Sharing Medical Information

Should I share information about my child’s hearing condition with school and medical professionals?

Why Sharing Information Matters

For the best support, school and medical professionals need accurate information about your child’s hearing condition. While it is your right to decide what to share, open communication can help ensure your child receives appropriate care and support.

Sharing with the School Team

If your child’s hearing condition affects their education, sharing medical details can help educators provide the right strategies and services. Teachers, special education staff, and educational audiologists can tailor support to improve classroom learning, social interactions, and accessibility. Collaboration between medical and educational professionals is also important.

For example, an educational audiologist may need insights from your child’s clinical audiologist to adjust classroom acoustics or recommend assistive technology. Sharing relevant medical information ensures a coordinated approach to your child’s success at school. While some medical details are helpful for special education eligibility, you control what additional information is shared. You can provide diagnoses, assessments, and recommendations without disclosing full medical records.

Sharing with the Medical Team

Medical professionals benefit from understanding your child’s daily experiences at school and at home. Sharing details about challenges in the classroom or social settings can help them refine their diagnoses and treatment plans. Just as schools rely on medical input, doctors and audiologists can also benefit from educational insights.

For example, if your child finds it hard to understand speech in different environments, a clinical audiologist can modify your child’s hearing aids or implants to focus better on speech or filter out background noise. To facilitate collaboration, you may choose to allow school and medical teams to share information. This requires completing a release of information form. Your consent is essential, and privacy laws like the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protect your child’s information.