Share Books

Encouraging students to read books about hearing loss can help them appreciate their hearing and realize how important it is for them to protect it. Reading about how others have faced the daily challenges of living with hearing loss could also encourage children to speak with their parents and family about hearing loss.

There are numerous novels and actual accounts of hearing loss. You could encourage your school's library or a local library to purchase some of these books. To encourage students to read the books, they could be placed on a summer reading list. Alternatively, your school could purchase a set of the books, allowing you to incorporate the book into your course curriculum.

Katherine Bouton, a former editor at the New York Times, has written several books about hearing loss, drawing on her first-hand experience. She writes about the challenge of living with progressive hearing loss, including the use of several types of hearing aids and eventually a cochlear implant, and about the rapidly changing world of hearing devices.

Nick Coleman was a successful music journalist when he lost his hearing. His book, The Train in the Night: A Story of Music and Loss traces his personal journey from that moment on.

In Sound: A Story of Hearing Lost and Found, Bella Bathurst tells her story of losing and later regaining her hearing, exploring her changing relationship to listening and silence, music and noise.

Reading a book about hearing loss could help transform a student's relationship to the issue and to their own hearing. If they are more aware of hearing loss at a young age, they may be more likely to discuss the issue with their parents and encourage family members to act on their hearing.