Inclusive Practice is Good Practice

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FACT SHEET 3.6: Hearing Aids

This Fact Sheet is available in PDF Format. To Access and download this version click here.

Brief Description:

Hearing aids are sophisticated electronic devices that are used in non-medical treatment of hearing loss.

Who can it assist?

students who have a hearing impairment

Inclusive Teaching Practice

There is a strong possibility that you will not always be aware if one or more of your students uses a hearing aid. Many people do not like drawing attention to their hearing difficulty and most devices are not clearly visible to others. If the student does make their needs known to you, there are some practices you can adopt which will be of assistance.

You can assist your student by:

Discussing what works best for them.
Checking if any special seating arrangements are preferred by the student.
Speaking clearly in a normal voice.
Not shouting, or using exaggerated mouth movements.
Taking all steps to reduce background noise wherever possible.

Control the communications in the room ensuring that only one person speaks at a time.
Make sure the speaker has everyone's attention before speaking.
Look for ways to reduce reverberation (installing carpet, curtains, turning noisy air conditioners down or off).

Inclusive Technology

Hearing aids work by converting sound energy to electrical energy which is in turn filtered and amplified before being converted back into sound energy by a receiver which then delivers the sound to the ear.

They come in a variety of sizes and are named according to where they are worn ie. within the ear or externally.

Their effectiveness is reduced in environments where there is a lot of background noise.

Further Information and assistance can be obtained from:

Disability Advisers/Disability Liaison Officers (see Fact Sheet 6 for contact details)

Better Hearing Australia Ph. 6228 0011