resources for Hearing
about hearing loss and deafness, school hearing screenings, hearing hygiene, & more
Embedded Files
hearing impairment & deafness
hearing impairment & deafness
Hearing Impairment = hearing loss below 90 decibels. Deafness = hearing loss above 90 decibels.
Children diagnosed with a hearing impairment or with deafness may receive speech/language services as part of their Individualized Education Program. The SLP works with other specialists, such as a teacher of the Deaf and special education teacher, to help the child develop and access their communication system--- be it spoken, visual, or a combination. The SLP may also be the person in the building designated oversee classroom and personal amplification systems (and I'll gladly store extra hearing aid batteries for your student! I know how hard those tiny things can be to keep up with!).
School hearing screenings
School hearing screenings
Hearing screenings are just a quick, simple test. They are "pass" or "fail." If the child passes, it means we can reasonably assume that they have no hearing loss! If they fail (don't hear one or more of the tones on the test), it means they need a full hearing evaluation to see if they have a hearing loss or not.
School hearing screenings are usually conducted by SLPs or other medical professionals (like nursing students, who help with Pre-K health screenings); a full hearing evaluation is conducted by an audiologist.
All kindergarten and 2nd grade students in the Tuscaloosa City Schools have grade-level hearing screenings at some point in their fall semester. All Pre-K students have them as part of grade-level health screenings.
A child's teacher may send home a permission slip to ask for permission to do a hearing screening in order to rule out that there is a hearing loss contributing to their trouble learning.
All students who are evaluated for special education must have a hearing screening.
HYGIENE for your hearing: tips to maintain healthy hearing!
HYGIENE for your hearing: tips to maintain healthy hearing!
If your child has normal hearing and you want to keep it that way,
If your child has normal hearing and you want to keep it that way,
help them learn about protecting their hearing!
help them learn about protecting their hearing!
The specialized cells deep inside your ears are very sensitive. Listening to loud noises over a period of time can hurt them! Keep the volume turned down in your car, on the TV, and especially whenever using headphones with an electronic device (if the sound can be heard outside the headphones, it is too loud!).
Have your child wear ear plugs or noise canceling headphones when they attend big sporting events like college and professional football and basketball games, go to see an airplane show, or see a loud movie in a theater.
Here's a saying that SLPs, audiologists (hearing loss specialists), and otolaryngologists (ear, nose, and throat doctors) use: "Never put anything smaller than an elbow in your ear." That means you shouldn't put anything in your ear or in your child's ear...that's right, not even Q-Tips! You can clean the outside of the ear with warm water on a cloth, but you should never try to remove wax. Wax is actually an important helper to your ears to keep them clean and healthy. People who use Q-Tips can hurt their hearing by puncturing their ear drum (ouch!) or by packing the wax in so much that it blocks out sound. Check out these videos about ear wax and Q-Tips:
Do you Want to learn more about the ear?
Do you Want to learn more about the ear?
Here's a five minute, kid-friendly video that teaches about the anatomy of the ear and how our hearing works!
Have a question about Hearing?
Have a question about Hearing?
Get in touch! We're happy to help you find the answers you're looking for.
Get in touch! We're happy to help you find the answers you're looking for.
Please note, the information on this site is by no means exhaustive or fully comprehensive! These are just a few tips and resources to help you along the way. For more information, please speak to your child's speech-language pathologist or other related professional.
Report abuse