Help for Kids to Hear

Assistive listening devices and hearing aids can help kids by improving their hearing. Cochlear implants can simulate hearing for profoundly deaf children. The first step to treating hearing loss is a visit to a primary-care physician or an ear, nose and throat specialist to check if there is actual hearing loss, find the cause of the problem and determine a possible treatment.

Diagnosis

• Parents can choose to bring their child to see an audiologist, a health-care professional who specializes in diagnosing and treating hearing disorders. To do this, parents must sign a waiver because Food and Drug Administration regulations require people to see a doctor first. If physicians diagnose children with hearing loss, the children will be referred to a hearing-health professional for a hearing test. The hearing test measures the level and kind of hearing loss.

Hearing Aids

• Hearing aids are devices that sit inside the ear and amplify sound. Hearing-aid specialists or audiologists can provide care and often sell hearing aids. These professionals should be certified or licensed, have proper testing equipment in an environment that is sound-controlled, and show competence in working with children to get the right fit. The professionals should explain all prices, insurance, trial periods and warranties. Prices, services and testing procedures vary greatly among hearing health professionals.

Assistive Listening Systems

• A number of different systems can enhance children's hearing. An induction loop is a wire that has an electric current running through it, creating a magnetic field that amplifies and duplicates a sound signal. FM systems are transmitters that operate like a radio station. They use special frequencies that are set aside for FM-system users. An infrared system uses technology similar to a remote control by beaming invisible rays of light to a receiver that senses the light and converts it to sound.

Cochlear Implants

• Cochlear implants are small electronic devices that simulate hearing. A group of electrodes is surgically inserted, bypassing the damaged parts of the ear. The electrode array collects impulses from a receiver simulator that transmits impulses to different parts of the auditory nerve. A speech processor is implanted behind the ear on the outside of the head. The speech processor selects and organizes sounds that are picked up by an attached microphone. A cochlear implant does not restore hearing, but the sound simulation helps children have spoken conversations and interpret environmental sounds.

Criteria for Implantation

• Medical specialists, including an experienced cochlear-implant surgeon, make the decision regarding whether children are suitable candidates for implantation. There are many factors to be considered, such as the potential risks of the surgery and whether parents can afford the expensive procedure. After the surgery, children must have intensive speech and language therapy. Older children and adults who have already acquired language can also benefit from implantation. Most children receive cochlear implants between the ages of 2 and 6.