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Blount Hearing And Speech Services in Maryville, TN

Hearing & Speech Services in Maryville Tennessee

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Home > Archives for Children

Hearing Loss

January 31, 2019 By bhssinc

Hearing-and-Speech-Blount
Quick, painless and perfectly safe

It goes without saying, people tend to take hearing for granted, they just assume that it will always be there even though hearing loss affects one in eight people here in the United States and one out of every three adults ages 65 or older.

Hearing impairment develops so gradually that many aren’t even aware of a problem until it has advanced beyond an easily treatable stage. This could be avoided if people treated their ears with the same care and attention paid to their eyes; much like routine vision exams, regular hearing exams are an excellent first line of defense. Early detection can dramatically increase the odds of successful treatment.

Hearing exams are quick, painless and perfectly safe but most of all, they help protect one of our most valuable attributes, our sense of hearing.  Hearing can be equally important to our sense of self being and our personal safety alike.

Some degree of hearing loss is natural as we age. But other factors can lead to hearing impairment, as well. Excessive exposure to loud noise, impacted earwax, chronic ear infections and certain medications can all contribute to (or speed up) hearing loss. Regular hearing exams can help an audiologist spot these issues before they get worse and offer a treatment solution to those who might otherwise experience the debilitating social and emotional effects of living with a hearing impairment. Confusion, depression and social withdrawal are all common in individuals with untreated hearing loss.

Adults aren’t the only ones who benefit from regular hearing screenings. Most newborns are screened at birth, but these tests aren’t always effective at detecting a hearing problem. In addition, some conditions develop or worsen in the first months of life. Hearing plays a crucial role in a child’s language and social skills development; catching a problem early provides an opportunity to treat the condition sooner rather than later, allowing the child to develop at a normal rate alongside his or her peers.

Teens and young adults shouldn’t overlook hearing tests, either. Studies show that hearing loss is affecting younger and younger people all the time, thanks in large part to the explosion in popularity of personal music devices and ear buds. Together, these are a dangerous combination when music is played at excessive volume levels. Hearing tests offer the opportunity for early detection, as well as a chance to educate this segment of the population on proper usage of these devices.

Don’t wait until it’s too late to start taking care of your ears!  Taking action is important because untreated hearing loss, besides detracting from quality of life and the strength of relationships, has been linked to other health concerns like depression, dementia, and heart disease.

Blount Hearing and Speech Services, Inc. (BHSS) proudly serves the cities of Alcoa, Maryville, Townsend and the greater Blount County area.

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: Adults, Children, Health Concerns, Hearing Exams, Hearing Loss, infants, Parenting, Teens, Young Adults

Having Your Baby’s Hearing Screened

January 13, 2018 By bhssinc

Infant hearing testing

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders states that most children hear and listen to sounds at birth. They learn to talk by imitating the sounds they hear around them and the voices of their parents and caregivers. But that’s not true for all children. In fact, about two or three out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born with detectable hearing loss in one or both ears. More lose hearing later during childhood. Children who have hearing loss may not learn speech and language as well as children who can hear. For this reason, it’s important to detect deafness or hearing loss as early as possible.

Because of the need for prompt identification of and intervention for childhood hearing loss, universal newborn hearing screening programs currently operate in all U.S. states and most U.S. territories. With help from the federal government, every state has established an Early Hearing Detection and Intervention program. As a result, more than 96 percent of babies have their hearing screened within 1 month of birth.

Why is it important to have my baby’s hearing screened early?

The most important time for a child to learn language is in the first 3 years of life, when the brain is developing and maturing. In fact, children begin learning speech and language in the first 6 months of life. Research suggests that children with hearing loss who get help early develop better language skills than those who don’t.

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: Children, Hearing Exams, infants, Parenting

What are the benefits and types of hearing aids?

December 15, 2017 By bhssinc

The simple answer is that you will be able to hear sounds that you have not previously been hearing. You will be able to hear speech over the telephone more clearly. And hearing aids can help you be more alert to your surroundings (think oncoming cars when crossing a street).  A hearing aid is a small electronic device that is designed to fit inside or outside the ear and improve your overall hearing. They can be used on one or both ears at the same time and may take some getting adjusted to. As with any medical aid, weigh the pros and cons of hearing aids carefully before making the decision on if they are right for you.

Hearing aids do not improve hearing over time. While they are not a cure for hearing loss, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Hearing Disorders reports that hearing aids can improve the way you hear by giving you a greater sense of different sounds and vibrations and their sources.

As technology has changed, so has the size, effectiveness and selection of hearing aids.  Technology has giving hearing aid users a much better and more advanced selection to choose from than ever before.

There are three basic types of hearing aids designed for patients with different needs. In-the-ear, or ITE, hearing aids fit inside the outer ear, and are best used for slight to moderate hearing loss. ITE’s are generally good for a wide range of hearing loss types, but due to their positioning inside the ear they are not often recommended for children as their ears are still growing.

Behind-the-ear, or BTE, hearing aids are the most commonly recognized type of hearing aid. They consist of a small plastic case that fits just behind the ear and the small tube connected to it, which leads inside the ear. While they are a more noticeable option , BTE hearing aids are commonly administered to patients with hearing problems, making fitting and troubleshooting a much simpler process with audiologists than other types of hearing devices.

In-the-canal, or ITC, hearing aids fit completely inside the canal of the ear as their name suggests. These aids can be used with mild to moderate hearing loss and are the least noticeable of the three. These hearing aids can be more costly than BTE hearing aids, but are much less conspicuous.

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: Audiologists, Behind-the-ear, BTE, Children, Ears, Fit, Hearing Aids, In-the-ear, ITC, Safety, Troubleshooting

Educating Your Children: Take Care of Your Hearing

November 17, 2017 By bhssinc

Have you ever walked in the room to find your children (or spouse!) glued to the blaring television, oblivious to how loud they have it turned up? The phenomenon is called sensory adaptation. The brain becomes accustomed to the sound level and becomes less sensitive to it. Thus begins a very dangerous cycle where the listeners will keep turning it up, becoming desensitized to it, and turning it up more.

Damage from loud noises and sounds are time based. Extremely loud sounds can do damage almost immediately while loud music or audio from the television can damage your hearing the longer you’re exposed.

Teaching your children to protect their hearing should begin early.

  • Learn together about the ear, how it works
  • Discuss the causes of hearing damage and the science behind hearing loss
  • Explain that, given our current knowledge, we can’t heal our hearing. Once it’s damaged, it’s damaged for good
  • Model good behaviors by taking long listening breaks, turning down the TV, monitoring music levels, and wearing hearing protection

If you and your children regularly participate in loud activities (powersports, use of powertools, attending concerts, etc), consider having custom hearing protection professionally made. At Blount Hearing and Speech <we do great things to get you personalized hearing protection, earbuds, in ear monitors, etc etc etc>

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: Children, Education, Hearing Loss, Parenting

10 Ideas for Parenting a Child with Hearing Loss

December 10, 2016 By bhssinc

Hearing Loss in Children

10 Ideas for Parenting a Child with Hearing Loss

No child is too young to test!!  We are able to provide infant and child hearing evaluations at Blount Hearing and Speech in Maryville.  We have specialized testing and procedures we use to test children in all stages of development.  Sometimes testing of children can take multiple sessions to obtain all the information needed to rule out a hearing loss.  We are dedicated to provide a calm testing environment and create a pleasant experience for you and your children.

1. Parenting is Inherently Conflictual

The parents’ job is to teach their child the rules of their culture, both the macro society and the micro culture of the family. These rules are learned; children have no inborn knowledge and they learn by testing limits imposed by their parents. Therefore, as the child tests boundaries, there is conflict. It is the parents’ responsibility to set limits for their child, but over the long haul they must give ground to accommodate the child’s growth, eventually ceding full control to the child/adult. I often tell parents, “if you are not fighting with your child, you are not doing it right.” I usually get the response, “not to worry, we are doing it right.”

2. Making Mistakes

There are many crucial decisions parents must make. Trying to raise a child with a hearing loss mistake-free is an exercise doomed to failure. For me, it is only a “mistake” if you do it a second time; the first time through it is data. Parents do not owe their child error-free decisions. What they owe their child is to make a decision on the best available data and change the course of action if it is not working out. The “mistake” parents of children with hearing loss often make is to stay with a program longer than they should for fear of admitting that they were wrong or alienating the professionals. Parents need to be monitors of their own decisions and advocates for their child.

3. Teaching Failure

Children need to learn how to cope with adversity and, therefore, need to experience failure while growing up. Parents of children who have special needs tend to over-protect and shield them from failure, but the child must experience failure in order to grow. Growing up without coping skills limits a child severely because the adult experience is that we don’t always succeed in what we do. It is the overcoming of frustration that enables us to grow, so mild frustration is an incentive to growth. One of the hardest things for any parent to do is to stand back and let his or her child experience failure. We need to be judicious about it because if we let the child experience too much failure, they become risk averse and not enough failure, they become frustration intolerant. Parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing have thin margins to work with, and recognizing when to let go and when to protect is the art of parenting.

4. Developmental Issues versus Hearing Loss Issues

It is always hard for parents to distinguish between behavior that is due to the hearing loss and behavior that is developmental in nature. Parents usually err in the direction of giving too much credit for the deafness and not holding their child to the same standard of conduct as a child who has typically hearing. A child must learn to take responsibility for their own choices and they must experience the consequences of their own behavior – if the child spills the milk, he or she needs to help clean it up! This is why we have always kept an early childhood teacher as well as a child who has typical hearing in the Nursery. The teacher and the child are there to remind us of the developmental prerogatives. At the 2-year-old level, almost all behavior is developmental in nature; 2-year-old children with all levels of hearing are prone to ignore their parents.

5. Hearing Loss is a Family Affair

Family therapists tell us that the family is a system in which all the parts are intricately linked, meaning that when one part of the system is damaged, all parts of the system, even seemingly remote ones, are affected. Siblings and grandparents also deserve professional attention. One of the first topics that usually emerge in a parent group is the imbalance of attention paid to siblings who have typical hearing. Within the Nursery we always try to have siblings participate in the nursery and therapy if the activities are age appropriate. Grandparents also deserve attention. For them, it is a double wound as they are concerned for their child as well as for their grandchild. They seldom get a chance to talk about their feelings; within the Nursery, we try to have a grandparent-only support group. These are usually the most emotionally intense groups that I facilitate.

6. Tending to the Primary Relationship

Parenting any child, but especially one with a hearing loss, is a very demanding job. It is a 24/7 responsibility that requires vigilance and, at times, difficult decisions that demand a lot of thought and attention. This is a job that is best done within a supportive relationship where ownership and responsibility can be shared. Single parents can and do turn out well-rounded children. Those that do it best have found other places of support other than a marital partner. It is absolutely necessary that time and attention be paid to the primary relationship. It is easy to damage a relationship because too much energy is devoted to the parenting and not enough to marital maintenance. I often tell parents that the parenting, though very intense, is a relatively short-term proposition; the partnership is long term and therefore needs ongoing attention.

7. Good Parenting/Good Self Care

It is often hard for parents to see that they are the lynchpin of the family. The parent is the most important family member and therefore requires care. Leadership is what you have left over after you have taken care of one’s self. Often the best thing a parent can do for their child is to take time for themselves; running on empty won’t cut it. A long walk or a cup of tea can go a long way in the parenting process. Happy parents usually turn out happy children.

8. The Bottom Line

Some parents are motivated to try to overcome their child’s hearing loss. To have a child that speaks typically and integrated into mainstream setting can become the main goal. However, the child may see this as a denial of the hearing loss and a rejection of who the child is. This can lead to an unhappy child who rejects their parents’ goals. In my opinion, the bottom line should be to have a child who is comfortable in his or her skin and is interpersonally happy. The listening and spoken language skills, while important, are secondary and children need to be accepted for who they are, not for who they might become. Parents need to be able to distinguish between what the child’s needs are and what is in the best interests of their child.

9. Letting Go

The parents’ job is to create an independent adult who no longer needs them. To that end, parents must gradually cede control of their child’s life to the child. This must start early and be ongoing. There is nothing more important than teaching a child to take responsibility for the choices he or she makes. Parents must set the boundaries for their child at a very early age and within that universe, give the child real choices and allow the child suffer the consequences of their choices. Eventually, the parent should give up all control. If the parent becomes so embedded within the parenting, to the extent that the primary relationship is negatively impacted and the parent neglects other aspects of his or her life to do the parenting, then letting go becomes very hard. Many parents can hardly wait for their child to leave home so they can devote more energy to other aspects of their lives.

10. The Gift

There is a great deal of pain, anxiety and sheer hard work in the process of successfully raising a child who has a hearing loss. Yet within that travail, strange as it may seem, there is much opportunity for joy and growth. We give to life what life demands and hearing loss can become a powerful teacher, helping parents develop skills and capacity that otherwise might lie latent. I am always struck at the resiliency of parents and children. They stretch to do what needs to be done and in that stretching they grow. This is the gift the child brings. My wish for all parents is that in the course of raising their child, they find the gift. For me it has been a marvelous life work, and the families I’ve worked with have brought to me a great gift of giving direction and meaning to my life’s work.

Luterman, D., D.Ed.(2010). 10 Ideas for Parenting a Child with Hearing Loss. Volta Voices, 17(6), 18-21. 

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: Children, Hearing Loss, Parenting

Blount Hearing & Speech

Phone: 865.982.8557
Fax: 865.982.8599
1617 E. Broadway Ave.
Maryville, TN 37804

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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Meet Our Team
  • Services
    • Comprehensive Hearing Evaluation
    • Tympanometry
    • Otoacoustic Emission Testing
    • Auditory Processing Disorders
    • Newborn Hearing Screening and Follow Up
    • Infant and Child Hearing Evaluations
    • Auditory Brainstem Response Testing
    • Electronystagmography (ENG) Testing
    • Hearing Aid Evaluation
    • Workman’s Compensation
    • Hearing Aid Repairs and Cleaning
    • Nursing Home Hearing Healthcare Visits
    • Earmold Impressions
  • Products
  • Insurance
  • Contact Us
  • Resources