From Kids and Hearing 9/21/11
http://kidsandhearing.com/2011/09/21/assistive-listening-devices/
Hearing aid technology can greatly improve listening for children with hearing loss. What they can’t do is “fix” a hearing loss and they can’t conquer the issue of trying to listen in a difficult environment such as a classroom. But, there are options for improving classroom listening. Classrooms tend to be filled with hard surfaces: tile floors, desks and tables, white boards, computers, windows, walls…you get the picture. Sounds bounce or reverberate off of hard surfaces making listening in this kind of environment difficult, but even more so when background talking, chairs moving or other classroom noises are added in. The addition of area rugs and curtains can help absorb some of the background sound to improve listening. But the most effective method of improving the listening environment is with technology known as assistive listening devices or ALDs.
There are two primary ALDs used in classrooms: 1)personal FM system and 2)soundfield amplification. With both technologies the teacher wears a microphone which picks up his/her voice. With the soundfield system, speakers are mounted in the classroom. The teacher’s voice is picked up by the microphone and delivered through the speakers. Soundfield systems can be beneficial to students with and without hearing loss. The personal FM system delivers sound directly from the teacher’s microphone to the student typically with a “boot” that is a small receiver that connects directly to their hearing aid or cochlear implant. The advantage to the FM system is that the sound does not have to travel across the room. It is essentially as if the teacher is speaking directly into the child’s ear.
The Pediatric Audiology Project in Wyoming put together a short video as an instructional guide for teachers using FM systems in their classroom. The video provides both good information for teachers and parents alike, but also simulates how the child might hear differently with or without the proper use of the FM system.
The video can be accessed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBrnvGKLF_Q
If your child does not have an FM or soundfield system in the classroom it would be worth a conversation with your audiologist. Improving the listening environment can only be beneficial to the child.
- Thanks to NVRC, Fairfax (09/22/11)