Earbuds for Students with Multiple Disabilities

I have a student with multiple disabilities that the classroom teacher has tried several types of headphones on (over the ear, noise cancelling, earbuds) and nothing seems to work. He does not like the headphones that cover his ears completely. The earbuds seemed to work until he moved his head, but the cord would get hooked on the chest harness of his wheelchair and pull the earbud out of his ear.  What to do?

 

I was in a high school life skills classroom on Thursday of last week and noticed an earbud that had a hook on it that another student was wearing. I learned she had the same problem as my student and the teacher happened to find them at Five Below (www.fivebelow.com/) for $5. I decided to purchase a pair and see if they'd work.

 

We tried them today and they worked amazingly well! He was able to access his books and games on my iPad. While the earbud might pop out of his ear, he was still able to keep the hook part on his ear and still hear whatever he needed to from the iPad!!