Information For Parents

New Website for Indigenous Families

http://www.hstac.com.au/HearThis/

As a parent, you should be concerned, for a number of reasons, about listening problems related to 'glue ear' or auditory processing problems.

Hearing is very important. It affects the education and the social and emotional health of every child. A child who has 'glue ear' and an associated loss of hearing will have more trouble learning. These children often think that they are 'dumb' because other children know what to do when they listen to the teacher and they do not.

Hearing problems can also lead to problems with social interaction and behavior at school. Children who don't hear well may find it hard to make and keep friends and they may feel left out. Some get into trouble for talking at the wrong time and for anti-social behavior. Others become shy and they may become upset when they are teased or bullied.

You may or may not notice problems when your son or daughter is at home. Because it is often noisier at school, and children have more trouble listening when it is noisy, they may have hearing or listening problems at school that they do at home. However, you may find it is hard to get their attention if they are watching TV and that they like the TV volume to be louder than others do. Also, they may have trouble keeping friends, argue a lot with their brothers and sisters, and feel sulky and left out.

Children with hearing problems are often very tired when they get home from school. It is very hard work trying to listen when you can't hear properly. Their efforts to play sport may also be affected, as 'glue ear' can affect coordination and their hearing problems may mean that they can't hear the instructions or directions they need in the course of a game.

You should also know that children with a history of middle ear disease are more likely to be affected by noise induced hearing loss. Research in France has shown that youths with a history of middle ear disease and who use things like 'Walkmans' and 'MP3 players' are more vulnerable to noise induced hearing loss than others in their age group with no history of hearing loss.

You can download an information booklet for parents by clicking on the following link or going to the articles page. There are two booklets, one on family information for Aboriginal people and one on family information for non Aboriginal people.