A Sound Foundation Through Early Amplification

Classrooms are becoming ever more diverse and complex listening environments, where peer-to-peer learning comprises over 30% of the average school day. This evolution in teaching styles presents additional listening challenges for children with hearing loss who require very favorable signalto-noise ratios in order to achieve adequate comprehension. This paper reviews recent work describing modern classroom environments and the challenges posed to children with hearing loss. A survey of high school students will be shared. This survey attempts to uncover attitudes and perceived benefits of users and non-users of technology that is available to improve auditory access in the classroom. Research findings suggest that users of remote microphone technology in the classroom perceive strong benefit, not just for hearing the teacher, but for hearing peers and media as well. Non-users do not like the look and feel of remote microphone systems and report poor benefit for understanding the teacher and peers. Finally, new innovations targeting teen users will be described, including the use of hearing aid directional microphones in tandem with remote microphone systems and remote microphones that offer table top solutions for improving access to small group conversations. Research findings with both of these innovations indicate that they are helpful for improving understanding of peers in classroom environments. 10 00 0