UK Audiologist Ben Mann has created a book to reduce the anxiety of children with social communication disorders when they visit a hearing clinic.
Before establishing his own independent hearing clinic, Ben Mann had worked with children with hearing loss and complex issues at the NHS Clinic in Chelmsford, England. As his son was diagnosed with well-functioning autism at five years old, Ben was inspired to conduct a post-graduate course on children with complex needs. For his final project, he created a book to help children with social communication disorders deal with their anxiety when visiting the hearing clinic.
“A lot of the kids that we see with social communication difficulties, such as autism or Asperger’s, have not been diagnosed before their visit to the hearing clinic,” states Ben Mann. “This can often make it very challenging to obtain information from the child in the consultation session about their hearing challenges. The goal of the book is to smooth the entire process out. The more anxious the child is, the less likely that the consultation session will be beneficial. If the child is more relaxed, they will be more apt to share their experiences.”
While the book was specifically created for children with social communication disorders, Ben Mann has found that the book can be valuable for all children visiting the hearing clinic.
“As part of the research project, we conducted a study at local clinics to gauge the effectiveness of the book. We sent a copy to all children and asked parents to fill out a questionnaire as to whether they thought the book helped with their child’s anxiety,” states Ben Mann. “The overall feeling from the parents was positive. Most of the kids found the book useful, whether or not they had a social communication disorder or not.”
The book is freely available and can be downloaded here.
To make the content even more accessible to clinicians and families, Ben Mann is in the process of creating a video version of the book. When it is finished, clinicians will have the option to ask children to watch a video on YouTube before their next hearing clinic. We will let you know when the video is published and available.
Ben Mann founded Click Hearing in 2001 as an independently run company. Click Hearing has two locations in Essex, United Kingdom. Before starting his own clinic, Ben Mann worked in several London teaching hospitals and worked with Mid-Essex Hospitals as Head of Audiology services.