classroom acoustics questinos

[Guest guest]

A few basic questions, I've never done this before...

We are getting " Hush Ups " for the bottoms of the chairs and tables in Bobby's

kindergarten classroom. (I am not even going to suggest the school pay for this

because it'll take forever). Have you guys had problems with them being taken

becaue they are such " cute little tennis balls? I am envisioning a bunch of

kindergarteners pulling them off the bottoms and by the first week, they'll be

half gone.

There is a good sized window in the classroom. For the most part, the teacher

said it stays closed, except in early fall and spring whtn the heat comes on and

it is too hot in the room. It opens out into a dead space which as far as I can

tell is pretty quiet. Still, I want to make a drape for that window. Are we

supposed to put drapes on the windows so that the draperies close so the noise

is less? Or is it just that noise bounces off of glass more than a regular wall?

I don't know if the K teacher will be thrilled about closing a curtain as it

takes the only source of natural light out of the class.

Also, there are two doors in the room, one leading to the hall (pretty far away

from the main area on the classroom) and one leading to an adjacent kitchen

(which also should always be closed.) What do I need to look for with these

doors? If I give them something to put under the door jam, to block the noise

that can come under, I know they'll either lose it the first day or never use

it. What do you guys so?

The ceilings look like they are about 10 ft high. Not too bad. They are those

regular white styrophone kind of tiles (I have no idea what they aer really made

of). I don't know what I can do about the ceiling. May have to just live with

it.

The walls have lots of cubbies and another irrigular shaped house kind of arch

way leading into another smaller area where the cubbies for coats and backpacks

are. I am thinking that all these box like structures which are built right

into the wall will help grab some of the sound and keep it from bouncing around.

One of the walls is " carpeted " . with a kind of groved felt. I can't think of

how this would hurt at all either.

What else am I missing?

Trish (Bobby, 6 yrs old, mod/severe SNL in R ear, high freq loss in L, wears

Oticon Tego Pro BTE aids in both ears, only diagnosed a year ago and aided since

early 2006, but had loss from ototoxic meds since he was probably 3 months old.)

[Guest guest]

We did the tennis balls, carpeting, etc for our girls classroom, also. We

lived in a small school district (which has since consolidated with a larger

district), so the principal was very accomadating about doing what was

needed to be done. You know....the " small town " neighbors taking care of

each other. It was great. But, anyway, as the girls get older, we have

found they still need accomadations, but it is very good for them to be able

to " tune " out outside noises, also. One of our deaf daughters really needs

this as she can distract herself with a bit of fuzz floating through the

air. This skill will be something she needs to do for herself, and it will

be a necessity to do it so she can function away from any structured

environment. Public library, college lecture hall, auditorium activities,

etc. So, it's been good for us to kind of force her into paying attention

more, and doing it on her own. You know, the old independence thing. Tish

>

> What else am I missing?

>

> Trish (Bobby, 6 yrs old, mod/severe SNL in R ear, high freq loss in L,

> wears Oticon Tego Pro BTE aids in both ears, only diagnosed a year ago and

> aided since early 2006, but had loss from ototoxic meds since he was

> probably 3 months old.)

[Guest guest]

Trish, it sounds like it might just be an ok room acoustically. You've got

acoustical tile ceiling and also a carpeted wall. That plus the stuff on the

chairs and tables should go a long way. We got old dead tennis balls from a

local country club for free so if the " hush ups " cost a bit you might want to

consider this. No one ever messed with them. The biggest culprits in the room

will be the lights and the heat/air noise. Some lights buzz and that can really

block out hearing aids. And what type of heat/air does it have? Maggie's 5K

class had a unit mounted on the wall outside the room. WHen it was on, she

felt her hearing aids were not working. She couldn't even hear them whistling.

The teacher was going through the change and it is hot as hades in Maconga until

October at least so she had the air on ALOT. Once we figured that out, she

would turn off the air whenever she was teaching. She would pre-chill the room!

It can be a problem if you don't have control over when the heat/air turns on

and off. Is he going to have a soundfield or an FM???

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/28/2006 10:08:09 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

pcknott@... writes:

The biggest culprits in the room will be the lights and the heat/air noise.

The only accustic accommodation our schools made for Ian were actually not

made for him - the teachers couldn't stand the scraping of chairs, so they went

to Play-It-Again Sports (a resale sporting goods chain here in the

Northeast) and bought bags of tennis balls.

None of the kids took them offthe chairs and played with them. They were

sliced with and X to allow the chair leg to be inserted. They didn't bounce ad

were filthy within days, so none of the kids had any interest in them.

My daughter's classroom was terrible ... she is hearing and couldn't hear a

thing when she was seated next to the AC/heat unit. Ian would have been

completely lost, even with an FM. Itwas that loud and distracting.

Also, remember that you can ask to have a professional come in and evaluate

the room once school begins. Things can be different once the room is full of

kids.

Well, my brother has just walked in and we're off to do a bit of visiting

with his family.

TTFN

(ta ta for now)

-- Jill

[Guest guest]

Jill, I was wondering about your vacation in Iowa until I read this " Well, my

brother has just walked in and we're off to do a bit of visiting with his

family. " Iowa is just not usually a vacation destination hot spot. I grew up

in Chicago and my grandparents and cousins lived in Omaha so we spent lots of

our vacations in Iowa, mostly driving through, but my dad hated the interstate

so we saw a lot of stuff off the beaten path. Also had some more distant

cousins on the Council Bluffs side of the river. My dad's side of the family

always vacationed in Minnesota because it looks a lot like Sweden where they are

from. So I thought I was the only one who vacationed in places like that!

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/28/2006 5:19:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

pcknott@... writes:

So I thought I was the only one who vacationed in places like that!

LOL ... yeah, vacations in Iowa are a touch odd. When I was a kid, I use to

say that excitement was watching the corn grow. But seriously, as a teenage

girl, excitement was watching the college diving team practice at the town pool

while their new one was being built. Yummy. (grin)

We're in Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa and some very good

teaching hospitals. Their D/HOH type services are quite good with loads of

support.

My family i in and around the IowaCity area. My grandfather turned 94 this

past weekend and still lives in the house his parents built in the city. On his

birthday, my last single cousin got married. My brother and sister-in-law

are teachers, one uncle is a state trooper and another is one of the directors

of sports at the U of I. Iowa City is what I mean when I say " going home " for

a visit.

And since we've done every possible vacation between NY and IA, we've taken

to wandering farther when we can. This time we stopped in Iowa for a day to

rest before heading out to the BlackHills of South Dakota and then onto

Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons in Wyoming.

We debated heading down to Atlanta to visit with my half-brother, but

somehow Georgia in August was simply not that appealing. The reputation for

humidity plus heat was enough to steer us away from that option until the next

time

we travel in the winter or early fall.

I moved every 2 years while gowing up, but owa was where I spent my summers

as a kid. Iowa is my family's home, so pork tenderloins, fresh picked

corn-on-the-cob, pork-cops on a stick (at the state fair) are pretty much the

food

of my childhood. We took my kids to the state fair for the first time this

year. I realized we're usually here in July and so they'd never see the butter

cow (yes, it's really a cow made from butter) or 60+ draft horses in the same

place at once. Not to mention the state's largest ram and hog. (grin)

So, now my NY kids have been to an Iowa State fair. I bought a bag of corn

nuts and one of toasted soy nuts. We walked around the tractor displays and

skipped the rtactor pull nly becuse the tickets would have cost $60 and it

seemed a bit much for a lark -- I didn't know anyone participating ... and they

are now certain that I'm absolutely crackers, LOL.

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/28/2006 5:19:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

pcknott@... writes:

my grandparents and cousins lived in Omaha so we spent lots of our vacations

in Iowa

Oh, and on our way east through Nebraska back to Iowa, we HAD to stop in

Omaha at the new SAC musuem, which is no longer called SAC, but I still call it

that. Old habits die hard. (grin) Jill

[Guest guest]

Trish,

I think that you're one of the most prepared parents I've ever " met " .

The only other thing I can think of has been mentioned a couple of other

times already - the HVAC system can just wreak havoc with our kids. Our

school has central air, but we have to have the janitor turn off the blower

in 's classroom every year because it's so loud. The teacher finds it

horribly distracting for herself, and we can't imagine what it was like for

to try to hear what was going on in that room *before* he got his FM

system!

Hugs to you,

Kris

Mom to (8, Profound/Complete SNL, Left Ear) and Ethan (*This* close to

7, hearing)

[Guest guest]

Jill wrote:

Oh, and on our way east through Nebraska back to Iowa, we HAD to stop in

Omaha at the new SAC musuem, which is no longer called SAC, but I still call

it

that. Old habits die hard. (grin) Jill

**

You betcha!

(my husband) was stationed at Offutt AFB here in the Omaha area when

we met, and he was part of SAC when it became StratCom. It still doesn't

seem right to call it that. :-)

Kris

[Guest guest]

Kris,

So I just go in the classroom and look for some blower thingy? It is in teh

ceiling? I was at a small conference recently and the guy who was presenting

about classroom acoustics said off handedly, " That heating vent above me is

about 40-60db. " I didn't even hear it. I didn't even know it was there. So I

just go in and look for vents and ducts? They are always in the room? Are they

always turned on? (This time of year I wouldn't find the heating ducts " on " ,

right?

Thanks...we have baseboard here at home and a wood stove (which I will probably

have to turn off or down the fan because it is VERY noisy) so I don't know

anything about ducts.

Trish

RE: classroom acoustics questinos

Trish,

I think that you're one of the most prepared parents I've ever " met " .

The only other thing I can think of has been mentioned a couple of other

times already - the HVAC system can just wreak havoc with our kids. Our

school has central air, but we have to have the janitor turn off the blower

in 's classroom every year because it's so loud. The teacher finds it

horribly distracting for herself, and we can't imagine what it was like for

to try to hear what was going on in that room *before* he got his FM

system!

Hugs to you,

Kris

Mom to (8, Profound/Complete SNL, Left Ear) and Ethan (*This* close to

7, hearing)

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/29/2006 6:31:27 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

chester2001@... writes:

So I just go in the classroom and look for some blower thingy? It is in teh

ceiling?

Our elementry school's calsrooms had large wall units that came to the same

height as the window sills and when the units were off you didn't notice them

because the teachers treated them like shelves and put things onto them.

When they were on they blew hot/cold air out through the slotted (vent) areas.

I would simply and very directly ask where the heating units are and request

that he not be seated under or next to one.

Ian commented to us that just having the windows open in the car causes a

lion's roar of air for his aids and he can't hear us at all. Which is how we

learned about aids + air movement. (It is why he takes out his aids before

going on roller coasters.) So, even if the unit is not a loud one, the moving

air

itself can cause a D/HOH kid some difficulty.

Ian always choses to sit on the opposite side of the room from the

heating/cooling units. His TOD apparently taught him (and his teachers) this

little

trick, so simple, and yet I would not have thought of it because the units

temselves were not at all loud -- the blowing air was the issue.

Jill

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/29/2006 7:36:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

pcknott@... writes:

We used to pick corn and eat it in the field! It was that sweet. Ah,

memories....We used to pick corn and eat it in the field! It was that sweet.

Ah,

memories.... . Sorry you missed the tractor pull. Never

My kids have picked the corn ... and eaten it right there, on an uncle's

farm outside the city, but they were very litte then. That farm has been passed

down to cousins I've never met at this point. My grandpa teases my mom about

the corn she served him in NY once -- called it cattle corn and said she

should know better and had been in NY too long, LOL. I refuse to buy some of

the

stuff I see and when my kids ask why, I use that same phrase ... cattle corn,

explaining that it was of poor quality and that in Iowa it's be used for

animal feed, not served it at Sunday dinner.

And we might have done the tractor-pull thing except the tickets were $15

each for the day and we found it after 3 in the afternoon ... so most of the

day and the pulling was already over. But they got to see and talk with the guys

getting ready for the next round. didn't believe me when I told her

that one lady we saw was going to be competing. She was a rather petitie

woman, not at all imposing, and she looked tiny on her tractor. LOL

Maybe next time ... Jill

[Guest guest]

My uncle was a civilian dentist in Bellevue but all his practice was military.

I'd love to see the SAC museum, because when I was a kid you were not allowed

to see anything! Couldn't even go on base. Thought it was neat that that's

where they took Pres. Bush on 9/11.

[Guest guest]

We used to pick corn and eat it in the field! It was that sweet. Ah,

memories..... Sorry you missed the tractor pull. Never saw more testosterone

in one place before seeing my first tractor pull! Awful noisy.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/29/2006 10:42:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

chester2001@... writes:

Did I

tell you guys that the orientation last week for kindergarteners had not ONE

teacher informed that they were getting a hearing impaired kid this year?

Trish, this is for next year since this one has already started ... included

in Ian's IEP is the requirement for his teachers (ALL of them, including

art, music, gym, shop and anyone else working with him) to have training from

the TOD at the start of the school year -- specifically BEFORE the beginning of

classes on one of what we call the " in-service days. "

Teachers are usually in a few days before the kids. There are meetings,

seminars, training sessions for new computer programs, that kind of thing. And

for a couple hours each year, Ian's teacers meet with his TOD (or another

TOD/trained professional) on how to deal with having a /HOH kid in the

classroom.

She shows them what it's like to be D/HOH by putting cotton balls or ear

plugs in, reading aloud to them and then quizzing them on what was read. Called

a DBQ (Document Based Questions) excercise, common for kids from 2nd grade

on. She teaches them what seems like commonsense to us, but what is actualy the

opposite of " good " teacher behavior. Don't pace and walk the room -- the

D/HOH child needs to see the teacher's face. Don't speak while writing on the

board (even with the FM, the voice will echo off the board). Making sure you

have eye contact. Checking for understanding with something other than yes/no

questions -- get the kid to repeat tings back to you.

When I was getting my teaching degree, we were video-taped and evaluated on

how we worked the room. We were encouraged to move around, to engage kids all

over the classroom. For a D/HOH kid that means he is spinning in his chair to

try and follow the teacher around the room. Great for keeping the interest

and focus of hearing kids, lousy for enabling a D/HOH kid even with an FM, but

the FM really helps. So to some extent, learning to teach a D/HOH kid is

un-learning many classroom techniques that are considered to be good teaching

strategies. We've had no luck getting teachers to stop pacing, but they do

stop talking to the board as they write. Little victories that help Ian a lot.

Our TOD has developed a Power Point presentation as well (new last fall) and

Ian's teachers all commented that they had never been so well prepared for a

child's disability. (Music to my ears!)

We had these requirements put into his IEP at the end of 5th grade after his

classroom teachers refused to follow anything Ian needed ... even after

being trained. It was not in the IEP, therefore they treated his needs

" suggestions " not requirements. (Can you hear me gnashing my teeth at the

memory?)

Included in his IEP (for Ian it's an IAP, since he is classified under 504

not IDEA) are the following, specfically included for the TEACHERS' benefit:

--Annual training by the TOD for all contact teachers and aides before the

start of the school year, and support as needed throughout the year.

--30 minutes weekly (additional to 1-on-1 student contact) time for TOD to

meet with teachers and discuss/resolve any concerns that arise. This has been

used differently, in middle school it was a once-a-week sit-down with all of

Ian's teachers. In high school, the TOD makes it a point to meet (touch base)

with the teachers in a rotating fashion or when she/they have a specific

concern.

--Twice a year the TOD accesses Ian in the classroom setting, to determine

how he is functioning and if the teachers are appropriately accommodating his

needs. This has not been done consistently in recent years except when we've

had a concern. Otherwise he has been assessed only in the spring before his

annual IEP meeting.

--A person at the school is designated a being in charge of his equipment.

That menas making sure the FM is charged and in working order, as well as being

authorized for sending it in for repairs without needing to go through the

approval signature gauntlet (which can take a week). In high school, it is the

504 officer. In middle and elementary school, it was the nurses (who readily

admitted they knew absolutely NOTHING about Ian's equipment and couldn't

interpret an audiogram.)

For Ian:

-- 1 hour (now 1 period) daily, one-on-one, with the TOD

-- FM used in ALL classes, every day (Ian choses not to have it used in gym

since all he hears is the gym teacher screaming across the court as they play

basketball/soccer/ultimate frisbee, whatever.)

Then there are testing accommodations and other stuff listed as well. But

that is the basics for the TOD and classrom teacher training/consulting.

I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to get this stuff into any IEP where the

child is in the mainstream setting. It is not the teacher's fault that they

do things backwards. It it how we were trained, unless the teacher has been

trained to work with D/HOH kids. Even Spec Ed teachers have been trained with

these same techniques and it is hard to alter the way you do things. The TOD's

annual training has been wonderful for Ian and his teachers. Each year at

the fall conferences, we hear from the teachers about how helpful the TOD's

training session was for them. They honestly had no clue what would help Ian

other than putting him in the front. And many thought they should also talk

louder -- which is bad for speech/lip reading since it distorts the facial

expressions. The teachers need support as well, whether they realize it ot not

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

Hello, Trish.

Essentially, yes. One thing I would do is to make sure that you do this

while school is in session - sometimes HVAC systems are turned down or

almost completely off while the kids aren't in school for the day.

What I did was go into the classroom and move to the four main " work " areas

that the kids have. Then I'd close my eyes and listen for all of the

different sources of sound and try to identify them. In 2 parts of our

classroom, the blower wasn't too bad - but one of our main areas is right

underneath it, which was just horrid. ( is in a Montessori classroom,

so he doesn't have an assigned seat that I could just go to - the room and

environment is very free flowing).

So. I'd check the area by his desk, but also areas like a reading rug,

special spelling/math/reading work areas, etc. The blower, if it's ceiling

mounted, generally looks like a square metallic sculpture, since what you'll

actually see is the vent leading into the room. While the blower itself may

not be in the room, the noise of the air being pushed through that vent can

be quite noisy.

Off to take my five minute shower to get the kids to school on time! ;-)

Kris

_____

From: Listen-Up [mailto:Listen-Up ] On Behalf

Of Trish Whitehouse

Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 5:22 AM

To: Listen-Up

Subject: Re: classroom acoustics questinos

Kris,

So I just go in the classroom and look for some blower thingy? It is in teh

ceiling? I was at a small conference recently and the guy who was presenting

about classroom acoustics said off handedly, " That heating vent above me is

about 40-60db. " I didn't even hear it. I didn't even know it was there. So I

just go in and look for vents and ducts? They are always in the room? Are

they always turned on? (This time of year I wouldn't find the heating ducts

" on " , right?

Thanks...we have baseboard here at home and a wood stove (which I will

probably have to turn off or down the fan because it is VERY noisy) so I

don't know anything about ducts.

Trish

RE: classroom acoustics questinos

Trish,

I think that you're one of the most prepared parents I've ever " met " .

The only other thing I can think of has been mentioned a couple of other

times already - the HVAC system can just wreak havoc with our kids. Our

school has central air, but we have to have the janitor turn off the blower

in 's classroom every year because it's so loud. The teacher finds it

horribly distracting for herself, and we can't imagine what it was like for

to try to hear what was going on in that room *before* he got his FM

system!

Hugs to you,

Kris

Mom to (8, Profound/Complete SNL, Left Ear) and Ethan (*This* close to

7, hearing)

[Guest guest]

Trish, I went to open house at Maggie's school last night. They have a brand

new building and all of Maggie's classes are in it. The classes all had carpet

and acoustical tile and smart boards. (The elementary building was built as an

open plan school with no walls, but then they added walls and it was never a

good acoustical environment). This is like a dream come true. However, the

projector for the smart boards is just above the ideal seat for a HOH kid. So

she'll need to be in a different seat. I could hear a hum. The problem is that

the hum or other noise gets amplified by the hearing aids. Kids can't learn to

filter it into the background because the hearing aid amplifies whatever noise

gets to it first, so if the source of the hum is between the child and the

teacher then the hearing aids amplify the hum and not the speech of the teacher.

But there was little to no AC noise. I got a sound level meter at Radio Shack

and it is pretty helpful to get a ball park idea of the acoustics of a

classroom. The poor acoustics make the FM and/or soundfield absolutely

necessary. Probably Carol Flexer said - If you wanted to create the absolute

worst acoustical environment for a child to learn in, you would design the

typical classroom.

[Guest guest]

,

Thanks yet again. Bobby will have an FM, but I am thinking that even this

is not the perfect solution for anything. When he is wearing the FM, the

seting is always the FM+M mode, meaning FM plus microphone from his own

hearing aid. I don't think any tehers c an handle understanding how to

switch modes. On FM+M I am told, he can hear his own voice and those of

the other kids in the class. Great in threory, but if there's an overhead

or a fan or any kind, that will be amplified. Short of following them

around all day while they're in school, what the heck do you do? No one is

going to be thinking about these things all the time, and if even one does

think of it, chances are the next classroom they go to will forget. Did I

tell you guys that the orientation last week for kindergarteners had not ONE

teacher informed that they were getting a hearing impaired kid this year?

(I think I did tell you that.) The special needs teachers all knew, but

none of the mainstream teachers had any idea. I know that after reading

these posts I am going to volunteer to be the class parent and to go on

field trips whenever possible. I am going to have my face in this school as

much as I can.

Trish

Trish, I went to open house at Maggie's school last night. They have a brand

new building and all of Maggie's classes are in it. The classes all had

carpet and acoustical tile and smart boards. (The elementary building was

built as an open plan school with no walls, but then they added walls and it

was never a good acoustical environment). This is like a dream come true.

However, the projector for the smart boards is just above the ideal seat for

a HOH kid. So she'll need to be in a different seat. I could hear a hum. The

problem is that the hum or other noise gets amplified by the hearing aids.

Kids can't learn to filter it into the background because the hearing aid

amplifies whatever noise gets to it first, so if the source of the hum is

between the child and the teacher then the hearing aids amplify the hum and

not the speech of the teacher. But there was little to no AC noise. I got a

sound level meter at Radio Shack and it is pretty hel! pful to get a ball

park idea of the acoustics of a classroom. The poor acoustics make the FM

and/or soundfield absolutely necessary. Probably Carol Flexer said - If you

wanted to create the absolute worst acoustical environment for a child to

learn in, you would design the typical classroom.

[Guest guest]

I just came from Eden's classroom. Her teacher and I walked through the

areas of the room without the children there.

* I moved a chair across the floor, it was LOUD. She's

considering moving the tables around to get all the chairs on the

carpet.

* The fans from the computers were really loud and right beside

where the kids gather for story time and such. She's moving stuff right

now.

* The HVAC system has a vent directly above where Eden is seated

during the day. She'll be moving tomorrow.

* There are five floor to ceiling (almost) windows with no

coverings that are rarely opened, but all five face the curb where

parents and buses gather for pick up and drop off. We'll wait to see if

there will be a problem.

* She hadn't had much training with the FM system, so we ran

through it's use and even figured out how to hook the FM into the

computer, so that Eden doesn't need headphones.

All in all a very productive trip to school to return the FM boots that

weren't removed after school!

Thanks for all the tips and advice.

: stepmom to Eden age 6: dx'd NB Stage IV 7-16-04, nmyc

amplified, unfavorable histology. Tumor completely removed 7-20-04,

treated with COG A3973: 6 rounds of chemo, stem cell transplant (Jan 5,

2005), radiation for 12 days, Accutane for 6 months or so, NED Sept 22,

2005; Relapsed March 29, 2006; stepmom to Riley: age 12, ADHD, anxiety

disorder, and ODD; mom to Rodger 18 (ADHD); mom to Tony age 20 (Nothing

dx'd yet) and GRANDMA to Roby , age 1 1/2. Lucky to be the wife of

Rourke age 36.

www.edenadams.com http://www.edenadams.com/>

http://edenadams.blogspot.com http://edenadams.blogspot.com/>

[Guest guest]

Usually the FM part is about 10+ dB louder than what comes through via the

microphone. So that helps kids hear the teacher over what comes in via the HA

microphone. (And will he only have the FM on the one HA?? Can they link the

Delta to an FM??) I think Jill is right, make sure he is seated away from any

noise source, whatever it is. The physics of it all is that the HA amplifies

whatever sound gets to it first, and what gets to it first is what is closest.

So you can figure out where the noise is and seat Bobby away from that and

closer to the speech you want him to hear. When they are little, they need to

be treated like " teacher's pet " and always sit close to where the teacher is,

whether it is a circle time or whatever. One year Maggies teacher was diabetic

and she had a little fridge to keep her lunch and emergency food cold and it

hummed and Maggie couldn't sit on that side of the room. In 5K the AC noise was

so horrific the teacher turned it off before starting to teach. We figured that

out because Maggie decided her HA didn't work when it was cold. The teacher

(menopausal) would run the air so cold that the kids all kept sweaters or

jackets to wear in the room. Maggie said whenever she put her sweater on, her

hearing aids simply didn't work. But when she went outside and got warm again,

they worked fine. She thought it was a temperature thing, but the teacher and

I figured out it was the AC noise. Another time there was a child who hummed

under his breath while working quietly - she couldn't sit by him. (And these

were all while we had the soundfield not the personal FM). Your school

audiologist should be able to help with this, or a TOD. Are the Soundbridge

folks doing any work with the school??? They could work on these issues so you

don't need to do it all.

Maggie had Phonak FM with Widex aids and they would only work in 'FM only'

because of software compatibility issues. When she got into middle school she

quit using the FM because we couldn't get it to do FM+M, and she really needed

to hear the other kids in class discussions etc. So all that to say that the

acoustics will be important but not insurmountable. It does help to be in the

classroom occasionally, especially at first, so you can track down if there is

noise or not and what is causing it. Volunteering is a great way to get in.

Shouldn't be too many overheads yet. Maggie never complained because of

overhead noise, because she had something to copy from and didn't need to try

to catch what the teacher was saying. Last year Maggie complained about hating

Latin. When I went to open house, I couldn't hear in there. She was sitting

in the back way to the side and the teacher had a beard. Impossible listening

situation. She said she hated Latin because the teacher was weird but I think

the terrible acoustics played a part, perhaps subconsciously. Though they got a

new Latin teacher, she is trying Spanish now. We are going to see how that

goes.

Don't stress over acoustics unless his class is in a trailer. Take one issue at

a time. It's all the school people can handle!!

[Guest guest]

I hope my school is half as cooperative. I'll let you know how the hour

inservice to 17 teachers goes tomorrow (by my wonderful AV therapist) and

how I survive th3e first day of school, which is Thursday.

Good for you!

Trish

I just came from Eden's classroom. Her teacher and I walked through the

areas of the room without the children there.

* I moved a chair across the floor, it was LOUD. She's

considering moving the tables around to get all the chairs on the

carpet.

* The fans from the computers were really loud and right beside

where the kids gather for story time and such. She's moving stuff right

now.

* The HVAC system has a vent directly above where Eden is seated

during the day. She'll be moving tomorrow.

* There are five floor to ceiling (almost) windows with no

coverings that are rarely opened, but all five face the curb where

parents and buses gather for pick up and drop off. We'll wait to see if

there will be a problem.

* She hadn't had much training with the FM system, so we ran

through it's use and even figured out how to hook the FM into the

computer, so that Eden doesn't need headphones.

All in all a very productive trip to school to return the FM boots that

weren't removed after school!

[Guest guest]

Kim Weiss kiminyme@...> wrote: On a related note, we tried

unsuccessfully for three years in a row to get some kind of " disability

awareness " session set up for our son's classmates.

Hi Kim,

My daughter is beginning second grade this year. Since she started

kindergarten, I have arranged to go into the class and talk about 's

hearing loss with her class. I will continue to do this each year until I am

comfortable that her class mates " get it " .

So far all of the teachers have been very welcoming and always learn

something from it. 's HI would also do this if I wanted, but I like being

able to go in to the class.

Debbie, mom to , 7, moderate SNHL and , 4, hearing

Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were

and ask why not. G.B Shaw

---------------------------------

How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates.

[Guest guest]

Debbie,

I am curious as to what you say to her classes. Do you make her come up to

the front and show her hearing aids? Does she like that attention.

><><><

Dylan(mild/mod SNHL), Haley(mild/mod SNHL), (hearing) (5 1/2 yo

triplets)

May your joys be added, your sorrows subtracted, your friends multiplied,

and your enemies divided.

[Guest guest]

Kim - we write it into our boys' IEPs and have an inservice each year...

Deb DiAnni wrote:

> Kim Weiss kiminyme@...> wrote: On a related note, we tried

unsuccessfully for three years in a row to get some kind of " disability

awareness " session set up for our son's classmates.

>

>

>

> Hi Kim,

> My daughter is beginning second grade this year. Since she started

kindergarten, I have arranged to go into the class and talk about 's

hearing loss with her class. I will continue to do this each year until I am

comfortable that her class mates " get it " .

> So far all of the teachers have been very welcoming and always learn

something from it. 's HI would also do this if I wanted, but I like being

able to go in to the class.

>

> Debbie, mom to , 7, moderate SNHL and , 4, hearing

>

>

>

> Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never

were and ask why not. G.B Shaw

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates.

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/30/2006 10:21:02 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

babydewe2@... writes:

My daughter is beginning second grade this year. Since she started

kindergarten, I have arranged to go into the class and talk about 's

hearing

loss with her class. I will continue to do this each year until I am

comfortable

that her class mates " get it " .

Just a thought -- and in no way a criticism of going in and introducing the

kids to hearing loss! I think it's a great idea no matter who does it and for

us the kids seemed to take it all in stride once it was explained to them.

Ian's classmates who hadn't had the intro thought he was wearing a radio in

his ear. (grin)

Do you have a TOD who works with your daughter? A friend of mine suggested

that the TOD do the hearing loss information introductions to the class. She

pointed out that after 2-3rd grades, having mom come in made the D/HOH kids

feel like they were being babied. The perception is different if it's a

professional coming in. We had the TOD handle it because Ian was in 4th grade

when

he was aided, and it went well. Kids have never teased Ian about his hearing

loss, I think because it was so frankly presented that it took the thrill

out of it as a topic.

Best -- Jill