The Great Hearing Aid Massacre of 2008

Okay, time for a rant post.  When Whitney was first fitted with hearing aids over two years ago she took to them quickly and loved being able to hear more clearly.  Things went pretty smoothly until a few months back.  That's when the trouble started.  

On the last day of school Whitney removed one of her hearing aids and chewed it up on the bus ride home.  We scolded her and told her how bad it was to chew on her hearing aids and hoped that she understood.  We wondered why she had stopped tolerated her aids and traced it back to some volume adjustments that were made after a recent hearing test.  I think at least one of the frequencies was out of whack and blasting poor Whitney's ears out.

So we sent the aid in for repair and let Whitney take some time off from her hearing aids in the mean time.  Then when we got the damaged aid back, Whitney had a new hearing test and had her aids adjusted based on the results.  Melanie and I had hoped that this would get Whitney back to enjoying her aids and hearing as she should.

I just wish that was the end of the story, but it's not.  On the car ride home from the audiologist Whitney began pointing and asking to have her hearing aids taken out.  Melanie told her she could have them out when they got home.  Once they arrived at the house, Whitney seemed fine so Melanie let her go play with her hearing aids in.  Melanie took just a moment to slip into the bathroom.  And when she got out Whit had taken one of her hearing aids and started chewing on it again!  It was like she was waiting for a moment when she wasn't being supervised and then capitalized on it as soon as she was alone.  Melanie scolded Whit again and explained how bad it was to chew on her hearing aids, but we're not sure if the message is getting through.

So Whit's going without her hearing aids again while the damaged aid is off to the repair shop a second time.  And we're not sure what to do now.  Even just trusting her with her hearing aids for a minute or two is a scary prospect.  She might whip them out and chew on one of them again the minute we turn our backs.  For now we're trying to figure out some new ideas to try while that broken hearing aid gets repaired again.