearing loss

I frequently get contacted for assistance by families who have concerns about their child’s performance, or by families whom I used to care for and who have either moved away or who have begun receiving their services from other professionals since I retired from full-time clinical work. In the last few weeks I received a phone call from one family

The world is a very noisy place and much of what children learn, they have to learn listening in noise. Hearing in noise requires the ability to hear with both ears. Binaural hearing enables us to focus on the speech signal and ignore the noise. Language is a left-brain activity and the majority of the input to the right ear

The fact that we have two ears does not mean that both of them hear the same way. So should the hearing aids on both ears be the same? Maybe yes, but maybe no. We really need to test to know. I wear eyeglasses and I know that my eyes are not the same. If my prescription were the same

I have just returned from a week in England attending the British Society of Audiology, where I spoke at the Pediatric Audiology Interest Group. This group consists of a variety of people who work with children with hearing loss – audiologists, teachers of the deaf, speech-language pathologists, auditory verbal therapists, and physicians. Some parents also attended. This meeting is similar

Today’s blog was written by Patricia Ramirez, Au.D. Dr. Ramirez received her undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona, her master’s degree from Arizona State University, and her Doctorate from A.T. Still University.  She worked clinically and dispensed hearing aids for 5 years in the Phoenix Metro area before joining a hearing aid manufacturer, where she worked as a Customer Trainer,

It is not enough to have hearing aids on. It is also essential that we know that they are working appropriately. Checking hearing aids is a two-part process. First, the hearing aids need to be checked by the audiologist to be sure all is okay. That means that the hearing aids need to be providing enough gain throughout the frequency

We know, for sure, that kids need to hear all day long in order to learn language, and to be ready to read. Typical hearing kids hear 24 hours a day. Children with hearing loss hear only when they have their technology on. Here is what else we know: Typical children hear 46 million words by age 4 years Children