Hearing Aids

Air Conduction Hearing Aids

My child has been diagnosed with a hearing loss and the audiologist recommended hearing aids.

Q: What is a hearing aid?

A: A hearing aid is a device worn on the ear that amplifies sound.

Q: How do I know which one is best for my child?

A: The hearing aid is chosen and designed to amplify sound based upon your child’s hearing loss. The hearing aid provides the greatest amplification at the frequencies (pitches) where your child has the most hearing loss and the least amplification at the frequencies where your child has the least hearing loss. Your child’s hearing aid will be carefully adjusted to keep loud sounds within your child’s comfortable listening range.

Q: Will the hearing aid restore my child’s hearing?

A: Hearing aids do not make hearing normal again, but they can help make speech sound clearer and easier to hear.

Q: What will the hearing aid look like? Does it fit inside my child’s ear?

A: Younger children are usually fit with behind-the-ear hearing aids. Behind-the-ear hearing aids can be used with a personal FM system to help children hear the teacher in the classroom. When children get older and are no longer growing quickly, they can sometimes switch to in-the-ear hearing aids.

Q: They look complicated. What do all those parts do?


a behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid




an in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aid




A:  The hearing aid and ear mold have a few parts. Here’s what they do:

1. The microphone picks up the sound from the environment.
2. The sound is sent through the inside of the hearing aid, where is it either preserved as a waveform through an analogue processor or converted into binary digits through a digital processor.
3. The hearing aid processor (analogue or digital) amplifies the sound to the right level for your child, according to the results of your child’s hearing assessment.
4. The processed (amplified) sound is sent through the ear hook, which attaches the hearing aid to the tubing of the ear mold.
5. The ear mold (specially made to fit the shape of your child’s ear) directs the processed sound to your child’s eardrum.

The dispensing audiologist will provide you with step-by-step instructions in the use and care of the hearing aid.  Hearing aids for children are often programmed to reduce the need for changing of many of the settings.


Bone Conduction Hearing Aids

There are several types of bone conduction hearing aids.  They are typically recommended for children who have conductive hearing loss, where sound doesn't reach the nerve properly most often because of a malformed outer or middle ear.   Bone conduction hearing aids rest on the skull and are held in place by either a soft headband, a hard plastic headband or in older children attached to an implanted fixture in the skull. 

Click here to download our pamphlet on this topic (pdf).