neckloop for preschooler

[Guest guest]

Hi - I'm probably a little dense but describe what your daughter is

wearing? The teacher has a microphone, yes? And does your daughter have FM

boots that pop on her ears or something else?

My younger son started wearing his FM at 3 and it helped a huge amount. He had

a " old timey " model - the Phonic ear FM system that was a separate hearing aid

with a 2 " long antenna that stuck down from it - it was pretty bad! But better

than only hearing aids.

My kids both have neckloops but they don't function as FMs but as mics for

things like the computer or a walkman.

Thanks

Barbara

--- You wrote:

have some questions: Kate started preschool this week and is wearing a

neckloop-FM system. This was a surprise to me because at the IEP they

told us there would be a soundfield in the room. When we got to

orientation, the newly hired TOD said the L-shape of the room makes it

difficult to use a soundfield - seems they've tried it there before.

Kate is 1 of 3 HoH kids there and the TOD has experience with FM's. But,

I'm wondering:

- has anyone had experience with FMs on 3-year olds? I thought I'd read

that this age group benefits most from maximum environmental sound ...

- any tricks about how to keep the receiver pack on AND out of the way?

- is the neckloop the best type of FM for this age?

- suggestions about how to make sure the HA switch doesn't get left on T

or even M-T while the teacher is finished using her mic? (Kate is not yet

able to say she can't hear through her aids, so this is really worrying

me)

Anyway, maybe I'm over thinking this and she'll be fine, but I'd still

love to hear from all you experienced parents out there!

Thanks.

--- end of quote ---

[Guest guest]

Hi - I'm probably a little dense but describe what your daughter is

wearing? The teacher has a microphone, yes? And does your daughter have FM

boots that pop on her ears or something else?

My younger son started wearing his FM at 3 and it helped a huge amount. He had

a " old timey " model - the Phonic ear FM system that was a separate hearing aid

with a 2 " long antenna that stuck down from it - it was pretty bad! But better

than only hearing aids.

My kids both have neckloops but they don't function as FMs but as mics for

things like the computer or a walkman.

Thanks

Barbara

--- You wrote:

have some questions: Kate started preschool this week and is wearing a

neckloop-FM system. This was a surprise to me because at the IEP they

told us there would be a soundfield in the room. When we got to

orientation, the newly hired TOD said the L-shape of the room makes it

difficult to use a soundfield - seems they've tried it there before.

Kate is 1 of 3 HoH kids there and the TOD has experience with FM's. But,

I'm wondering:

- has anyone had experience with FMs on 3-year olds? I thought I'd read

that this age group benefits most from maximum environmental sound ...

- any tricks about how to keep the receiver pack on AND out of the way?

- is the neckloop the best type of FM for this age?

- suggestions about how to make sure the HA switch doesn't get left on T

or even M-T while the teacher is finished using her mic? (Kate is not yet

able to say she can't hear through her aids, so this is really worrying

me)

Anyway, maybe I'm over thinking this and she'll be fine, but I'd still

love to hear from all you experienced parents out there!

Thanks.

--- end of quote ---

[Guest guest]

Hi - I'm probably a little dense but describe what your daughter is

wearing? The teacher has a microphone, yes? And does your daughter have FM

boots that pop on her ears or something else?

My younger son started wearing his FM at 3 and it helped a huge amount. He had

a " old timey " model - the Phonic ear FM system that was a separate hearing aid

with a 2 " long antenna that stuck down from it - it was pretty bad! But better

than only hearing aids.

My kids both have neckloops but they don't function as FMs but as mics for

things like the computer or a walkman.

Thanks

Barbara

--- You wrote:

have some questions: Kate started preschool this week and is wearing a

neckloop-FM system. This was a surprise to me because at the IEP they

told us there would be a soundfield in the room. When we got to

orientation, the newly hired TOD said the L-shape of the room makes it

difficult to use a soundfield - seems they've tried it there before.

Kate is 1 of 3 HoH kids there and the TOD has experience with FM's. But,

I'm wondering:

- has anyone had experience with FMs on 3-year olds? I thought I'd read

that this age group benefits most from maximum environmental sound ...

- any tricks about how to keep the receiver pack on AND out of the way?

- is the neckloop the best type of FM for this age?

- suggestions about how to make sure the HA switch doesn't get left on T

or even M-T while the teacher is finished using her mic? (Kate is not yet

able to say she can't hear through her aids, so this is really worrying

me)

Anyway, maybe I'm over thinking this and she'll be fine, but I'd still

love to hear from all you experienced parents out there!

Thanks.

--- end of quote ---

[Guest guest]

I have absolutely no experience with neckloops or FMs on kids this age.

However, my son never benefited one tiny bit from a sound field system. It added

to the ambient noise and caused him greater confusion. Once he had am FM boot

put onto his aides, he was thrilled. It made things so much easier for him.

So, this family's experience is that the boots work better than the sound

fields, but that may be due to his type of loss, it's a predominantly

conductive

one.

As to how to wear it, neck loops and three year olds ... I defer to the

other parents on the list with so much expertise.

Jill

[Guest guest]

Hi Barbara & Debbie,

Thanks for your responses ...

Barbara:

<describe what your daughter is wearing? >

She has a neckloop plugged into a receiver pack (about the size of a deck

of cards) which they put into a fanny pack around her waist - the loop

goes under her shirt so that she doesn't grab at it. The teacher wears a

mic and a similar deck-of-cards-size transmitter and Kate's aids are set

to M/T. I think the boot set-up (with NO CORDS!) would be nicer

logistically, but if the sound quality, etc. is the same, I don't think I

can ask for that?

Debbie:

<(beware...long story about to happen). >

I enjoyed reading your story, and am so glad prevailed even though

she had a non-working set-up! Amazing. I did make the TOD check the

whole system while listening to Kate's aids right at the open house, and

it worked - that's my biggest fear that Kate is getting no sound and

won't tell anyone!!

<It has already been decided that the system will be set to the mic and

outside noise setting>

Could you give me more details about this? I believe Kate's are set

there (M/T) too, but are there pros/cons?

<why wasn't that mentioned at the IEP meeting>

The short story is ... there have been a lot of changes in our county

because it's growing so fast - hiring more teachers, shuffling the

preschool teams, etc. The IEP team did NOT include any of Kate's current

teachers, so they are a little out of touch with " the details " . I know,

this was not the ideal IEP scenario, but I am watching the whole thing

very closely!! We'll see if all they promised (which was everything we

asked for) will actually be delivered ...

Thanks again,

in CO - mom to:

(5.2) - TDK

Kate (3.2) - mod/sev S/N Widex Sensos, glasses, dev. delays

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[Guest guest]

I'm wondering:

- has anyone had experience with FMs on 3-year olds? I thought I'd read

that this age group benefits most from maximum environmental sound ...

- any tricks about how to keep the receiver pack on AND out of the way?

- is the neckloop the best type of FM for this age?

- suggestions about how to make sure the HA switch doesn't get left on T

or even M-T while the teacher is finished using her mic? (Kate is not yet

able to say she can't hear through her aids, so this is really worrying

me)

When my daughter was 3 I didn't know any better and I let the district use

several different types of FM systems that I am now fighting for them not to put

on her for various reasons. Sometimes she used the corded neckloop (with a

pack attached at her waist) and sometimes she used a behind the ear earpiece

that sat between head and hearing aid(phonak phonic-ear, I think) that

transmitted sound to her hearing aid (also corded and attached to a pack at her

waist). They did work, but as she got older she was able to articulate better

how well or not they worked.

What we found was that there is more interference (crackling noises) or

disturbances caused by various environmental factors. Computers in the

classroom often caused signal disturbance. Movement and rubbing on clothing

caused disturbance. These systems are old and the wires become subject to wear

and tear so they do not transmit as pure a sound. The cords are a problem

during activity and my daughter grew tired of keeping things out of the way and

wearing the pack. When she was little, since we did not recognize that there

was as much distortion going on as there really was, we talked her through

keeping the pack on. However, as she got older (third grade) she really began

to reject the cumbersome wires and pack and complained more and more about the

" crackling " that she heard. She also suffers from headaches and we found the

frequency of these headaches much decreased after we swithched to a microlink.

The school system's audiologist always downplayed her concerns. She told us

that the microlink and the wired systems are alike in their reception quality.

However, our personal audiologist wrote a letter to explain the the problems

with clarity and the outdated technology. Sound booth testing revealed 5%

better results in word recognition (and that is with no environmental

interference of computers or cords rubbing on clothing/movement).

The bottom line for the school system is budget. The microlink costs around

$2200. Your daughter can be tested in a soundbooth using the wired system and

the wireless microlink. Your personal audiologist should be able to write a

prescription for using this type of fm in the classroom. We bought a microlink

for use at soccer and other events and my daughter loved it. This year the

school system began using a microlink with her.

Also - whatever system you choose, the teacher can easily test throughout the

day if it is working. Just have him/her have your daughter turn away from

his/her face and then say something for her to repeat or an action to do ( such

as " clap your hands " or " give me a thumbs up " ). Even at the third grade level

we still ask the teacher to periodically check by saying something specific to

my daughter when she is not looking up. An adult should be in charge of

checking the system at the start of each day. And the teacher or aide should be

able to check that the hearing aid is switched to the proper setting when the FM

is not in use. This can be written into the iep as an accomodation since your

daughter is still to young to deal with it.

Hope this helps -

[Guest guest]

<What we found was that there is more interference (crackling noises) or

disturbances caused by various environmental factors. >

Hi ,

Thank you for your response! This is exactly the feedback I was looking

for! Though it's not the news I wanted :| I can see how the cords would

cause the problems you describe ... I'll be calling our audiologist on

Monday to see what she can suggest. Thanks again for sharing your

experience!

in CO - mom to:

(5.2) - TDK

Kate (3.2) - mod/sev S/N, glasses, dev. delays - having fun at preschool

(yay!)

________________________________________________________________

The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!

Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!

Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!

[Guest guest]

<What we found was that there is more interference (crackling noises) or

disturbances caused by various environmental factors. >

Hi ,

Thank you for your response! This is exactly the feedback I was looking

for! Though it's not the news I wanted :| I can see how the cords would

cause the problems you describe ... I'll be calling our audiologist on

Monday to see what she can suggest. Thanks again for sharing your

experience!

in CO - mom to:

(5.2) - TDK

Kate (3.2) - mod/sev S/N, glasses, dev. delays - having fun at preschool

(yay!)

________________________________________________________________

The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!

Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!

Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!

[Guest guest]

(Kate is 1 of 3 HoH kids there and the TOD has experience with FM's. But,

I'm wondering:

- has anyone had experience with FMs on 3-year olds? )

Hi ,

Sorry I've only just had a chance to respond. My daughter, has had a

corded FM system (Solaris) from 2.5yrs to 3.5 yrs. I live in Australia and

these FMs are provided free of charge. Up until recently, the fully funded

hearing aids we are provided with have not been compatible with the cordless

MicroLink FMs so I didn't have much choice unless we paid more for

compatible hearing aids. I've been battling on using it, but recently both

and I have been getting more fed up with the Solaris and she has been

getting frustrated with having to wear the receiver box around her waist. It

has never got caught in anything during play, but she complains when she

lies on her back or is sitting in her car seat and can feel the box pressing

into her back.

Now that our audiologist is providing Siemens hearing aids, we have changed

over to Siemens Music Pro hearing aids so we could purchase two MicroLinks

for and do away with the cords/boxes etc. is thrilled to bits and

it makes my job easier when dressing her in the morning for activity group

where she mainly wears the FM. We have had a few problems with the

MicroLinks not working on the first go, but then they work when I

remove/reattach them. I think the connection is not perfect, so there is a

bit of sideways wobble, which can cause them not to work if I don't put them

on just right. I'm still sorting this out! Either way, I'm still happy with

our decision to go cordless, because it makes happier and I'm finding I

am using the FM much more often as I know is more comfortable with it.

Previously she would pull it off the minute she got home from her activity

group. There is the added risk of her losing the MicroLinks which we can't

insure, so that's a bit of a worry, but she takes pretty good care of her

hearing aids, (eg. covering her ears with her hands when she runs inside

from the car when it's raining). She has also recently begun telling the

teacher (or myself) if we forget to turn off the microphone and are not

speaking to her. She is not so good at saying that the FM is not working - I

have to stand away from her and quietly give her a few words to repeat, so I

know for sure the FMs are working, but if the MicroLinks are knocked during

play and should turn off, then I'm not sure if she would say anything.

Luckily the teachers at her group are very good with wearing the FM and keep

checking it during her time there so that's good.

Anyway, hope it helps to hear of another experience. Good luck with

everything!

Regards,

Kerryn

(, 3.9 mod; 11 months hearing)