When it was time to leave, one of the moms called for all of the kids to come pack up.

One by one, they came running.

Mine had his back turned and continued to play in the sandbox.

He didn’t respond.

I walked over to where he was sitting and called him again. He then acknowledged and came running.

As I was packing up our things, one of the moms said,

The truth was—their kids might have chosen to ignore their moms’ calls, but mine wasn’t choosing.

HE COULD NOT HEAR.

It’s one of the many misconceptions about hearing loss. More often than not: It’s not selective. It just isn’t.

Do kids with hearing loss sometimes ignore their parents? Of course. But it’s so much more complex than simply that. It’s not just hearing, it’s processing what you hear and filling in blanks with the parts that were missed.

Add an outdoor setting like the park with background noise (wind, traffic, distance, kids playing), and it’s even more challenging.

I know this mom was just trying to make me feel like my kid was a *normal* child, but it reminded me how misunderstood kids with hearing loss are sometimes. And also, why sometimes it is perceived as a behavioral problem when a child doesn’t respond.

When you have hearing loss—and can’t hear what is being said—it is NOT selective hearing, behavioral, or a matter of just turning up the volume on a device.

Listening and understanding with hearing loss is often challenging and exhausting.

Awareness is key.