NAERUM, DK— The Ida Institute has created a counseling tool to help clinicians view the hearing rehabilitation process through the eyes of a pediatric patient. In so doing, My World: Understanding Hearing Loss from the Child’s Perspective is expected to enable practitioners to better address the challenges that children with hearing loss face in their day-to-day interactions.
This latest addition to the institute’s expanding collection of patient-centered counseling tools, My World uses a child-friendly format to allow the professional and the child to explore together how hearing loss affects child’s daily life and to collaborate on formulating goals and strategies that result in better communication.
“It is not easy to engage children and discover their point of view,” said Lise Lotte Bundesen, Ida’s managing director. “Audiologists often must rely on a parent or teacher to understand a child’s experience of hearing loss. This tool helps children get in touch with and express what is important to them. With this insight, hearing professionals can identify and reinforce communication strategies that are working well and agree upon new strategies to cope with challenges.”
COUNSELING THROUGH PLAY
My World features child-friendly graphics
My World was developed through a collaborative process involving 35 pediatric hearing care professionals from around the world and Ida Institute faculty members and staff.
The counseling tool consists of three illustrations depicting different environments–a home, a school, and an outdoor area–and various movable pieces that represent the everyday life of a child. By playing with the elements and re-creating scenes from their own lives, children can discuss successes and challenges related to communication and identify which situations are important to them.
Hearing care professionals can learn more about the My World tool and how to obtain it from the institute.
Established in 2007 with a grant from the Oticon Foundation, the Ida Institute seeks to foster a better understanding of the human dynamics associated with hearing loss.
