he can hear!!! (somewhat)

I second the recommendation for the oto-ease lubricant. It will make sliding them in so much easier. You want to get a secure fit.

The feedback issue can be funny. Sometimes the wearer can hear it, sometimes not. For me, I've heard it with some aids, not with others. Besides the issue of fit, of course, it just seems to depend on the aid itself to some extent. If it is tuned up to be the highest power within the possible range, you are more likely to get feedback than if you have an aid where you are more in the mid-range of what it can do.

That's how my audi explained it, anyway.

That said, fit and proper insertion of the ear-molds are the most crucial parts of preventing it.
 
With myself and my kids, when we had our hearing aids, we would leave the battery door open just a little when putting in the hearing aids, then once in place, we closed the battery door. That kept the feedback from happening.

I am so glad that he is not showing any problems yet, but it is still early. It is a learning process for both you and your hubby as well and the little one. Best of luck to you all.
 
thanks! now the audiologist said i cant adjust the volume on these things..is that true? i see a switch looking thing on top but i cant tell what its for.
 
frankiesmom said:
thanks! now the audiologist said i cant adjust the volume on these things..is that true? i see a switch looking thing on top but i cant tell what its for.
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Not sure about these new HA's that are out now, but we readjusted the volume on an "as needed" basis. If we knew we were going to be in a loud place, we turned them down. If my mother was in a rage, we turned them down, but in very quiet places like church, we turned them up.
 
You will have an interesting journey with HAs just like my mom did from them getting lost, feedback, ear infections, and many more. A lot of them are funny to look back on. :)
 
You should ask the audi what the switch is for. Usually you can change the volume, but perhaps for an infants' aid, she got the kind where it's fixed. So the switch might be non-functional.

But whatever it is, you need to know the ins and outs of what the technology is that you're using.
 
frankiesmom said:
thanks! now the audiologist said i cant adjust the volume on these things..is that true? i see a switch looking thing on top but i cant tell what its for.
Click to expand...

It's probably disabled as is common for young children.
 
Originally Posted by smithtr
Really you have problem!!!!

AlleyCat
No. There's nothing wrong with what she's doing.
Click to expand...

I don't think he meant anything by this other than she simply doesn't have
an experience handling HA yet -hence "she has the problem".
Which is true, btw, as

- we all had to figure out our first HAs, and Frankiesmom is no exception :)
She'll get it :)

Fuzzy
 
I vaguely remember that i told the audiolgoy that i wanted the canal mold, the long canal needed to cut it off so it wouldnt shovel up into my ear. He did make the canal short. I wouldnt worry about the feedback. He probably wonders or pull it off. If you can hear the whislte then it is not right, just fix the mold. hope his canal mold isnt too long. congrats.
 
My mother used to put vaseline on earmoulds when I was little.

She hated the whistling emitting from my HAs when I was little. One e.g. was HAs whistling nonstop while she was driving on the bridge, and she couldn't pull over for a while to cease the whistling! :lol:

By the way, glad that Frankie's gradually adapting to HAs
 
ok...other than the initial response, he is basically not responding..is this normal? i was told that it takes a long time to learn how to hear things properly..not sure if thats true or not. hes keeping them in though, at least! hes just not really noticing anything still.
 
Good to know that he is benefiting from the HAs. Just keep in mind that learning to use them is a process. It will take time before you really being to see any measurable change. His brain is just beginning to adapt to this new input of stimuli.
 
frankiesmom said:
ok...other than the initial response, he is basically not responding..is this normal? i was told that it takes a long time to learn how to hear things properly..not sure if thats true or not. hes keeping them in though, at least! hes just not really noticing anything still.
Click to expand...

If he keeps them in, he is getting the input. And if he responded to his father, you know they worked.

It might take a while for him to learn, so don't give up .
 
frankiesmom said:
ok...other than the initial response, he is basically not responding..is this normal? i was told that it takes a long time to learn how to hear things properly..not sure if thats true or not. hes keeping them in though, at least! hes just not really noticing anything still.
Click to expand...

He doesn't know yet that he's supposed to respond. Keep talking to him, keep saying his name with a smile, keep playing with him with toys that beep or ding or make other noises.

As far as his ears are concerned, he's like a two-day old baby. Patience and continued effort will no doubt pay off in time.
 
thanks for the advice. he might be overwhelmed..with so many other kids around, it gets pretty noisy around here.
 
What would you guess is the percentage of background noise around him (kids playing, TV, radio, adults talking to other kids or to each other) vs. sound that is specifically directed toward him, like you or another person specifically speaking to him, where he can see the face of the person speaking?

Parents with new babies usually talk to the babies quite a lot, face to face. Nonsense talk or affectionate phrases like "Who's mama's little sweetheart? Who's the handsome boy here?" and so forth and so on. Eventually the baby figures out that sounds that people make to each other are nice things to happen, and they start babbling in response, and finally make words.

Did your audi go over what might be expected from Frankie in terms of responses to hearing sounds? I'm wondering if he will follow the same path a typical hearing baby would make, from learning to pay attention to faces with sounds directed to him, to babbling, to forming words.

If you think of him with the new HAs as being similar to a new-born baby in that respect, it might help keep your expectations in line with what he's capable of at that stage, regardless of his chronological age.
 
I second Beachgirl's comments re giving him time to make sense of these new sounds he's hearing. Talk with him- all the time (of course still be using your signs). "See that ball? That's a red ball. That ball is small." for example. Using words in repetition, and expanding on the words and language is what he needs. As parents of DHH children, we have to make a point to give them language as they won't acquire it incidentally as hearing children do.

Keep his HA's on during all waking hours, and remind your older children to keep the noise levels down (as much as possible) after explaining to them that this is a new experience for him.
 
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