If you suspect that your young son or daughter has hearing loss, he or she is not alone. At least two out of every 1,000 children born in the United States annually suffer from some degree of hearing loss and many others develop it during childhood. Fortunately, by diagnosing it early and beginning appropriate treatment, your child has a much better chance of doing well in life. Therefore, the best thing you can do for your little one is get them to an audiologist as soon as possible after you, the pediatrician or a child care provider notices symptoms of a hearing deficit. The following information will help you prepare for your first appointment with the specialist.
#1-Make Sure That The Doctor Has Access To Important Medical Or School Records
It is important to note that while some children with a hearing loss are born with it, other children may develop it during childhood, often as the result of ear infections or chronic and excessive fluid in the middle ear. In that instance, your child could have passed regular hearing screenings, at school or from a physician, before the problem occurs or is documented. Regardless of your child's age, it is crucial to provide the audiologist with as many of your child's medical and school records as possible.
The good news is that you do not need to personally deliver them. Most physicians can provide you with the necessary forms to retrieve previous medical records and any pertinent information from your child's school . Unfortunately, if you wait till the day of your appointment, your audiologist will not have all of the necessary information. Instead, it is a better idea to get those forms from the audiologist's office as soon as you make the appointment and have them submit them.
#2-If Your Child Has Seasonal Or Environmental Allergies Or Is Sick The Day Of Your Visit, Ask If They Can Still Be Seen
If you have already waited for what seems like forever for the first available appointment with a pediatric audiologist, one of the most frustrating things in the world could be the need to reschedule it. However, the following symptoms can result in common hearing tests providing inaccurate results:
As a result, before getting the appointment done only to discover that the hearing tests might not be accurate when your child is not feeling well, check to see if there could be a problem ahead of time. In addition, if your little one is prone to seasonal or environmental allergies, ask your pediatrician if there are any appropriate medications that your child could take to offset the issue.
#3-Do Not Expect Instant Answers Or Solutions At The First Visit
As a parent, the idea of a problem with your child's hearing is terrifying and it is probably your first instinct to fix it. Given the complexities of hearing deficits and the different causes, that is not always possible right away. Even if a hearing loss is confirmed, you are likely to have a number of visits afterwards for:
In conclusion, many children are born with or acquire a hearing loss during early childhood. By scheduling an immediate visit with an audiologist and having reasonable expectations of that visit, you are giving your little one the best possible chance of a normal future. Contact an audiologist in your area like RI ENT Physicians Inc DBA Hearing Centers of RI for more information.
Share19 November 2015
I knew that my hearing wasn’t as good as it had once been, but I was still upset when my doctor told me that I had a significant hearing loss in both ears, and that I was going to need hearing aids if I wanted to participate more fully in my day to day life. But then I started researching hearing aids. I was thrilled to find out that there were small, barely visible aids that could help me hear without marking me as hearing impaired on first glance. Even better, the hearing aids were much more advanced than I’d thought. The ones that I chose can actually help cancel out environmental noise, like the clatter of a loud restaurant, so that I can focus on conversation with the waitress or the person across the table. My hearing aids have really improved my life.
