Status of school children's hearing aids relative to monitoring practices

Effects of Grade and School Services on Children's Responsibility for Hearing Aid Care

Purpose We investigated trends in hearing aid maintenance and assumption of responsibility for hearing aids in school-age children who are hard of hearing. Specifically, we examined the extent to which families own necessary hearing aid maintenance equipment, whether and by whom hearing aid maintenance tasks are being completed, and the effects of grade and receipt of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 plan on a child's assumption of responsibility for hearing aid care. Method Participants included 167 children who are hard of hearing in 1st to 4th grade. Caregivers reported whether the families owned various types of hearing aid maintenance equipment (listening tube, battery tester, and dri-aid kit) and who normally completes various hearing aid maintenance tasks. Information about children's audiological characteristics was also collected. Results Thirty-two percent of families reported not owning at least 1 piece of hearing aid maintenance equipment. Using a battery tester and performing a listening check were the maintenance tasks completed the least frequently, with 49% and 28% of caregivers reporting that these tasks are not completed regularly, respectively. Children's responsibility for hearing aid maintenance increased with grade. After controlling for maternal education and degree of hearing loss, children with an IEP or 504 plan took more responsibility for hearing aid maintenance tasks than children without these services. Conclusion Important hearing aid maintenance tasks, such as listening checks, are not completed regularly for many children, even when families own the necessary equipment. Ensuring that children who are hard of hearing have an IEP or 504 plan throughout elementary school may support self-advocacy and encourage children to take responsibility for their hearing aids, which may lead to more consistent hearing aid functioning.

Validation of the Chinese Sound Test: Auditory Performance of Hearing Aid Users

PURPOSE

The Chinese Sound Test (Hung, Lin, Tsai, & Lee, 2016) has been recently developed as a modified version of the Ling Six-Sound Test (Ling, 2012). By incorporating Chinese speech sounds, this test should be able to estimate whether the listener can hear across the Chinese speech spectrum. To establish the clinical validity of the test, this study examined the relationship between the aided audiometric thresholds and the distance thresholds.

METHOD

Sixty children with bilateral hearing aids were recruited. The aided sound-field thresholds at 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, and 6000 Hz were compared with the distance thresholds of six sounds, /u, ə, a, i, tɕʰ, and s/, which encompass the entire Chinese speech frequency range from low to high.

RESULTS

Partial correlation and stepwise regression analyses revealed that the Chinese testing sounds are frequency specific and that the audibility of each sound could be predicted by a specific frequency threshold.

CONCLUSIONS

The results confirm the validity of the Chinese Sound Test, indicating that the testing sounds can be reliably used to assess the perception of frequency-specific information. Crucially, these data also demonstrate that the Chinese Sound Test is a useful tool to identify red flags of poor auditory access in daily environment to monitor device malfunctions and possible hearing fluctuations.

Portal dos bebês ? seção aparelho auditivo: avaliação por pais de crianças deficientes auditivas

Objetivo : verificar a auto-avaliação do conhecimento dos pais de crianças deficientes auditivas sobre o Aparelho de Amplificação Sonora Individual (AASI) e molde auricular e como o conteúdo do website “Portal dos Bebês – Seção Aparelhos Auditivos” auxiliou no entendimento de tais informações.Métodos : 22 pais (seis homens e 16 mulheres, idade média 32,6 anos) preencheram anonimamente um formulário online com 36 questões abrangendo dados demográficos, uso da internet, orientação fornecida no momento da adaptação do AASI e auxílio fornecido pelo conteúdo do website.Resultados : no dia da adaptação do AASI materiais informativos foram oferecidos apenas para 52,4% dos pais, no entanto, estes estavam satisfeitos com as orientações recebidas. Em média o auxílio fornecido pelo conteúdo do website foi de 86%. A pontuação atribuída ao conteúdo e a satisfação com o website foi relacionada à idade da criança, tempo de uso do AASI e conhecimento prévio dos pais a respeito dos tópicos sobre o AASI e molde.Conclusões : o “Portal dos Bebês“ é um instrumento que pode auxiliar pais de crianças deficientes auditivas na compreensão das orientações fornecidas no momento da adaptação do AASI. A continuidade do estudo com maior número de participantes é necessária.

Hearing aid functioning in the preschool setting: stepping back in time?

PURPOSE

In order for children with hearing impairment to receive maximum benefit from preschool programs, their amplification devices must be functioning appropriately. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate the functionality of hearing aids in a preschool setting.

METHODS

Forty-four hearing aids worn by 24 preschool children, whose ages ranged from three to five years, (mean age=45.2 months, median age=48 months) from four state funded aural/oral habilitation preschools were evaluated using listening checks and visual examinations. Hearing aids passing both evaluations were given a pass rating and those failing one or more of the evaluations were given a fail rating. Causes of fail rates were documented.

RESULTS

Over half of the hearing aids tested were determined to have at least one or more problems (n=27). These problems were detected using listening and visual checks.

CONCLUSIONS

Failure rates based on basic listening and visual checks among the hearing aids examined in this study demonstrated no improvement over those reported in the 1970's. The results re-emphasize the need for a national dialogue on this topic.

Monitoring Preschoolers' Hearing Aids: Issues in Program Design and Implementation

Review of data obtained from a small sample of parents of preschoolers indicates that although most parents are aware of the need to monitor hearing aids for signs of malfunction, they do not always have the equipment and the skills needed to accomplish the task. Information from studies of physician/parent and audiologist/parent relationships provides a foundation for examining the problem. Data from these sources suggest that marked changes may be possible if clinicians change the ways they interact with parents.

Students as Active Participants in Hearing Aid Maintenance

Twenty students between the ages of 6 and 19 years who were receiving services for students with hearing impairments in a metropolitan, inner-city school system were trained to monitor their own hearing aids. This study investigated the effect of this training on the percentage of students who wore functional hearing aids. Ten of the students received fewer than 3 hours of instruction per day in the regular education setting and generally had hearing losses in the severe to profound range. The remaining 10 students received greater than 3 hours of instruction per day in the regular education setting and had hearing losses in the moderate to severe range. The findings indicated improved hearing aid function when students were actively involved in hearing aid maintenance programs. Recommendations are made concerning hearing aid maintenance in the schools.