Is Your Child Safe When Grandpa Can't Hear?

By Hearing Professionals

Hearing Professionals Inc.

. http://www.hearing-professionals.com/

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Is Your Child Safe When Grandpa Can't Hear?

The current statistics from

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

About 17% of adults in the United States, 36 million, report some degree of hearing loss.

At age 65, one out of three people have a hearing loss.

There is a strong relationship between age and reported hearing loss 18% of American adults 45-64 years old, 30% of adults 65-74 years old, and 47% of adults 75 years old or older have a hearing impairment.

Only one out of five people who could benefit from a hearing aid actually wears one.

Almost everyone knows at least one person who has a hearing loss that is affecting communications but resolutely refuses to acknowledge or do anything about it.

If your child's babysitter needs hearing aids and doesn't have them, there could be serious problems. Effective caregivers need to be environmentally vigilant; the ability to hear is a key component in assuring the safety of your child. Older children have been known to take advantage of an adult's hearing loss and get “permission” to do something the adult wouldn't agree to if they understood what the child said. Before asking your parent or another older adult to babysit, consider these issues

If a grandparent can't hear what kids are up to, the potential for tragedy is high.

The vast majority of people with hearing loss hear the low pitches but not the high ones common in smoke/carbon monoxide detectors.

Hearing-impaired drivers also often have a very bad habit of speech reading while they drive. Often, they are completely unaware of how much time they are spending with their eyes off the road and on someone's face.

No matter where you live, there are weather emergencies and you need to know that your children's caregivers can understand and respond correctly to warnings.

Being able to correctly communicate on the telephone is important in an emergency. Ensuring that your caregiver cannot only communicate the situation, but can respond accurately to the emergency personnel is imperative.

People with a hearing loss who wear hearing aids, use assistive devices and the many communication coping strategies can be safe caregivers for your children. These people are aware of their limitations and take steps to ensure that your children aren't in a situation where their hearing loss will endanger them. Parents who are denying their hearing loss, or the extent of their hearing loss, are another story entirely. Before asking your parents to babysit, make sure they are capable of giving your children the care they need and deserve.