We’ve all been there- you’re in an audiology appointment with your child, and the pediatric audiologist asks if you have any questions. You know you thought of something the other day you wanted to ask, but you can’t think of it now. So you just say that you don’t have any questions and head home. Or maybe you feel like you should have a question, but you just don’t even know where to start because it all feels like so much.

Three important questions to make sure you know the answer to include:

What kind of hearing loss does my child have?

It is important to know the answer to this question, so you and your family are fully informed about your child’s hearing needs. If you know details about your child’s hearing loss, you will better be able to discuss options with their other providers like your speech therapist and teachers.

How can I share the importance of my child’s hearing devices with our family?

This can be a touchy subject with some family members. However, it is important that all members of your child’s team are on the same page about how the hearing devices! This includes anyone your child spends consistent time with, such as daycare providers. If you are having difficulty with some people not seeming to understand how important this is, you and your child’s audiologist can brainstorm some ways to explain this.

What can we do if the devices stop working?

There are so many reasons hearing devices may stop working! While there are times that it will be necessary for you to bring the device to your audiologist, there are often things that you can check first! It is also possible that your audiology clinic may offer a “drop off service,” and it is good to know when to utilize this service versus when you need to actually make an appointment.

These questions were sourced from the Childhood Hearing Loss Question Prompt List for Parents. Phonak worked with parents of children with hearing loss and developed a list of questions you can ask your child’s audiologist

The list that Phonak provides is long, and you would not be able to go over every question in one appointment. Additionally, you may already know the answers to some and may not feel that others are important to your family. Therefore, it can also be a good idea to sit down and either select a few (2-3) questions from the list that you feel are most important or create a list of questions specific to your child’s needs.  Over your next appointments, you and your child’s audiologist can work through your list of questions and any others that you come up with, and this way, you are sure that your time with your child’s audiologist is as helpful to your family as possible.