Hearing loss simulation supports parents to better understand their child’s listening experience

Parents of deaf children have said they have a better understanding of their child’s hearing world after taking part in research in Southampton.

Dr Jacqueline Young, Clinical Scientist at the Royal South Hants Hospital, led the study. It was funded by the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS).

The results have recently been published in the International Journal of Audiology.

Recreating what their child would hear

Over 50,000 children in the UK live with permanent hearing loss, with most born to hearing parents.

The professionals supporting these families have a challenge - to translate clinical data into meaningful understanding. This can be used to support early intervention and consistent hearing aid use.

This study took place within the Audiology department managed by University Hospital Southampton (UHS). This is based at the Royal South Hants Hospital.

At routine appointments, parents were offered a simulation of their child's hearing loss. The children were all under 11 years of age with permanent deafness and fitted with hearing aids.

During the simulation, parents started by listening to a voice reading an audiobook. This was altered to recreate what their child would hear.

Most parents opted to hear the simulation (94%) and nearly all found it helpful (97%).

Parents said the simulation gave them a new understanding of their child’s hearing, beyond what they had been told before. It changed how they thought about their child’s hearing experience, and they used their own words to describe the sound of the simulation.

The simulation encouraged parents to talk about how often their child uses hearing aids. It also prompted them to discuss how hearing may impact their child’s behaviour, how they felt about the hearing loss, and how the family is coping with it.

In some cases, parents felt emotional listening to the simulation. However, they were still pleased to have heard it.

One parent said: “Definitely helpful and would recommend it. At the end of the day, you need to know how your child hears.”

Inspiring a team of clinical scientist researchers

Dr Young is supported by the UHS Research Leaders Programme. She worked closely with her audiologist colleagues to deliver this project, some becoming co-authors.

Over the course of the study, nine audiologists contributed. This included through concept development, study design, data collection, completion of clinician perspective feedback questionnaires and data analysis.

Together, they collaborated with Dr Sian Lickess at NDCS. They also worked with Professor Steven Bell at the University of Southampton’s Institute of Sound and Vibration Research.

“Audiologists want to empower parents to make informed choices about their child’s hearing care, and to advocate for them in the wider world,” said Dr Young.

“So I’m delighted to have been involved in this study, which found that hearing simulations are an important first step in this process, giving parents fresh insight and opening up further conversations.”

Developing a new online simulation

NDCS are now developing a new online hearing simulation tool for use in audiology. This aims to support parent’s understanding of their child’s hearing.

The tool enables parents to better understand how children with different levels of hearing loss experience sound. It covers mild, moderate, severe or profound hearing loss. It also simulates hearing loss affecting one ear (unilateral) or both ears (bilateral).

The simulation features common listening situations identified from feedback from parents. For example, it could have someone telling a story.

It also has adjustable background noise. This means it can reflect real life environments, such as children playing in a playground or classroom noise.

NDCS will be testing this tool with audiology professionals soon.

“I'm delighted that Dr Young’s important work has led to a further collaboration with the National Deaf Children's Society to develop an online hearing simulation tool,” said Dr Lickess.

“The tool will support informed conversations between professionals and families, helping them better understand a deaf child's experiences and the impact of different levels of hearing loss.”