Listening Across the Lifespan

Listening needs vary with age. Children, adolescents, and older adults require tailored approaches shaped by development, cognition, and sensory function.^[1]

Adapting listening ensures accurate information and patient - centred decisions.^[1]

Listening to children

Children may struggle to articulate symptoms or to recognise what is "normal." Effective listening can be supported by:^[2][3]

• Using age - appropriate language (e.g., "Do letters go blurry or move around?").^[2]
• Inviting description through play or drawing.^[3]
• Attending to non - verbal cues such as behaviour during testing, reluctance to read, or signs of eye strain.^[2]

Parents and carers offer important collateral history, but seek and record the child's perspective.^[2]

Listening to adolescents

Adolescents may avoid disclosing problems due to self - consciousness, spectacle concerns, or fear of losing independence.^[4][5]

• Asking open questions about lifestyle - schoolwork, sport, screens.^[5]
• Respecting confidentiality where appropriate while meeting safeguarding duties.^[5]
• Listening for psychosocial issues like bullying or anxiety linked to correction.^[4]

These steps help surface issues very important to management.^[5]

Listening to older adults with sensory impairments

Hearing and vision changes complicate communication. Background noise, fast speech, or poor lighting can impede understanding.^[6][7]

Adapt by speaking clearly at a measured pace, ensuring face - to - face visibility for lip - reading, and using written or large - print prompts. Allow extra time for responses to account for slower processing.^[6][7]

References (numbered in text) Why we include references

1. Standards for optical students (effective from 1 January 2025), General Optical Council Find (opens in a new tab)
2. Communicating with younger children, The College of Optometrists Find (opens in a new tab)
3. Drawing helps children to talk about their presenting problems during a mental health assessment — Junie Woolford; Tess Patterson; Emily Macleod; Linda Hobbs; Harlene Hayne; Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry; 2015 Find (opens in a new tab)
4. Common visual defects and peer victimization in children — Jeremy Horwood; Andrea Waylen; David Herrick; Cathy Williams; Dieter Wolke; Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci; 2005 Find (opens in a new tab)
5. Principles of confidentiality, 0–18 years: Professional standards for doctors, General Medical Council Find (opens in a new tab)
6. Accessible Information Standard – implementation guidance, NHS England (Accessible Information Standard published 30 June 2025) Find (opens in a new tab)
7. Impact of hearing loss on clinical interactions between older adults and health professionals: a systematic review — Simon Smith; Muhammad Arsyad Bin Nordin; Tom Hinchy; Patrick Henn; Colm M P O'Tuathaigh; Eur Geriatr Med; 2020 Find (opens in a new tab)