Pediatric hearing aid buyer's guide

This article will serve as a guide / checklist before you buy hearing aids for your child. Ensure you strictly follow these to get the maximum benefits of the hearing aids.

1. Audiologists are the only qualified person to perform hearing diagnosis and prescribe hearing aids. You should always get your hearing aids prescribed and fitted by an Audiologist. In India, Audiologist holds Bachelor's degree (4 Years) and Master's degree (2 Years) in Audiology to treat your hearing problems. Almost 80% of the hearing aid centres even in major cities in Chennai are run by commercial operators without an Audiologist. In developed countries like US pediatric cases muct be attended only by audiologists with Master's degree or Phd. So, select the right audiologist for your child.

2. A typical hearing aid fitting for a child will take minimum of 2 hours and will require multiple visits (for few years) to Audiologist. This is to ensure that the child is hearing properly. If the child is not hearing properly, he/she will not speak properly leading to developmental delays.

3. Audiotory training is required for the child fitted with hearing aids. This is to ensure that the child is hearing and speaking properly. Always fit hearing aid in a centre who take ownership in overall development (i.e hearing and speech) of your child.

4. Always fit hearing aid in a nearby centre within a distance comfortable for you to travel as you need multiple visits to fine tune the hearing aids based on speech development and also for speech therapy.

5. The cost of the hearing aids include the services of the qualified audiologist. As a pediatric fitting will take multiple visits to the audiologist, try to find the cost associated with it. Some of the clinics will bundle it along with the cost of the hearing aids and others may charge separately.

6. Depending on the hearing loss of the child, your audiologist will recommend the suitable hearing aid. Don't just compare the cost of the hearing aid. Even if you buy very expensive hearing aids, if it is not properly programmed, it will not give significant benefit.

7. Discuss with your audiologist on the appropriate hearing aid type i.e BTE or RIC which is suitable for your child. Discuss with your audiologist on the pros and cons of various models and the impact it may have on your child.