Helping a Student Change Her Hearing Aid Batteries

Yesterday morning I assisted in helping my first student change her hearing aid batteries. Changing batteries is a fairly simple process that should not take very long. But, sometimes helping students change their hearing aid batteries can be a long and complicated process.

The teachers reported that this young student with two hearing aids was having difficulty hearing and focusing. She was more quiet and less talkative than her usual self. Her teachers suspected that her hearing aids were not working or fitting properly. She kept fiddling with them and pushing them into her ears. Luckily, this happened early in the morning right before I came to see her (she was the first student I saw in the morning).

First, I had to determine what the problem could be. I looked at her ear molds and tubes and they seemed fine. I checked her hearing aids by listening to them using a hearing aid stethoscope and learned that they were not working at all. I suspected that her batteries were not working. It took a while for me to get to her batteries, because of these tricky locks on the battery cases. You have to push this tiny metal button while simultaneously pushing down on the battery case. While I was doing all of this, I had the student clean her hearing aid ear molds using the wipes that came with her hearing aid kit. Using a battery tester, I learned that her batteries were dead. I let the student use the battery tester, so that she could practice learning how to do this herself. I replaced her batteries and then had a teacher listen using the stethoscope (after I cleaned them with antibacterial wipes and spray), so she could practice using this tool. She reported that they were working now. Then I cleaned the stethoscope again using the wipes and sprayed them with a special sanitizer used specifically for hearing aid kit materials.

Finally, the student was able to put in the hearing aids, but after she practiced putting them in herself, which took roughly five minutes. After I helped put in her hearing aids properly, I stepped back and asked the student if the hearing aids are working now. She smiled and yelled out, "Yes! Yay!" She spoke loudly and started chatting away. She became more energetic and seemed happy now.

All of this took a little over 25 minutes.

I really enjoyed it and was happy I was able to help some.

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*If interested in hearing aid kits or learning more about them, you can find them on Amazon.