{"id":5217,"date":"2020-12-16T23:24:45","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T23:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/?p=5217"},"modified":"2020-12-16T23:24:45","modified_gmt":"2020-12-16T23:24:45","slug":"tips-for-helping-your-child-with-hearing-loss-develop-social-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/tips-for-helping-your-child-with-hearing-loss-develop-social-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Helping Your Child with Hearing Loss Develop Social Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the greatest concerns parents of children with hearing loss have is whether they\u2019ll make friends and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hearingfirst.org\/b\/blog\/posts\/help-your-child-develop-social-skills-and-make-friends\">develop social skills alongside their normal-hearing peers<\/a>. While treating <a href=\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/hearing\/hearing-loss\/\">hearing loss<\/a> is an important first step, there are other strategies you can employ as well. Below we\u2019ve compiled tips for helping your child develop these necessary skills both early in life and during the school years.<\/p>\n<h2>The Early Years<img decoding=\"async\" title=\"children-social-skills-hearing-loss\" src=\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/children-social-skills-hearing-loss.jpg\" alt=\"Children socializing outside on a bench.\" width=\"348\" height=\"232\" class=\"alignright wp-image-5219\" \/><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Schedule play dates. <\/strong>Even when your child is very young, it\u2019s beneficial for them to learn how to interact with others their age. It is also helpful for them to see you, their parent, interact with your peers. Be sure to model healthy communication strategies you want them to develop.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Join a music class. <\/strong>Music is an important part of auditory development. Your child will enjoy participating along with others their age.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make your environment auditory-friendly<\/strong>. Whether your child uses hearing aids or a cochlear implant, excessive background noise is challenging. Make sure to eliminate background noise like the TV or radio when your child is playing or interacting with others.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Educate other parents<\/strong>. It\u2019s important for everybody \u2013 both your family who is impacted by hearing loss on a daily basis and other families who aren\u2019t \u2013 to destigmatize hearing loss. Talking with other parents about your child\u2019s loss, treatment and developmental goals will help accomplish this.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Teach empathy<\/strong>. An essential component of friendship is the ability to gauge others\u2019 emotions and respond appropriately. You can do this by taking advantage of every opportunity to talk about your child\u2019s and other family members\u2019 emotional states and how to work through them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The School Years<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Meet other families. <\/strong>If your child makes a friend at school, reach out to their parents and schedule a playdate. It is often the case that one good friendship opens the door to others.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Enroll in after school activities.<\/strong> Whether your child is interested in sports, singing, acting or science, it\u2019s important to give them an outlet to explore their hobbies with other kids they share commonalities with.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Talk to your child\u2019s teachers.<\/strong> Be sure to talk to your child\u2019s instructor about your child\u2019s hearing loss, including what their needs are to succeed and what your goals are for their development. Ask the teacher to contact you if they have any concerns.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Identify and address problems early.<\/strong> If you notice your child playing mostly by themselves or, conversely, acting domineering because they are unaware of those around them, address the issue early and help guide them to make choices that will foster healthy friendships.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For <a href=\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/hearing\/hearing-loss\/communication-strategies\/\">more information<\/a> or to schedule an appointment, call San Francisco Audiology today.<\/p>\n<h2>Learn More About Hearing Loss<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/evidence-suggests-covid-19-can-infect-the-middle-ear-cause-hearing-loss\/\">Evidence Suggests COVID-19 Can Infect the Middle Ear, Cause Hearing Loss<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/a-healthy-ear-is-a-healthy-mind\/\">A Healthy Ear is a Healthy Mind<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/new-research-highlights-role-of-protein-in-new-ear-hair-cell-development\/\">New Research Highlights Role of Protein in New Ear Hair Cell Development<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the greatest concerns parents of children with hearing loss have is whether they\u2019ll make friends and develop social skills alongside their normal-hearing peers. While treating hearing loss is an important first step, there are other strategies you can employ as well. Below we\u2019ve compiled tips for helping your child develop these necessary skills&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","locid":"","rating":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5217"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5220,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5217\/revisions\/5220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}