How long will the benefits from AIT last?

As long as the hearing is protected, the benefits that come from improved auditory processing will last forever. So, if a child receives AIT, and this results in a great leap of language, this language development will last forever.

However, some children will require a further cycle of AIT to improve their processing more. If you are able to get an audiogramme done on your child (i.e., he's able to respond to the audiologist's questions), it gives you a great comparison point. You can get a repeat audiogramme done 3 months after AIT, after all the changes in the way the ears work will have been completed, and then see how much improved the hearing is. You may find that the mountain ranges are gone altogether, to be replaced with straight(-ish) lines, or you may find that the mountains are now foothills. If there are foothills (still not perfect hearing but not as inefficient as pre-AIT), then you may feel it's worthwhile to repeat AIT a year or more after his first AIT cycle.

As for hyperacusis/hypersensitivities to sound, the effects are less predictable. Most people find that the effect lasts at least 9 months, and as long as many years. Some people say that the painfulness is gone after the first treatment but there is still hypersensitivity. There is just no way to know.

Fortunately, most people find such tremendous relief from the painful hearing following AIT that they are able to appreciate the difference between normal hearing and abnormal hearing for the first time ever. So, when the discomfort begins to return, they notice it straight away and ask for a refresher cycle of AIT.

The more you protect the ears from assaults by loud noises, the longer the benefits will last! This means not wearing headphones to listen to music or stories anymore, using some sort of protective device (ear plugs, headphone-style mufflers) when around loud, sustained noises like on an airplane, at fireworks displays, near construction sites, covering the ears when an unexpected loud noise occurs like an ambulance passing you as you walk down the street, etc.

Our ears are meant to hear noises up to 85 dB comfortably, when the sound has travelled through the air to reach our ears. If you use headphones for non-therapeutic activities (like listening to music), the volume may not be louder than 85 dB, but because it's being fed directly into your ear, without any "air travel" to soften the blow, it has the effect of a much louder decibel. And anything that is truly over 85 dB (rock concerts, jack hammers, etc) is just more than our ears were designed to handle! Be smart, don't try to be cool, and protect your ears!!