Share Your Hearing Loss With Your Class
Tell Your Story!
There is a lot you can share about your hearing loss. Here are ways you can teach others about your hearing loss.
Create a Presentation
Show how hearing works.
The ear is made up of 3 different sections, outer ear, middle ear and inner ear. These all work together to collect sounds and turn the sounds into messages and sends the messages to the brain.
Talk About Your Hearing Loss
Share your story.
- How old were you when you found out you had hearing loss?
- When did you get your hearing aid(s)?
- Did your hearing aid(s) help you hear better right away?
- Do you like wearing your hearing aid(s)?
Talk About What Helps You Hear Better: Hearing Aid or FM System
Show your class your hearing aid or the FM system.
An FM system lets the teacher’s voice be heard directly into the hearing aid. A teacher wears a microphone, and her voice is streamed into the hearing aid.
Play a game to show how an FM system works.
- Wear your hearing aid.
- Leave the classroom and step into the hallway.
- A classmate in the classroom will say a name or color using the FM system microphone that the teacher wears.
- You will return to the classroom and share with your class what you heard.
Play a Game
Show what it is like to talk with someone when they are not wearing their hearing aids.
Unfair spelling test game.
- Listen to the words.
- Write down the words.
- Match the answers with the correct ones.
- How did your classmates do? What did they learn?
Play the telephone game.
- Have your classmates plug their ears with their fingers or put cotton balls in their ears.
- Whisper a nursery rhyme or song.
- Ask your classmates to say what they heard.
- How did your classmates do? What did they learn?
Talk About Other People With Hearing Loss
- Millie Bobbie Brown is an actress who was born with hearing loss.
- Beethoven was a German composer and developed hearing loss in his late 20s.
- Helen Keller was an author and developed blindness and hearing loss as a toddler after an illness.
Give Tips on How To Talk to Someone With Hearing Loss
- Speak clearly and in your regular tone of voice. Do not shout or whisper.
- Get the person's attention before speaking.
- Face the person you are talking to.
Stand or sit 3 to 6 feet from the listener.
- Do not block your mouth when speaking.
- Find a good spot in the room to help them hear best.
- Do not say “never mind”. They do want to hear what you said. Please repeat what you said.
Make a Poster “All About My Hearing.”
- Include pictures of the ear and how it works.
- Include a picture of your hearing test. Results from a hearing test are put on an audiogram. An audiogram is a graph that shows what a person can hear at different levels.
- List the date you got your hearing aid(s). Add pictures.
- Share more about you. Show your classmates what you love to do, like sports, dance, gaming, or reading.
Read a Book to Your Classmates
- Preschool age book titles:
- This is How I Hear
- All the Ways I Hear You
- Bessie Needs Hearing Aids
- Ling Bird Hears with His Magic Ears
- Super Hearing
- Freddie and the Fairy
- Mila Gets her Super Ears
- I’m the Boss of my Hearing Loss
- Gracie’s Ears
- Elementary school age book titles:
- A Birthday for Ben
- The Adventures of Billie BAHA and her Super Hearo friends!
- I Have a Sister, My Sister is Deaf
- Super Kena
- Cosmo Gets an Ear
- Leo’s Magic Ears
- Let’s Hear it for Almigal
- Zola Gets Hearing Aids
- Middle school age book titles:
- El Deafo
- A Button in Her Ear
To Learn More About Hearing Loss, Review These Kidshealth Resources:
© 2025 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth®. Used and adapted under license by Children’s Wisconsin. This information is for general use only. For specific medical advice or questions, consult your health care professional.