WHY DO WE NEED TO USE A RADIO AID?
‘Radio Aids’ is the generic word that includes FM systems.
For a child using hearing aids or cochlear implants, we are building the auditory brain for understanding and talking. It is crucial, especially in the early years, to be very sure every sound is reaching the brain has high integrity. We want a child to hear every part of speech clearly and well.
All those who are involved with your child are building your child’s brain!
KEEP IN MIND: the louder you speak, the more it enhances the vowels. Consonants are the information-carrying sounds. It is much better to use a normal or quieter voice close to your child’s microphones or to use the radio aid transmitter.
We want to help the child have enough brain space to process other things so make it easy for him to listen.
The two enemies of listening when a child is using any hearing technology are distance and noise.
Every time we move away from being within 1m of a child, sound drops approximately 6dB each metre, making it more difficult for the sounds to reach the child’s brain with high integrity.
Background noise also makes listening difficult for the child with hearing loss. If he can hear part of what is said, it is still not reaching the brain with high integrity.
Radio aids (FM) help both the problems of distance and noise, always reducing the distance, as what you say goes directly into the child’s hearing technology, even if the speaker is standing across the room, in the car or on the playground in a park. Secondly, the background noise is significantly reduced.
YOUR VOICE GOES DIRECTLY INTO YOUR CHILD’S PROCESSOR/HEARING AID AND THEN ON TO HIS/HER BRAIN.
Be careful to use this equipment appropriately – PLEASE REQUEST TRAINING IN THE USE OF THIS FROM YOUR VISITING TEACHER OF THE DEAF OR FROM SOMEONE WHO IS APPROPRIATELY QUALIFIED.
I AM ALSO HAPPY TO ADVISE IF REQUESTED TO DO SO.
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