Whether playing, listening to music, practicing a hobby or simply in everyday life - your child's new hearing can be trained on many occasions in passing and with pleasure.

Find out here how your child can make the most of leisure activities despite hearing loss, what support is available and what else you should bear in mind!

Important learning goals for later life are already achieved at an early age through play - you play to learn for life, so to speak: children casually practise important skills and abilities that make it easier for them to interact with their environment and lead a self-determined life.

This learning factor is particularly high when interacting with other children. They learn how to deal with their own feelings, but also with those of others. In this way, they develop an emotional intelligence that is of enormous importance for the rest of their lives.

Whether playing with other children in the sandpit for the first time, role-playing games in kindergarten or board games with school-age friends - all of these encounters have something in common: communication.

With a good hearing aid, your child can easily use these encounters for personal development, and all play situations with a counterpart are the perfect listening and speech training!

Sporting activity has a long-term effect on children. It promotes the development of muscles and bones. It strengthens the immune system, improves stamina, prevents obesity, has a positive effect on children's emotional development, in short: sport and exercise in a balanced way is healthy and fun.

To ensure that your child's sporting spirit is not dampened even with a hearing implant, there are a few things to bear in mind:

• With the MED-EL WaterWear protective cover, which is available for all types of audio processor, your child can enjoy bathing fun without barriers.
  You can find more information at medel.com/waterwear
  You can order the WaterWear protective covers at at.store.medel.com
• With the latest IP68-certified and therefore waterproof audio processors, your child can even dive up to one meter deep without a protective cover!
• Stronger shocks around your child's implant system should be avoided. Constant headers during soccer games, for example, may have a negative effect on the long-term durability of the system.
• Wearing a helmet when skiing, cycling or climbing is therefore highly recommended, and this also applies to children without hearing implants. When choosing a helmet, you should make sure that the audio processor does not pinch and that hearing is not restricted by the helmet shell or lining.
• Sweating is a natural part of successful sporting activity, but is sometimes unpleasant for hearing system wearers. MED-EL audio processors have a splash-proof, the latest ones even have a waterproof housing to protect against rain, sweat and moisture. This means you no longer have to worry about sweating and your child can give free rein to their sporting ambitions.
• For particularly active athletes, there are additional mounting options to prevent the audio processor from slipping or getting lost.
  You can find information on this at medel.com/attachments
  You can order this mounting option at at.store.medel.com
• If your child wants to play their favorite sport with their favorite music - no problem, assistive audio technologies allow your child to enjoy music without restrictions. Many users of hearing implant systems are also very satisfied with over-ear headphones. In addition to the individual sound quality requirements, the shape of the ear-enclosing part is important when purchasing. The oval version has proven itself here, which in most cases does not put pressure on the audio processor. With the latest audio processors, a direct connection to your favorite music is even possible without any additional devices!

Everything around us is culture. We encounter it in almost all everyday situations and in almost all situations in life. Culture - from the Latin word "cultura" - describes how people shape their lives, cultivate them, shape them spiritually, change them and how they live. In other words, everything that nature does not produce is culture.

Cultural education makes children self-confident. Because you can be proud of what you have learned. But what can children learn in the field of culture? They learn about art, theater, literature and music. Either passively - by listening to their favorite music, reading an exciting book, visiting a museum, experiencing a play - or they become active themselves - by learning to play an instrument, singing in a choir, joining a dance or theater group, making a video or writing exciting essays.

In order for your child to fully experience culture, they need their eyes and ears. With good hearing care, the culture that is on offer all around will be accessible to your child without barriers. That's a good thing - because culture makes you strong!

Here you will find important tips and suggestions for your child!

Audio technologies

Large venues often have room acoustics that can have a negative impact on the intelligibility of speech or music. Especially for users of hearing aids and hearing implant systems, it is often difficult to hear voices and music at events such as concerts or theater performances in large rooms. Echo, ambient noise or other disturbing noises can make it difficult for those affected to understand. This can be remedied by various audio technologies that enable children with hearing systems to receive audio signals in their audio processors without interference.

Induction

With the installation of an induction system, the useful signal is transmitted directly into the hearing system by means of a magnetic field. Such systems are now available in many public places such as cinemas, lecture halls, churches, at bank and ticket counters, and in some countries even in cabs or buses for city tours - of course, simple systems can also be installed in private homes, for example to make television sound available inductively.

Technically speaking, an induction loop can be seen as a wire loop that is laid along the boundaries of the room or around a predefined seating area. The input from a microphone or other signal source is then fed into a wire loop via the induction system's amplifier, which generates an electromagnetic field. Audio processors of hearing aids or hearing implants that have an induction coil can pick up the alternating electromagnetic field and convert the signals in the audio processor. In this way, external noise is minimized. The volume control on your child's own audio processor also makes it possible for your child to adjust signals again as required.

Users who wish to receive this signal should stay within the wire loop and set their system to the corresponding reception mode: If you only want to hear those signals from the induction system, the mode is usually labeled "T", while the equally common designation "MT" stands for the combination of the signals from the induction loop and the hearing system's microphone in equal parts. With cochlear implant systems, as with some hearing aids, the desired operating mode is selected by remote control.

In public areas, the presence of an induction loop is usually indicated by a corresponding pictogram. If you would like to book tickets for a theater or cinema performance for your child and family, it still makes sense to find out about the possibility of inductive hearing in advance.

In Austria, the Austrian Association for the Hard of Hearing has for many years provided lists of hearing systems installed in public spaces as pdf files on its website at https://www.oesb-dachverband.at/.

Radio systems
While infrared and radio systems are mostly used in the private sector, schools mostly use so-called FM systems.

Audio live streaming

New technologies now make it even easier for operators of cultural institutions and also improve the sound quality for users. The audio signal is transmitted to the user's smartphone via Wi-Fi and an app. From there, it can either be heard with headphones or fed into the hearing system via Bluetooth or a personal induction loop - depending on the individual listener's own equipment. If you don't have any of these with you, you can borrow a cell phone with a pre-installed app and portable induction loop from Audience Services - provided the hearing system has T-reception. You can find more information about this at https://de-at.sennheiser.com/
As this technology is still relatively new, it makes sense to enquire in advance about availability at the cultural institution of your choice.

Audio guides
If your child is old enough to follow the content cognitively, museums in particular offer audio guides as standard, which act as an electronic museum guide and lead you through the museum or an exhibition using audio recordings.

The audio guide can usually be used with the MED-EL AudioLink, and even directly with the latest audio processors, making a visit to the museum a visual and auditory experience for users of hearing implant systems.

Discounts

Some cultural institutions offer a discount on presentation of a disabled pass. As there are no uniform regulations, it is worth finding out in advance on the relevant website to avoid any discussions on site.

Music

You can find out more about the power of music, no matter what style your child likes, and how important it is in our lives on the website hoerenbewegt.atwhich deals intensively with this topic.

Theater and cinema

A nice visit to the children's and youth theater, an entertaining movie - even with a hearing impairment, you don't have to miss out. Many theaters offer high-quality technical hearing aids that can be connected to your child's hearing system.

Museum

Museums offer people an incredibly diverse insight into the world of visual art and the collection of cultural assets. All over the world, there is the opportunity to admire works from the beginning of human history to contemporary art. This is also exciting for children. If your child would like to find out more about an exhibition or the individual works of art and is old enough, they can join a guided tour by an art educator or borrow an audio guide, which is available in various languages in most museums.

The audio guide can usually be used with the MED-EL AudioLink, and even directly with the latest audio processors, making a visit to the museum a visual and auditory experience for users of hearing implant systems.

Literature

"Literature must be fun. It should give people joy, pleasure, fun and even happiness."

Mirror 25/2001

Literature has multiple functions for us - entertainment, education, relaxation or excitement, time travel, in short: adventure in the mind. For your hearing-impaired child (from around ten years of age), literature can take on another facet as auditory training if it is presented in the form of audio books.

Fairy tale literature helps even the very youngest children to process developmental steps, and later helps pupils to acquire reading skills and develop their own ability to express themselves. Ultimately, sophisticated literature is also an important part of personal development.

As listening training, it is helpful if you offer your child the work in an audible and unabridged form as an audio book as well as in a word-identical, visual form, i.e. as a download version or CD and also as a pdf file or as a book. This means that your child can always read along with what they have heard. To make things easier, you can of course also read sections of the text before listening in order to familiarize yourself with the text and especially with the proper names. However, listening to the audio book without reading along is only recommended once you have practiced it.

Of course, it is important to pay attention to the voice quality of the audio book: Musical or sound backgrounds are very descriptive, but often make understanding more difficult.

Radio plays are also often a challenge because there are usually many speaker changes and sound effects impair comprehension.

If you keep all this in mind, nothing stands in the way of enjoying literature and an adventure in your head, and your hearing is also trained in an extremely pleasant way.

Audio book recommendations for children's and young adult literature and from all literary eras - international and from German-speaking countries - can be found at

• www.vorleser.net
• audiamo.net
• hoerbibliothek.at
• hoergut-verlag.de

An excursion into nature or a family vacation by the sea - that's where children experience the diversity of nature and peoples: hearing the world in all its glory - the enchanting sounds of nature, foreign languages, exotic musical sounds. For children with good hearing care, experiencing all this becomes a very special gift.

Here you will find tips to help you and your child with a hearing impairment enjoy a carefree and unforgettable excursion or trip!

• Remember to take out vacation insurance for your child's hearing implant system so that a replacement is covered in the event of loss.
  Contact addresses of the two insurance companies familiar with insuring hearing implant systems can be found here! Insurance forms online
• If you want to travel to a remote location where the nearest service facility for your child's hearing system is too far away, it is advisable to order a so-called vacation kit in good time before departure so that you have spare parts and various accessories with you if something should break on the system or so that the system is protected from environmental influences. Your contact in this case is the HEARING CENTER
• With the MED-EL WaterWear protective cover, which is available for all audio processor types, your child can enjoy bathing fun without moisture penetrating the device parts. With the new IP68-certified and therefore waterproof audio processors, your child can even dive up to one meter deep without a protective cover! However, if your child is not wearing a swimming cap that holds the audio processor firmly on their head, we advise against diving into natural waters, as the system could slip off their head and disappear into the depths never to be seen again.
  Information on the WaterWear protective cover can be found at medel.com/waterwear
  You can order the WaterWear protective covers at at.store.medel.com

Here you will find valuable tips that can make it easier for your child to hear in everyday life and at home!

• Textiles such as curtains, carpets etc. have a sound-absorbing effect and reduce the reverberation of sounds.
• With good and sufficient light, your child will be able to see the other person better, which will certainly make communication easier.
• The right place to sit when eating together also helps all family members sitting at the table to understand each other.
• In general, the so-called "Anlitzgerichtetheit", i.e. looking at the speaker's face, is a great advantage in order to better understand what is being said. Facial expressions play an important role in understanding content, and this applies to all people, including those with normal hearing!
• MED-EL offers a range of connection options for your child's audio processor. These can be used to easily connect technical devices such as a telephone, TV etc. to the implant system. You can find more information here! With the latest generation of processors, it is even possible to connect directly to cell phones etc. without any additional devices!
• A selection of additional technical devices, such as alarm clocks, doorbells or alarm systems for your home, can be found here!