With school starting back, there are many preparations to make sure that your student is ready to get back into the classroom. One major component to learning that is often overlooked is hearing.
According to the CDC, 14.9% of children ages 6-19 have some type of hearing loss. While some common causes of hearing loss in children are ear infections and meningitis, some can be caused by genetic factors also.
Even if your child has passed hearing screenings in the past, it is still important to be aware of the following signs and have their hearing tested should any of these begin.
Signs and Symptoms:
- Speech is delayed.
- Speech is not clear.
- Turns up the volume too high on TV, iPad, or other handheld devices.
If your child has trouble hearing, below are some strategies that can be helpful at school. These are especially important for reading, spelling, and language-related classes.
Seating strategies:
- Near the area of the classroom from which the teacher usually addresses the class (i.e. close to the teacher).
- With favorable lighting such that the student is able to see the teacher’s face clearly.This should allow the student to use visual and facial cues to supplement the auditory cues for the understanding of speech.
- Away from noisy fans, windows, doors, etc. Also away from those students who tend to talk to their neighbors while the teacher is talking.
- So that the student is easily able to turn and face other students during class discussions.
Other strategies:
- Ask for written instructions.
Using these methods can help mitigate the struggle of a child with difficulty hearing, but most important is to have your child’s hearing tested, especially if there are any signs or symptoms of difficulty hearing. Contact SoundLogic today to schedule your child for a hearing test.