June 12, 2007

Oticon Pediatrics has unveiled a variety of counseling tools and materials to help parents, teachers and hearing care professionals address the personal and practical issues faced by some teens with hearing loss in social and academic development.

“We understand that teens with hearing loss need all the help they can get – as do their parents and teachers,” Peer Lauritsen, president of Oticon, Inc, says. “Our Oticon Pediatrics Teen Portfolio includes counseling tools and materials designed to provide the answers and advice they have been looking for.”

Oticon Pediatrics’ “Keeping Molehills from Becoming Mountains: Understanding and Supporting Teen Students with Hearing Loss,” by Cheryl DeConde Johnson, EdD, provides guidelines for educators seeking to optimize educational experiences for teens with hearing loss. The brochure offers advice on structuring the school environment and creating opportunities for social interaction that build responsibility, self-advocacy and self-esteem.

In “Special Consideration for Parents Raising a Teenager with Hearing Loss,” Karen Anderson, PhD, offers supportive strategies for parents to help teens gain confidence, fit in with their peers and establish independence and responsibility. Encouraging consistent hearing aid use with a balance of enticements, rewards and discipline is among the insights Anderson shares from 25 years of working with families, early interventionists, teachers and children.

Anderson includes practical steps parents can take to help their teens develop an individual identity and master the skills and abilities needed to be the best they can be. Following Dr. Anderson’s article are two essays written by parents discussing their joys and challenges of raising teens with hearing loss.

Oticon Pediatrics has also created information just for teens on the newest Oticon hearing instruments, Delta and Epoq. The brochures showcase the benefits and special features of the two devices.

For more information about Oticon Pediatrics Teen Portfolio of support tools and materials, including interactive counseling CDs, contact Maureen Doty-Tomasula, Pediatrics Marketing Manager, at [email protected] or (888) 684-7331.

Source: Oticon (www.oticonusa.com)