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Voices from literature
Harry Potter’s extendable ear: reaching deaf children
  1. Delilah O’Riordan1,
  2. Tamsin Mary Holland Brown2
  1. 1Greater London, Upminster, UK
  2. 2Community Paediatrics and Child Health, Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, Cambridge, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Tamsin Mary Holland Brown; Drtamsinhollandbrown{at}gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2023-326257

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    New, affordable hearing devices for children with conductive hearing loss consist of a novel headset using bone conduction technology connected to a remote microphone, worn by the parent or teacher (figure 1).1 2 One young participant who benefited from the new technology referred to it as her ‘extendable ear’, a reference from Harry Potter3:

    ‘If only we could hear what they’re saying!’ said Hermione.

    ‘We can!’ said Ron excitedly…‘Extendable Ears, look!’

    ‘Fantastic!’ said Hermione… ‘Listen!’

    They put their heads together and listened intently … Malfoy’s voice could be heard loud and clear’

    (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

    Figure 1

    Child using an affordable bone conduction headset (that she called her ‘extendable ear’) which can either be connected to a small microphone that can be clipped to the shirt of a teacher or parent (as shown in the first picture), or connected to a smartphone via Bluetooth to improve hearing, particularly over any background noise (as shown in the second picture).

    These devices have been used in the UK to support children with the most common childhood hearing loss secondary to ‘glue ear’ (otitis media with effusion, OME). During the coronavirus pandemic, it was shown that these headsets could support children who were unable to access healthcare.2 The headset enabled self-management of hearing loss and supported children while they waited for resolution or a healthcare intervention.

    In low-income countries such as Malawi, in addition to OME, chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is common: here chronic inflammation or infection causes visible ear discharge.4 The ear discharge prohibits the use of hearing aids, and costly healthcare is unaffordable to most, with 90% of deaf children …

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    Footnotes

    • X @hearglueear

    • Contributors DO'R helped conceptualise the idea of the extendable ear and the link to Harry Potter. DO'R provided the patient perspective to coproduce the paper. TMHB is the doctor who researched and wrote the paper linking the literature with the condition.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests TMHB conceptualised and researched the technology for the assistive hearing device and is the creator of the Hear Glue Ear website (www.hearglueear.co.uk) which explains the technology and a related app called Hear Glue Ear. To date, TMHB has not benefited financially from these.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.