Understanding speech of 5yr olds and under with profound hearing loss

Hearing Loss
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I have phonak Nadia paradise UP 90s and have serval great grand kids under five. I know young kids have a language all their own and like I said I have profound hearing loss. I’m sure others with profound hearing loss have experienced this problem. Just wondering what others have done with success. When you are in the audi setting it would be difficult to create that kind of setting with children talking. And some of you know I only have 40% word recognition. Just wanting to know if anyone else has crossed this path. thanks

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I have only a severe hearing loss and it is impossible for to understand too. I have trouble with female voices.

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I noticed that I understand my kids much more easily than other kids. I actually understand my kids almost perfectly but I struggle big time with others.

So, I guess it must depend on experience and how long time you spend with them, you know, getting used to their voices…

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I understand the words I’ve learned how my 2 yo grandson speaks. He learns new words everyday and until I’ve heard someone repeat them so I can decode them I’m lost. But I’ve learned to hear him. Other kids, I haven’t a clue. I still can’t understand most of what the 8yo from another parent says. It has taken a while but I’m beginning to hear in those ranges (with aids) again.

WH

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That’s a big part of it. However, they speak in a higher frequency range and they often don’t annunciate or enunciate very well.

I find I can understand a child actor or actress on TV, but I understand much less from someone not trained in the acting trade.

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Your loss is not bad at all, I’m surprised your audiologist hasn’t found a solution…

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Children don’t speak in the low frequency range. Plus I’m not around small kids, and that’s a big part of the issue.

Whitehat also makes a good point. It’s a lot like listening to vocals in music. It’s easier to understand the words in the song if you know what the lyrics are.

Anyhow, It’s not a huge issue right now. If I was volunteering at one of the local elementary school’s reading program, it would be.

Also I’m going to have to update my audiogram. It’s a bit out-of-date, and the transfer to the new web page mucked it up a bit.

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Thanks for everyone’s input. I get the picture now. You have to spend quite a bit of time with the younger persons to get the drift of their special language.

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@godavid_d , if you have PC, maybe that software with auditory rehabilitation helps:

The topic of listening training is covered here in link below. In description of the video there are links to more auditory training software:

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Hi, I used to be a Speech & Language Therapist before I became too ill to work. If you are going to spend time with very young children I think you will find that they are very open to learning new techniques to communicate and you could teach them to come to you and tap you on the arm and wait for eye contact before they try to talk to you. If you can then get down to their level, they are likely to slow down their speech as they know they have your attention.

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This comment is very helpful thanks. A while back I was at the Doctor’s office and the nurse was asking me about my lifestyle. I was sitting down and she was standing and I had to ask her three times to repeat what she said. Very frustrating. I shared this experience not here but with a friend and it was he that told me about listening to people on the same standing or sitting level. He stated that it was his high school singing coach that gave him that helpful information. So it makes sense to do the same thing with small children. thank you.

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