Guest guest Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 I'd LOVE to go to AG Bell this summer and we could have made it work " en route " to grandma's house in W.Va. but it's WAY too expensive! It would be I think $1300 for the four of us - and that doesn't include meals, lodging, etc. We as a family decided we'd rather go to Disney! :-) It is disappointing that AG Bell makes the conference so expensive for parents... Barbara a Rosenthal wrote: > > Anyone else going to the convention in Pittsburgh in June? If you > don't know about it, check out AG Bell's website here: agbell.org. > It doesn't seem to be working at the moment, but there is a link to > the convention on it. > > a > > > >> >> He's in high school and even now he'll come home very tired after >> > a long day > >> of solid note taking or intense listening. It's not easy and takes >> > a lot of > >> energy! I think our kids are just amazing! >> >> Best -- Jill >> >> >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 I'd LOVE to go to AG Bell this summer and we could have made it work " en route " to grandma's house in W.Va. but it's WAY too expensive! It would be I think $1300 for the four of us - and that doesn't include meals, lodging, etc. We as a family decided we'd rather go to Disney! :-) It is disappointing that AG Bell makes the conference so expensive for parents... Barbara a Rosenthal wrote: > > Anyone else going to the convention in Pittsburgh in June? If you > don't know about it, check out AG Bell's website here: agbell.org. > It doesn't seem to be working at the moment, but there is a link to > the convention on it. > > a > > > >> >> He's in high school and even now he'll come home very tired after >> > a long day > >> of solid note taking or intense listening. It's not easy and takes >> > a lot of > >> energy! I think our kids are just amazing! >> >> Best -- Jill >> >> >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 I'd LOVE to go to AG Bell this summer and we could have made it work " en route " to grandma's house in W.Va. but it's WAY too expensive! It would be I think $1300 for the four of us - and that doesn't include meals, lodging, etc. We as a family decided we'd rather go to Disney! :-) It is disappointing that AG Bell makes the conference so expensive for parents... Barbara a Rosenthal wrote: > > Anyone else going to the convention in Pittsburgh in June? If you > don't know about it, check out AG Bell's website here: agbell.org. > It doesn't seem to be working at the moment, but there is a link to > the convention on it. > > a > > > >> >> He's in high school and even now he'll come home very tired after >> > a long day > >> of solid note taking or intense listening. It's not easy and takes >> > a lot of > >> energy! I think our kids are just amazing! >> >> Best -- Jill >> >> >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 If you stay in Monroeville, it's not very expensive to stay in the Pittsburgh area and it's only around 20 minutes away and you have the shopping and really nice hotels. You can also check Craig's list and find a house to sublet for a week during the summer as the students are desperate by then. -------------- Original message -------------- > Jill said: > > >But once he had the right Fm system, things did get a lot easier > for him. > > That was my point, the FM makes it easier, just another tool for our > kids. It certainly doesn't mean they won't be tired after a full day > of school. My daughter comes home tired everyday, despite the > constant use of an FM in all her classes. > > Sometimes, its just the type of kid. My middle child never seems to > tire and outgrew his naps well before he was 2 1/2. With my > daughter, I had to take away the naps after she turned 3 because she > was in an oral program full-time. > > Have you considered CART for high school? Right now, I'm on the > fence about how I feel about it for middle and high school students. > I learn better when I'm taking my own notes than when I am reading > notes that were taken for me. But I also know how hard it is to take > notes while trying to listen and keep up. In law school, I used an > FM, got notes from a classmate AND took my own notes. CART was not > readily available then and our efforts to get a transcriptionist for > the class tapes didn't work out. My daughter is in 4th grade now and > enters middle school in 6th grade. I'm considering asking for CART > when the time comes so that she can absorb what is being taught > without having to struggle to keep up with the notetaking. This is > something I'll be researching at this year's AG Bell convention. > > Anyone else going to the convention in Pittsburgh in June? If you > don't know about it, check out AG Bell's website here: agbell.org. > It doesn't seem to be working at the moment, but there is a link to > the convention on it. > > a > > > > > > He's in high school and even now he'll come home very tired after > a long day > > of solid note taking or intense listening. It's not easy and takes > a lot of > > energy! I think our kids are just amazing! > > > > Best -- Jill > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 If you stay in Monroeville, it's not very expensive to stay in the Pittsburgh area and it's only around 20 minutes away and you have the shopping and really nice hotels. You can also check Craig's list and find a house to sublet for a week during the summer as the students are desperate by then. -------------- Original message -------------- > Jill said: > > >But once he had the right Fm system, things did get a lot easier > for him. > > That was my point, the FM makes it easier, just another tool for our > kids. It certainly doesn't mean they won't be tired after a full day > of school. My daughter comes home tired everyday, despite the > constant use of an FM in all her classes. > > Sometimes, its just the type of kid. My middle child never seems to > tire and outgrew his naps well before he was 2 1/2. With my > daughter, I had to take away the naps after she turned 3 because she > was in an oral program full-time. > > Have you considered CART for high school? Right now, I'm on the > fence about how I feel about it for middle and high school students. > I learn better when I'm taking my own notes than when I am reading > notes that were taken for me. But I also know how hard it is to take > notes while trying to listen and keep up. In law school, I used an > FM, got notes from a classmate AND took my own notes. CART was not > readily available then and our efforts to get a transcriptionist for > the class tapes didn't work out. My daughter is in 4th grade now and > enters middle school in 6th grade. I'm considering asking for CART > when the time comes so that she can absorb what is being taught > without having to struggle to keep up with the notetaking. This is > something I'll be researching at this year's AG Bell convention. > > Anyone else going to the convention in Pittsburgh in June? If you > don't know about it, check out AG Bell's website here: agbell.org. > It doesn't seem to be working at the moment, but there is a link to > the convention on it. > > a > > > > > > He's in high school and even now he'll come home very tired after > a long day > > of solid note taking or intense listening. It's not easy and takes > a lot of > > energy! I think our kids are just amazing! > > > > Best -- Jill > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Jeff did the same. He was fine without a nap during the summer unless he'd had a lot of physical activity, but the naps returned at the start of school even with an FM. Without an FM, his teachers couldn't believe how hard it was to keep his attention. Even with the FM in use, Ian was often exhausted after school. Long after other kids had outgrown naps, he would, on occasion, " watch cartoons " through his eyelids after school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Jeff did the same. He was fine without a nap during the summer unless he'd had a lot of physical activity, but the naps returned at the start of school even with an FM. Without an FM, his teachers couldn't believe how hard it was to keep his attention. Even with the FM in use, Ian was often exhausted after school. Long after other kids had outgrown naps, he would, on occasion, " watch cartoons " through his eyelids after school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Jeff did the same. He was fine without a nap during the summer unless he'd had a lot of physical activity, but the naps returned at the start of school even with an FM. Without an FM, his teachers couldn't believe how hard it was to keep his attention. Even with the FM in use, Ian was often exhausted after school. Long after other kids had outgrown naps, he would, on occasion, " watch cartoons " through his eyelids after school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 , we did kindergarten twice, on purpose due to late birthday and late diagnosis. We made this decision prior to going to 5K. The first 5K we didn't use an FM, the second time around we had a soundfield. The difference was amazing. She definitely needed the FM. We didn't have a lot of expectations for the first 5K, it was just an extra year to learn language, mature socially, and learn to function in a school atmosphere. But the difference was like night and day. Maggie's aided hearing is also similar to a child with a CI's thresholds. So, this is my child's experience. The key is to look at the individual child - with booth testing of their ability to comprehend both sentences and single words, with and without noise. My child has excellent discrimination and usually scores in the 90%s in quiet, but in noise, she deteriorates to the 40's%. Our school audie said this was one of the more dramatic comparisons she had ever seen. You would think that the ability to hear in quiet would be related to the ability to hear in noise, but it's not. For one of my undergrad research projects I tested people with " normal " hearing and they had an incrediblle variation in their ability to hear in noise. When looking at the difference you also need to factor in the distraction in the classroom. If you are in a sound proof booth testing, there's nothing to interfere with your hearing except the noise, wherein the classroom you have lots of additional distractors. You can also do a functional listening evaluation in a classroom. Here's the link to the FLE http://www.handsandvoices.org/articles/education/ed/func_listening_eval.html The FLE is great because you are indirectly testing the acoustics of the room especially the problem of reverberation - whereas in the booth, you see the effects of noise only but not reverberation. The negative effects of noise plus reverberation is usually greater than their sum - meaning 1+ 1 = 4 not 2. I think it is important to look at this issue from the prospect of the type of classrooms our kids are in. Most of them are not teacher lecture -kids in rows of desks style anymore. This makes acoustics more important than ever. And this makes the FM less helpful unless you get creative with it. Like getting a table microphone for group work, or one teacher who velcro'd the microphone to a ruler and during class discussions she went to whoever was talking with the mike - but she always held the ruler. (Like the PHil Donohue show!)She also said that using the mic led to less kids talking all at once, they learned you could only talk when you had the mike. Maggie's teachers in K-2 loved the soundfield so much that they used it even when she was absent. Several parents requested their kids be in Maggie's classroom because of the soundfield. All in all, though I think you need to look at each child as an individual, unless you have a classroom with flawless acoustics, no outside noise, about 12 kids and a teacher with a " big " voice, any child with HA or CI NEEDS classroom amplification. It is not something to decide on based on the child's " grades " or how a typical classroom teacher with no oral deaf experience perceives a child to be doing, it is the issue of getting access to the verbal information in the classroom. Access to the curriculum, based on hearing not on academics. I also agree with everyone that talked about how tiring listening is. Maggie was never much of a napper, outgrew a nap very early. Yet she always fell asleep in the car right after school until about half way through 3rd grade. She still takes some time to vege out after school. Plus I'd bet money the microlink system is not sitting in a closet somewhere, it is being used by some other child!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 , we did kindergarten twice, on purpose due to late birthday and late diagnosis. We made this decision prior to going to 5K. The first 5K we didn't use an FM, the second time around we had a soundfield. The difference was amazing. She definitely needed the FM. We didn't have a lot of expectations for the first 5K, it was just an extra year to learn language, mature socially, and learn to function in a school atmosphere. But the difference was like night and day. Maggie's aided hearing is also similar to a child with a CI's thresholds. So, this is my child's experience. The key is to look at the individual child - with booth testing of their ability to comprehend both sentences and single words, with and without noise. My child has excellent discrimination and usually scores in the 90%s in quiet, but in noise, she deteriorates to the 40's%. Our school audie said this was one of the more dramatic comparisons she had ever seen. You would think that the ability to hear in quiet would be related to the ability to hear in noise, but it's not. For one of my undergrad research projects I tested people with " normal " hearing and they had an incrediblle variation in their ability to hear in noise. When looking at the difference you also need to factor in the distraction in the classroom. If you are in a sound proof booth testing, there's nothing to interfere with your hearing except the noise, wherein the classroom you have lots of additional distractors. You can also do a functional listening evaluation in a classroom. Here's the link to the FLE http://www.handsandvoices.org/articles/education/ed/func_listening_eval.html The FLE is great because you are indirectly testing the acoustics of the room especially the problem of reverberation - whereas in the booth, you see the effects of noise only but not reverberation. The negative effects of noise plus reverberation is usually greater than their sum - meaning 1+ 1 = 4 not 2. I think it is important to look at this issue from the prospect of the type of classrooms our kids are in. Most of them are not teacher lecture -kids in rows of desks style anymore. This makes acoustics more important than ever. And this makes the FM less helpful unless you get creative with it. Like getting a table microphone for group work, or one teacher who velcro'd the microphone to a ruler and during class discussions she went to whoever was talking with the mike - but she always held the ruler. (Like the PHil Donohue show!)She also said that using the mic led to less kids talking all at once, they learned you could only talk when you had the mike. Maggie's teachers in K-2 loved the soundfield so much that they used it even when she was absent. Several parents requested their kids be in Maggie's classroom because of the soundfield. All in all, though I think you need to look at each child as an individual, unless you have a classroom with flawless acoustics, no outside noise, about 12 kids and a teacher with a " big " voice, any child with HA or CI NEEDS classroom amplification. It is not something to decide on based on the child's " grades " or how a typical classroom teacher with no oral deaf experience perceives a child to be doing, it is the issue of getting access to the verbal information in the classroom. Access to the curriculum, based on hearing not on academics. I also agree with everyone that talked about how tiring listening is. Maggie was never much of a napper, outgrew a nap very early. Yet she always fell asleep in the car right after school until about half way through 3rd grade. She still takes some time to vege out after school. Plus I'd bet money the microlink system is not sitting in a closet somewhere, it is being used by some other child!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 Kerry, The microlink FM system that was purchased for in '05 was in anticipation of using this year in his preschool class. We did have it on the IEP. When he started school this year we were really irritated to discover that his classroom had a very noisy A/C/heater and we were dealing with that issue from the beginning. We also had a teacher that was having problems with service providers coming in and out of her classroom. She saw it as a disruption. She was also overwhelmed with 's behavior in the fall. She was quite flustered and I don't think very happy. We took one thing at a time and when it came time to think about starting the FM we decided to hold off because we didn't want to rock the boat too much as we got off to a shaky start and was actually doing well and happy in class. Currently he's doing very well and the teacher is now thrilled at the change from the beginning of the year in his behavior. So at this point no one is seeing a need for the FM this year. It was originally purchased because it was in the IEP and they know they want it for him in the future. They were also purchasing brand new equipment for all the HI kids. The old stuff they had was antiquated. The audi was very happy to have the latest technology. I think what they had before were boxes that the kids had to wear and plug into. So the phonak microlink is ready and waiting for use. Thanks so much to all that responded on this issue. It's really helping me get my thoughts together again on what to present to the audiologist. For those of you who said that the difference was " amazing " or very evident when their child started using the FM, can you be specific? I can understand how a dramatic difference could be seen with a child who obviously was lost in the classroom but what about the children that seem to be doing well and are successful in the classroom? Some of you had mentioned that your child was doing fine in class before the FM but then when the FM was added a benefit was seen. At what point did you decide to use the FM and why? What difference did you find? We are in a situation where performs well (appropriate level of peers or higher) and I don't think anyone would know the subtle things he misses. The teacher states that he's hearing in the classroom because he is responding appropriately and he can answer complex questions about stories that are read. She also used an example of how the children had to answer a specfic question and you weren't able to give the same answer as someone else. was able to do that which seems to show that he would be able to hear what the other kids said. I want to get as much as he can, but on the other hand if he's doing so well (at least from teacher report) should I really push for an FM? THe audi's argument is- why fix it if it's not broke? I really see both sides. I just need to convince the team what added things the FM can do for that he's missing now. If they can really understand the importance of the FM then I think they'd be more vigilant about the maintenance, evaluation and daily use of it. Any suggestions on how to help them understand? articles? demonstrations? K 's mom, 5.5 years old, MEDEL CI at 20 months and hearing aid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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