subject: Taking Advantage Of An In-school Hearing Test For Your Child [print this page] When your child is in school, your teacher is the one who sees him or her every day. He or she interacts with your child and sees them in and out of class. The teacher asks questions of your child and sees how he or she answers. All of these areas give your child's teacher the ability to see problems with hearing that you might not notice at home. Because of this advantage, you should definitely listen if a hearing test is suggested. As parents, you will regret it if you choose to not get one, and your son or daughter's grades suffer for longer.
It is easy for parents to be proud of their children to a fault. It is easy to think that they will take on the world. It is okay to think positively of your child in this way. It is important to also live in reality. Although some teachers are not good ones, and should not be teaching, most teachers do have his or her students' best interests in mind. If your son or daughter's teacher has mentioned a few times that he or she thinks your son or daughter might be struggling in a certain area, listen. Most likely the teacher is not just saying this. The teacher probably wants you to make a move in the right direction.
A hearing test is very simple. Schools often provide them free of charge or with a very small charge. It is ridiculous to not allow your child to have one. Every child has the right to live up to his or her potential. Teachers and parents can help children to be fulfilled in this way by making sure that every effort is made to give them the help they need. For a child who cannot hear well, it might mean special tools as well as a seat in the front of the classroom. The same is true for other disabilities.
As parents and teachers, the goal is not to see who can make himself or herself look the best because of what a child accomplishes. The point is to guide a child so that he or she can live up to the potential that has been given.
As a parent, if the thought of a hearing test is frightening for you or for your child, look at it as a vaccination or a shot after stepping on a rusty nail. You would not avoid one of these out of pride. Why then would you avoid getting your child's hearing tested out of pride or even fear that there might be a problem? Your wisest course of action is finding out the problem and getting the help needed.
