Device breaks - Does your DHH child need them?

Ever noticed how when the afternoon hits, your deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) child starts to melt down before your very eyes?

They might start to pull at their hearing devices or rip them off all together (and if you're one of the unlucky ones, you may even find them in the bottom of the toilet bowl or mid-air as they fly out the car window!).

And although it's natural to chalk that behaviour up to them being "naughty" or trying to test our boundaries, I can guarantee you more often that not, it's neither of those things.

What you're witnessing my friends, is listening fatigue.

Listening fatigue is real and can have a significant impact on deaf and hard of hearing children. We actually find a lot of what we see as misbehaviour, is simply their inability to regulate themselves or manage their pure exhaustion after a day of having to listen, watch lips and receive auditory input through an artificial pathway - which is what hearing devices, such as hearing aids or cochlear implants, essentially provide. 

This is yet another reason why I am such a huge advocate for incorporating a signed language into a DHH child's language journey from birth.

So what are device breaks and why do our DHH children need them?

Device breaks are simply removing all devices and tech attached to your child for a period of time in the day, to provide a break from auditory stimulation and help reduce fatigue and overwhelm.

Yes, I know.

You've been told by multiple specialists that your child must wear their devices "all waking hours", because consistent device use results in better speech outcomes for your child. This is somewhat true. BUT what's also true is that how well a DHH child speaks in the future depends on a huge range of factors - their device use being just one of them.

Even children who wear their devices every single hour of every single day may not develop speech to the level expected - we can't always predict it, because we can't predict how clear the auditory input they are receiving is every moment of their life.

I guess what I am trying to highlight here is this need for balance.

This need for evaluation of the whole child and what our DHH children innately need to thrive as happy, healthy and resilient little people. Ensuring they feel safe, supported and confident in their self-identity and that they have a healthy relationship with their devices long-term - needs to be the focus.

So let me make this clear...

Giving our DHH children device breaks when they are desperately seeking them - does not make us a "bad" parent. It makes us an intuitive and connected one.

But how do we know when they need a break?

Well for older kids, they can generally tell you when they've had enough and hopefully they have the self-advocacy skills to do this well!

However, for babies and toddlers who may not be able to communicate this yet, there are signs we can look for. Generally these signs will come later on in the day, however each child's thresholds and behaviours will be different. So for parents, it's about tuning in and taking stock of what they are communicating with you. 

These signs could include:

• Unusual emotional dysregulation
• Pulling of ears
• Sudden undesirable behaviours (I.e. biting, hitting, kicking, throwing food)
• Screaming, crying or being defiant 
• Refusal to look or listen
• Shaking of their head
• Banging hands over ears
• Consistent removal of devices
• Having sleepy eyes or lying down

Being able to recognise these behaviours and taking action quickly, can prevent the child from hitting a state of absolute overwhelm and showcasing behaviours that are harder to diffuse. 

At the end of the day, to accept our child's wishes when it comes to their devices, is paramount. Allowing them to understand that they have choice and that their devices are a tool, but by no means define them, is everything. Sometimes it's okay to let our DHH kids be DHH kids.

Clare x 

Research:

"A DHH child may be proficient in a spoken language, and yet struggle in listening and understanding a teacher and other students in a classroom. Such cognitive demands, even among school-aged children with mild hearing loss, can result in fatigue. When a child straggles to cope with the overload and is unable to sustain attention and process information equivalently with hearing peers, there are detrimental effects on learning and often on behavior in the classroom".

1. Kushalnagar P, Mathur G, Moreland CJ, Napoli DJ, Osterling W, Padden C, Rathmann C. Infants and children with hearing loss need early language access. J Clin Ethics. 2010 Summer;21(2):143-54. PMID: 20866021; PMCID: PMC3072291. Link here
2. Hall, M. L., Hall, W. C., & Caselli, N. K. (2019). Deaf children need language, not (just) speech. First Language, 39(4), 367–395. https://doi.org/10.1177/0142723719834102 Link here.