Dr. Navid Taghvaei has been a resident of Arizona since 1988. He conducts very complex individual and group technical training courses and activities involving new and existing developments in the areas of audiology, products, software, and technology. Dr. Taghvaei has extensive clinical experience in pediatric and adult hearing instrument and cochlear implant fitting, programming, and rehabilitation.

Communicate with Your School

Many people choose to be discrete about their hearing loss. While everyone has their own process around disclosure of hearing loss it is a good idea regardless to reach out to your college or university about your hearing loss. Most have accommodations available for hearing impaired students, so they have the same opportunities as students with normal hearing.

Reach out to Your Instructor

Once you’ve checked in with a guidance counselor and know what classes you’ll be taken, it’s a good idea to reach out over email to each of your professors and let them know you have a hearing loss. Ideally, you’ll Introduce yourself, and let your professor know whether you will be using hearing aids or other assistive devices to help with your hearing. This is also a good idea to let them know how you prefer to be communicated with and what accommodations have worked for you in the past. This could mean being seated closer to the front, with a view of the instructor or written out notes of lectures to make sure you don’t miss important information. Chances are that your instructor has worked with hearing impaired students in the past and has ideas of how you may best excel in class.

Discover Your School’s Resources for Hearing Impairment

In addition to communicating with your professors, reach out to your school’s services may surprise you. The majority of colleges and universities have staff devoted to assisting hearing impaired students. They can offer tutoring, access to live action captioning cervices, written class notes or transcripts, ASL interpretation or other communication assistance. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of all these tools. They are there and it is up to you to take the steps make sure you can do your best.

Position Yourself for Success

Successful learning in a classroom often starts on the first day with hearing impaired students. Make sure you talk to you instructor about being put near the front of the class. Many people who struggle with hearing loss have come to rely on lip reading, body language and facial expression to enhance understanding. Position yourself in a place where you can see and hear clearly. If there are distracting sounds in the classroom such as an air conditioner unit, a busy hallway or open window, take care to sit away from these noisy places. Hearing in noise is a major obstacle for many students and it’s important to have the space around you as quiet as possible to make sure you don’t miss any important information. Sitting near to a wall can help you determine the direction that sound, or speech is coming from which can be especially important for class discussions.

Talk to Your Class

It’s not always necessary to disclose hearing loss to your class, but if you choose to it can often be to your advantage. Let classmates know how best to communicate with you. If you hear better in one ear let them know to speak in that direction when addressing you. It can also help to have them maintain eye contact and speak gaited and clearly. If you have assistive technology or are using an assistive device from your school, it may benefit you to talk to your class about how it will be used to help you hear and participate. Let them know and what they can do to help your comprehension.

Treating Hearing Loss

The spring semester is coming up faster than we realize, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time to prepare. If you suspect you could benefit from hearing aids or assistive listening devices, it’s a good idea to schedule a hearing test with us now.

Tips for College Students with Hearing Loss