Background: The benefits of using remote microphone technology such as radio aids with preschool children are becoming increasingly widely appreciated, as research evidences positive gains in relation to speech perception and speech and language development with this age group1–4.
Studies have also demonstrated acceptability to parents, who have welcomed the technology particularly to overcome the challenges of distance and noise, thereby enabling enhanced access to speech in a variety of social and early learning settings3,5. There has however been little focus on the use of this technology with infants and young children under 18 months of age.
Children develop an understanding of object permanence, cause and effect, anticipation and expectation as they link for example the sound of the doorbell to an arriving visitor. In terms of the speech signal, parents of hearing children often maintain communication and contact and offer reassurance to their child when further away than the optimum hearing aid distance of one to two metres. Given what is known about the importance of audibility and the soundscape to all children from infancy in terms of cognitive development as well as the development of spoken language and access to speech signal, it may be that radio aid technology would be helpful for children from infancy. However, the use of this technology may need to be carefully managed to ensure that benefits are maximally obtained whilst avoiding possible drawbacks which may be caused by limiting a deaf child’s exposure to cognitively important activity besides the speech signal.
Aim and methodology: Provision of radio aid technology for babies and toddlers is very variable across the UK. The aim of the project is to explore the opinions of professionals who work with deaf babies and children, particularly Teachers of the Deaf and Paediatric Audiologists. An online survey will be devised by the student as part of the project and surveys will be sent to audiology and education services. The student will also collect and analyse the data.
Key literature:
1. Mulla, I., and McCracken, W. (2014). Frequency modulation for preschoolers with hearing loss. Semin. Hear. 35, 206–216.
2. 3.
4.
Mulla, I. (2011). Pre-School use of FM amplification technology.
Allen, Sarah; Mulla, Imran; Ng, Zheng Yen; Archbold, S. (2017). Using radio aids with pre-school deaf
children (white paper). Available at: http://www.earfoundation.org.uk/files/download/1560.
Benítez-Barrera, C.R., Angley, G.P., and Tharpe, A.M. (2018).
Remote Microphone System Use at Home: Impact on Caregiver Talk. J. Speech, Lang. Hear. Res. 61, 399–409. Available at: http://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2017_JSLHR-H-17-0168 [Accessed October 13, 2019].
Statham, C., and Cooper, H. (2013). FM for babies and toddlers: making the most of the opportunity. Br. Assoc. Teach. Deaf Mag.
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