Sound Advice on Listening Breaks

 

Listening is tiring!

Dr. Krista Yushow, an expert in educational audiology, shared considerations for helping deaf and hard of hearing children combat listening fatigue in the classroom at the second annual Topics in Pediatric Audiology Conference, hosted by the Center in Nov. 2021.

“When you are hard of hearing you

struggle to hear; when you struggle to hear you get tired;

when you get tired you get frustrated; when

you get frustrated you get bored;

when you get bored you quit”  - Pichora-Fuller (2003)

What is listening fatigue?

In order to understand speech, deaf and hard of hearing children must use more brain power for listening than other children. Their brain has to work harder to process the same information. This causes an increase in stress and eventually, fatigue!

Hearing Aids

Hearing aids improve listening and speech comprehension in quiet listening environments, which helps

decrease listening fatigue.

• Encourage all day use of hearing aids, no matter the severity of hearing loss. Severity of hearing loss does not determine educational impact!
•  Pick bright and fun colors to promote acceptance and pride in their identity.
• Ask your audiologist for fun stickers to put on hearing aids
• Check out hearing aid accessories, earrings, and charms on Etsy!

Personal Remote Microphone Systems 

• Hearing aids provide excellent benefit when your child is close to the speaker. As distance and background noise increase, additional technology is needed to hear and understand speech.
•  Direct microphones transmit the speaker’s voice directly to hearing aids, which help reduce the negative effects of distance and background noise.
• Use in noisy environments like grocery stores or restaurants, or when your child is in a stroller in order to provide the best access to speech in all environments!