Hearing Loss Awareness: Turning invisible hearing loss into the visible you
June 24, 2016
Ask Anna: Why do my hearing aids keep dying at random times?
June 28, 20165 reasons to choose a pediatric hearing aid for your child
With so many choices of hearing aids, and now specific aids made for kids, determining the right aid for a child is not as straight forward as it used to be.
In the past, the choice was limited to which behind-the-ear hearing aid had the power that your child’s hearing loss required. Now, there are many options, styles and features in differing price categories, and even some that are marked as specifically designed for children.
So, what should you choose? And why would your audiologist recommend one or another?
Here are 5 reasons to choose a pediatric hearing aid for your child:
Tamper-proof
With mandatory newborn hearing screening becoming more common, children with hearing losses are being identified earlier, which results in them getting their first pair of hearing aids at a young age. As with any other object in a baby or toddler’s life, they may want to explore their hearing aids, sometimes with their mouths. So, the hearing aid needs to have a tamper-proof battery door and ear hook. Sometimes this means a little more effort for parents and caregivers, but all worthwhile when it comes to safety for your child.
Pediatric Specific Operating System
For the most part, hearing aid technology in the past has focused on the listening needs of adults with hearing loss, and then children were fit with these aids. But by doing this, the hearing aid programs didn’t take into consideration that children are in sometimes very different listening situations – at school, child care, or outside having fun – than an adult who spends more time in calmer environments. With some very high tech operating systems available, hearing aids such as Phonak Sky V, with AutoSense Sky OS, have been set to automatically recognize where a child is, be it the playground or in a cafeteria talking to his friends, and respond more appropriately and comfortably.
RogerReady
Some situations are very difficult for a child to hear in, even with the best hearing aids, like riding in the backseat of the car or hearing their teachers and peers during class discussions. This is when your child’s hearing care professional or educational personnel may suggest a hearing aid accessory, such as a Roger system (made up of a microphone worn/used by the person your child needs to hear and little receivers attached to your child’s hearing aids). Phonak’s pediatric hearing aids are usually ready to add this system, with no extra programming or fuss needed in order to use the accessories. They can automatically recognize when the microphone is on and set the hearing aid program accordingly.
Design and Color
Hearing aids should be comfortable, easy to operate, and dare I say, fun to wear. Pediatric hearing aids usually come in a larger variety of colors. Allowing a child to choose their personal color combination of hearing aid, hook and Roger receiver, allows them to develop ownership and take pride in their hearing devices.
Read more: Why you should let your child choose their hearing aid color
Indicator lights
A new feature on Phonak pediatric hearing aids, is an indicator light, which can be set to parents and caregivers if the hearing aid is on, receiving the Roger signal and if the battery is low. These lights are most helpful when the child doesn’t have the vocabulary or language to tell you how it is working. This pediatric-specific feature can give peace of mind to both the adult and child.
So, whenever your child is in need of new hearing aids, whether he or she is just starting out in life or blasting through the teenage years, pediatric specific hearing aids cater to their specific needs and let them explore their world with confidence.
Learn more about the Phonak Sky V pediatric hearing aids.
