Vision and Hearing Aids

What paras need to know about glasses, hearing aids, cochlear implants, and other sensory devices — care, troubleshooting, and supporting students who use them.

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| Audience | Paras assigned to students who use corrective lenses, hearing aids, cochlear implants, or FM systems. |

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| Why This Matters |

| Sensory aids — glasses, hearing aids, cochlear implants — are prescriptive devices that enable students to access their education. When a hearing aid is dead, a cochlear implant processor is left in the backpack, or glasses are bent beyond use, the student experiences a significant barrier that is entirely preventable. The para closest to the student is often the adult best positioned to catch and address these issues. |

Glasses and Corrective Lenses

Students with visual impairments may wear glasses to correct refractive errors (nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism) or to manage conditions like amblyopia (lazy eye) or strabismus (eye misalignment). Some students also wear patching as part of amblyopia treatment.

Daily Para Responsibilities

Check that the student has their glasses at the start of the day and during key transitions.

Glasses should be clean. Keep a soft cloth available — fingerprints and smudges significantly reduce acuity.

Check fit: frames should sit level on the nose and the temples should curve around the ears. Glasses that slide down or tilt are not correcting vision properly.

For students who resist wearing glasses: follow the IEP or vision specialist's protocol. Do not give up on glasses wearing without consulting the team.

When Something Is Wrong

Broken frames or missing lenses: notify the family immediately. A student without corrective lenses may be unable to access classroom materials safely.

Student reports blurry vision even with glasses on: note it and inform the teacher and family. It may indicate the prescription needs updating.

Eye redness, tearing, or complaints of eye pain: remove glasses and get the nurse. Do not assume it is the glasses causing the problem.

Hearing Aids

Hearing aids amplify sound for students with hearing loss. They are custom-fitted and programmed for each student's audiogram. There is no universal hearing aid setting — what works for one student is wrong for another.

Daily Checks

Battery check: Most hearing aids use size 10, 312, 13, or 675 batteries. Low or dead batteries are the most common cause of hearing aid failure. A hearing aid that produces a high-pitched squeal (feedback) when held near the ear has a working battery and receiver. Complete silence usually means a dead battery.

Physical check: Earmold should be properly seated in the ear canal. A poorly seated mold produces feedback. Tubing (on behind-the-ear aids) should not be cracked, stiff, or blocked with moisture.

Listening check: If the district has a listening stethoscope, use it to verify the hearing aid is producing clear sound. If not, say a series of vowel sounds ('oo, ee, ah, sh, ss') close to the microphone and ask the student to repeat them — a rough check that the aid is functional.

Moisture and Care

Hearing aids are damaged by moisture. Students who sweat heavily or who participate in water activities should have a drying kit or dehumidifier available. Remove hearing aids before swimming.

Do not clean hearing aids with water or cleaning sprays. Use the dry brush or cloth provided with the aid.

Cochlear Implants

A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted device that bypasses damaged hair cells in the cochlea and stimulates the auditory nerve directly. The external component — the processor and coil — is worn on or behind the ear and connects magnetically to the internal implant.

Key Differences from Hearing Aids

Without the processor, the student hears nothing through the implanted ear. A missing or dead processor is a complete communication barrier.

The processor is more expensive and fragile than a hearing aid. Handle it carefully.

Cochlear implant processors cannot get wet. Remove before any water activity, and keep away from rain and sweat where possible.

Daily Checks for CI Users

Confirm the processor is on and connected (the coil should be magnetically attached to the implant site — usually behind the ear or on the side of the head).

Battery or rechargeable battery status: most processors have indicator lights. Know what the student's processor indicators mean.

If the student suddenly seems unresponsive to sound or is having difficulty: check that the processor is on, the coil is connected, and the battery is charged before assuming the student is not attending.

FM Systems and Sound Field Systems

FM (frequency modulation) systems transmit the teacher's or para's voice directly to the student's hearing device, reducing the impact of classroom noise and distance. The teacher or para wears a small transmitter/microphone; the student's hearing aid or cochlear implant connects to an FM receiver.

Turn the FM transmitter on before instruction begins and off when leaving the student's proximity. A live microphone picks up private conversations.

Pass the microphone when other adults are speaking directly to the student (a specialist, a peer tutor's voice may not need amplification the same way).

Battery check applies to the transmitter as well as the student's device.

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| ✅ Try this | ⚠️ Watch out for |

| Build sensory device checks into the start of each school day and after major transitions. Know how to do a battery check, recognize feedback, and seat earmolds. Notify families same-day when devices need repair or batteries. | Assume a student who is not attending is choosing not to — always check the device first. A student with a dead hearing aid or disconnected CI processor has no hearing through that ear, which looks exactly like inattention. |

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| Bottom line | Glasses, hearing aids, and cochlear implants are educational access tools. When they fail, the student's ability to participate in instruction fails with them. Daily device checks, prompt reporting of problems, and basic troubleshooting knowledge are essential para skills for students who use sensory aids. |

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