As we begin the 2018-19 school year, the San Antonio ISD goes back to school today, parents are getting their kids vaccinated, and stocking up on school supplies, but one badly needed back-to-school step is frequently missed, and that is a hearing test, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Dr. Tracy Board, an audiologist at Audicles Hearing Services in San Antonio, says if you can't hear, you can't learn, and frequently poor performance in school is due to an inability not only to hear the teacher, but to make out what the teacher is saying.
"Even tiny bits of noise in our environment, like feet shuffling or papers moving on a desk, can really interfere with a child's ability to understand what the teacher is saying," Dr. Board said.
She says a family physician or a pediatrician should always conduct a hearing test as part of the back to school physical.
"Even a slight hearing loss can make it seem like you are listening under water," she said. "So, if you're not right next to the teacher, everything is very muffled, or sounds distorted."
She says getting a student's vision tested before the start of the school year has become routine, and a regular back to school hearing test should be just as routine.
IMAGE; GETTY