3 Back to School Hearing Loss Tips

Hearing loss can make learning hard. Teachers constantly move around classrooms,may use microphones during lectures or outside noises may distract or interfere with theprofessor’s voice. Big classrooms and auditoriums can distort sound, and the presenceof other students can make focusing hard as their own voices take over that of theprofessor’s.Here are some tips to help make school easier with hearing loss: Tell Your Teacher: Be up front with all of your teachers that you have a hearing loss.Explain to them privately what sounds are hard to hear, what words are hard tounderstand and what environments or situations are difficult for you. Sit down anddiscuss some ways in which your teacher can help make things easier such as ensuringhe or she always faces you when he or she talks, providing visual or printed lessons inaddition to verbal and weekly check-ins to make sure you’re not missing anything important. Nominate a Note-taker: If you have trouble understanding teachers because theirvoices are lost in an auditorium, they are always moving around the classroom, or someteachers may have softer, higher-frequency voices. You may also have troubleunderstanding your fellow students’ questions or answers either because they werebehind you or on the far end of a 300-seat lecture hall.  In order to combat this, you canget a note-taker through the school’s disability services. If you’re not comfortable doingthis or have missed the deadline for a note-taker through school, consider asking afriend in class to help you take notes when you are having trouble. Front Row: Sitting in the front row may mean you get asked more questions than most,but it also means you have put yourself in the best place possible to hear andunderstand your teacher. It also allows you to pivot left, right or backwards whenanother student is speaking and have a better chance at getting what they are saying.Schedule an appointment today for a free hearing test if you find it difficult to hear at school.