Teen's Zone: Encouraging Consistent Hearing Aid Use

One of the most difficult parts about having a hearing loss is managing your hearing loss properly. This is even more difficult as a teenager and for parents of teenagers with hearing impairment who are resistant to hearing devices and have very busy lives.

Managing your hearing loss properly means wearing your hearing devices throughout the day, maintaining and cleaning your hearing devices, and having regular checkups with your hearing health professional to ensure your hearing devices are working effectively. Getting to this point where you can accept your hearing loss, the limitations caused by your hearing loss, and as a result, your need to manage your hearing loss and wear your prescribed hearing devices is often very difficult.

Peer groups usually have more influence over a teenager's sense of well being than parents. Therefore, if the teens' friends are aware of the hearing loss and realize that the hearing devices are necessary for optimal communication, then they can be a powerful support group and deflect negative remarks that could be inspired. The first week of wearing the hearing technology is often the most difficult. It could be similar to wearing braces for the first time. Parents can help this transition by providing a special reward to the teenager to congratulate them for making it through this difficult first week. As well, it is important to thank the ongoing support of peers in this process.

Long term recognition of consistent hearing device use is very helpful for teenagers. It can help reinforce continued daily wear of hearing device technology and is good for a teenager's self esteem. For example, for each grading period that goes by without resistance to wearing hearing devices could be rewarded with an extra incentive(i.e.choice of music, movie, or meal). Your teenager is doing something extra that most of his other classmates don't have to contend with and his courage, commitment, and perseverance to his own future success is worthy of recognition and praise!

As rewards and enticements are useful methods to help maintain a teenager's commitment to managing their hearing loss, discipline is often necessary too. It is important for parents to make it clear from the start how much you value the teenager wearing the hearing devices, keeping the devices in good condition, and the consequences for willful neglect or damage of the hearing devices.

blogger: Sarah Helmel