By Bridgid M. Whitford Au.D, CCC-A, Director of
Hearing Services, Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center.
Your beautiful baby is born and the feelings of joy are immense. Everything is brand new and a little overwhelming. The routine hearing screening is performed. Then hospital staff says your baby needs more testing.
You reply, “Wait. What? My baby needs more testing? That doesn’t make sense — we have no history of hearing loss in the family. My baby is healthy.” It can be overwhelming.
The results from a subsequent full diagnostic test show a permanent hearing loss and the audiologist recommends hearing aids.
Before the audiologist brought out the hearing aid for my daugher, a vision of an older gentleman at church with his large ears and orthopedic-looking hearing aids flashed in my head. Instead, it was the cutest little pair of sparkling, pink hearing aids. She explained that with consistent use of hearing aids my child will be able to meet developmental milestones in speech and language just like a child without hearing loss.
The audiologist also explained that children feed off the emotions of the adults around them. If I am embarrassed of the hearing loss and hearing aids, my child will grow up believing her hearing loss is something to be ashamed. If I embrace and love my child as she is, she will grow up to be self confident and can achieve anything. The audiologist provided me these tips when we began our journey:
- Insist my daughter wear her hearing aids all day, every day, so she can develop speech and language. This includes special occasions like her first birthday party and school picture days. These hearing aids will be a part of who my daughter is.
- Have fun with the hearing aids. I ordered the pink ones, but it was a tough decision because the bright blue ones also were adorable. The audiologist even gave me cool stickers I can take on and off to match my daughter’s outfit. As my daughter grows, she will be able to choose her own colors.
- Address any questions straight on. Other children or even adults may ask “What is on her ears?” or “Why does she need those?” Answer simply and honestly: “She has a hearing loss and needs sounds to be louder to hear. These hearing aids help her hear better.
- Give people the benefit of the doubt. If someone is looking at my child’s hearing aids, they may not be trying to be rude. They may just be curious. Perhaps they have never seen a baby with hearing aids before (to be fair, I had not myself). Smile at them or initiate a conversation.
- Love your child and enjoy the ride.
