Myth 1: Expensive products are better.
This is a common misunderstanding. In fact, the product price is not directly related to the age group suitable for fitting. The pricing of hearing AIDS mainly depends on two factors: one is the technical content of hearing AIDS. For example, the high-end hearing AIDS with wireless technology and information transmission function on the market now include the core multimedia platform developed by Swiss Fengli Company, the binaural dynamic balance technology products launched by Audi Kang of Denmark, the RISE platform of wireless Bluetooth technology, and the Drive multi-core processor of Stark of the United States. Compared with ordinary hearing AIDS, it needs special technical support, requires a lot of investment and is relatively expensive. The second decisive factor is the market positioning of the product. According to the position of products in the market, manufacturers are usually divided into entry-level economy type, middle-priced business type and expensive high-end type according to the price.
Obviously, it is possible to choose a product with advanced technology but not suitable for children only by choosing hearing AIDS from the price, which is both wasteful and ineffective. It is suggested that hearing AIDS should be purchased according to the specific hearing situation of children and the purpose of hearing rehabilitation. In fact, some powerful manufacturers have specially designed children's hearing AIDS, such as children's ear hook, 13 battery hearing aid, extra power but small size, hearing aid with battery door lock and so on. Swiss Fengli Company, Danish Audi Kang Company, American Stark Company and Danish widex Company all have children's hearing aid products. Parents should consult the manufacturer for relevant information first.
Myth 2: You can understand with a hearing aid.
Many parents' first reaction after their children wear hearing AIDS is to call their children "Mom and Dad". If children can't do it, or even don't understand it at all, parents will often be disappointed and then think that hearing AIDS are not effective. This desire for success is understandable. But the main function of hearing AIDS is to help children with hearing loss improve their perception of sound, that is, hearing. It's not internal medicine or surgery, and it can't be immediate.
You must "listen" before you can "understand" You can't draw an equal sign between them. Listening is a qualitative and quantitative psychoacoustic process: on the basis of meeting other conditions, with the increase of hearing aid gain, hearing-impaired children can hear more and more sounds (loudness), more and more clear (improvement of signal-to-noise ratio) and wider range (listening to sounds of various frequencies). It takes some time to improve the audibility, especially for children with hearing loss over 90 decibels, and it takes at least 6 months of continuous listening and practice to get better results. Therefore, it is unrealistic to hope that children can hear clearly and respond accordingly as soon as they put on hearing AIDS.
Myth 3: If the hearing loss is too large, you don't need a hearing aid.
This misunderstanding comes not from parents or patients, but from some doctors, which is caused by doctors' lack of basic knowledge of children's hearing rehabilitation. This misunderstanding involves two issues: one is the interpretation of the test results of auditory brainstem evoked potentials (ABR); The second is whether children with severe hearing loss need to use hearing AIDS. ABR reflects the response threshold of patients' brain stem to acoustic stimulation, and then predicts children's hearing threshold through these response thresholds. Therefore, it is far-fetched to regard children's response to a certain stimulus intensity as hearing threshold and should be avoided.
Can children with severe hearing loss benefit from hearing AIDS? There is an indisputable answer to this question internationally. In 2004, the American Audiology Association issued the Guide to Fitting Hearing Aids for Children, which is a very important document in the field of children's hearing rehabilitation. It clearly stipulates: "Even if ABR can't detect any reaction, children with extremely severe hearing loss must be equipped with hearing AIDS."
Modern hearing aid technology has developed rapidly. Many hearing AIDS can provide more than 80 dB gain and 140 dB output, and there are many supporting functions. The fitting range of children's hearing AIDS has increased from 90 decibels in the past to 100~ 105 decibels. A large number of studies show that hearing AIDS can not only help children with severe hearing loss learn speech, but also train their ability to perceive and distinguish sounds. This magnified experience and effect is of great significance to children's hearing rehabilitation. Even if cochlear implant is chosen, it is helpful for early hearing training of infants with severe and extremely severe hearing loss. Therefore, it is neither wise nor scientific to give up using hearing AIDS just because of excessive hearing loss.
Myth 4: Follow the adult fitting method.
It is worth noting that at present, the fitting of hearing AIDS for children in China basically follows the adult method. Most hearing aid fitting centers lack the hardware and software foundation needed for hearing aid fitting for children. Hardware refers to the equipment for testing the true ear coupling cavity difference (RECD) and the accessories for debugging children's hearing AIDS. Software refers to the prescription software (DSL 5.0 or NAL-NL2) required for fitting hearing AIDS for children and the technical conditions for evaluating the use effect of hearing AIDS for children. Without these important conditions, strictly speaking, it is impossible to effectively fit children's hearing AIDS and the effect will be affected.
It takes ten years or more for children's hearing rehabilitation to achieve good results. Strict selection of qualified hearing aid fitting and service centers is one of the first conditions for successful rehabilitation. When fitting hearing AIDS for children, parents should not only examine the business reputation and qualification of professional institutions, but also examine whether the fitting shop has enough professional skills and children's fitting experience, and ask whether it has the necessary technical means, such as real ear detection instruments, real ear coupling cavity difference modules, sound field detection conditions suitable for children, etc. Only when hospitals or fitting centers have these conditions can they cooperate with deaf children for a long time.
In addition, the baby's ears are in the process of continuous development from birth, especially in the first two years after birth, and gradually set after 7 years old, and stop after 10 years old. During this period, the size of auricle, the size, hardness and direction of external auditory canal will constantly change. But at present, the commonly used acoustic parameters of ear canal in hearing aid fitting are based on the average data of adults. The research shows that the peak frequency of newborn ear canal vibration curve is 2 ~ 3 times that of adults; Children's true ear coupling cavity difference will gradually approach the average value of adults until the age of 5. Therefore, in reality, it is obviously wrong to calculate the target gain and other important parameters of children's hearing AIDS fitting with adult mean. In addition, the characteristics of children's external ear should be considered when fitting. Soft ear mold is more suitable for children and needs to be replaced constantly to adapt to the development of their external auditory canal and avoid problems such as acoustic feedback or over-amplification.
Myth 5: Unilateral hearing loss does not require a hearing aid.
Epidemiological data show that the incidence of neonatal unilateral hearing loss is 0.083%, but the incidence of neonatal unilateral hearing loss in intensive care unit is much higher, about 0.32%, which is close to the incidence of neonatal hearing loss. Therefore, the existence of unilateral hearing loss cannot be ignored.
Judging from the impact of unilateral hearing loss on children's development, if they don't use hearing AIDS, although their good ears can hear normal people's voices, they will face many problems in daily life, such as difficulty in understanding speech under noise, decreased ability to distinguish directions, and inability to use binaural effects. The data shows that 35% children with unilateral hearing loss have stayed at least once in their study career; 13.3% children need special help to continue their studies; 20% children with unilateral hearing loss were assessed by teachers as having serious discipline problems; 50% children with unilateral hearing loss can hardly make great progress in their studies.