Usually, very young children with hearing problems are treated in an audiological centre. Sophal: “Vittorio was also referred to such a centre. It turned out that our son had a hearing loss of 35 to 45 dB. He was fitted with hearing aids, but we really didn’t like the look of those devices behind the ear. He also kept taking them off himself. As he grew and began day care, we saw his speech was behind other children. Apparently, he was missing too much and was also less alert than other toddlers.”
Advice: hearing aids before starting primary school
“We were referred by our GP to the audiological centre at Radboud UMC in Nijmegen.The urgent advice was that Vittorio should wear hearing aids before starting primary school. Otherwise, he would miss out on too much. Given our previous experiences, we preferred not to have 'behind the ear' aids. We were also afraid Vittorio would be teased because of them.According to the experts, however, there was no other solution for children of this age. But I wanted the very best for my little boy and started searching online myself. That’s how I found the website of François Nicolle. He specializes in super-small, almost invisible hearing aids.”
Youngest client with in-the-ear hearing aids
“We drove from our home in Oss to Amsterdam and François helped us very well. He really did his utmost to find suitable hearing aids for Vittorio. They are super small and fit completely inside the ear. Hardly nobody notices he’s wearing hearing aids. The audiological centre tested them and was also very satisfied. It was a new experience for them, too.
Vittorio is the youngest client François has ever fitted with these ITE hearing aids! We realise that the devices will need to be adjusted a few more times as Vittorio grows older. However, we are happy to accept this, as it is clear how much he benefits from them."
