ADHD/Audilogical deficit/ accomodation

[wlasko01Participant]

child diagnosed with ADHD and audiological deficit. Child 15 years old. Has IEP in place. Accommodation school district came up with for audiological deficit consists of Child wearing a conspicuous ear piece and teacher wearing a microphone so Child can hear teacher. Child balking because he feels he is being singled out from other students and he fears he would be the subject of ridicule, let alone having fear that the device somehow would get broken in child’s care. Child is to take device from class to class and teacher to teacher throughout the school day.

What options does child have? Is anyone aware of other devices that could be used that might be compatible with android or I phone child might have, possibly through blue tooth or some other option?

How far does the school district have to go in accommodating the Child? It seems that his audiological deficit is clearly getting in the way of the child understanding the teachers and is effecting his performance in school.

The child is attending a public high school that receives both state and federal funding for IEP’s etc.

Any thoughts or insights are greatly appreciated.

[jmhunter1014Participant]

If the child has an audiological deficit, have the parents considered getting him a hearing aid? One that’s inconspicuous and fits well within the ear so that he can hear without having to stress about visibility? Also, I don’t know if it would help, but I just got a new pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds that are Bluetooth/wireless; they have an Ambient Mode setting that allows you to have them in but still hear ambient noise, as well as turn on a feature that makes voices heard more clearly than the surrounding background noise. Maybe he could try something like that as well? I’d still go with the hearing aid option though, since he’ll probably need this accommodation well beyond high school.

[Dr. EricParticipant]

I think, in my experience, teenagers with Hearing Impairments in mainstream environments, run about 10-20% compliance with their hearing aids for this very reason.

If you find a good answer for this, you get rich and make a lot of parents of children with hearing aids happy.

[Penny WilliamsKeymaster]

There are wireless bluetooth earbuds now that fit into the ear and would be barely noticeable. If the teacher’s mic is wireless and bluetooth, that should work. You can get them on Amazon for under $30.

Penny
ADDitude Community Moderator, Parenting ADHD Trainer & Author, Mom to teen w/ ADHD, LDs, and autism

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