Sound fields systems - any advice/experience?

[MissBetsyTrotwood]

DS2's audiologist has recommended the use of one for him; he starts mainstream Reception in September. He doesn't use hearing aids (yet) although his unilateral hearing loss is profound.

Do all schools that are asked to provide one for hearing impaired pupils automatically provide them? I can't believe that would be the case as my memory tells me they cost upwards of 3k. We have the audiologist's recommendation and will have the hearing impaired teacher's as well but, given they're strapped for cash right now, will this be enough?

TIA all. I've had a little gander on the NDCS chat pages but they seem a little more tumbleweedy compared to over here!

If they can't provide a sound field system, then will they provide him with a radio aid? Also expensive I am afraid. Can I ask why he hasn't been aided yet? Is it in his statement to say that the school classroom needs to be assessed from a HI pov. Soundproofing curtaining is a good investment that most schools will get funding for. They will apply to the LEA for the funding of a system to promote his listening soundfield/radio aid etc. The acoustics of the classroom will need to be checked and some changes may need to be made like provide carpeted areas etc. The teacher for the deaf should do this assessment. The school staff should also be given Deaf Awareness training. This is very important.

BTW. The funding for equipment is not your problem it's the LEAs. It is your child's right to get an education and to access his learning in the most appropriate way for him. Remember to stress that.

I had one in my classroom for a child. It was funded by the LEA and moved classroom with the child as he moved up the school. It was taken back by the LEA when he left for secondary school. I think it was then used by another child. I'm not sure what he used when he went to secondary school and was required to move classrooms every lesson.

Thank you for getting back; he does not use a hearing aid yet as they are still trying to establish the reason for his loss of hearing and also because his hearing loss is unilateral. The penultimate test he did showed the hearing loss to be sensori-neural and the one he did today showed it to be conductive, which was what his newborn hearing screening showed. The CT scan showed no obvious conductive deformations to the middle ear and he also has vestibular hypofunction, nearly always seen with sensori-neural loss... so we're still very confused! His hearing appears to have worsened but we don't know if this is because the testing they are able to do with him now is more accurate; the test shows him to be about 90db down on his bad side so the amplification needed for an aid to work would be huge and potentially really disruptive to what his good ear hears. (Or so I understand it.)

Because up until about 3 months ago he was coping well at nursery the HI teacher was not really involved but now things are stepping up as his phonic awareness is unsurprisingly poor.A soundfield system was mentioned by the HI teacher last time we met and this will be supported by the audiologist but I'm wondering if a radio aid might be more effective... I have no idea and I'm guessing the HI teacher will be able to advise.

He's not statemented but is on the SN register.

The LA is obliged to fund the system but I've been overwhelmed by how many people have said that if they can't/won't cough up how some kind of fundraising will be organised by the community. We live in a very poor area with a big heart.

Thanks again Sally. I'm a bit reeling from it all.

Ah, thanks TheCheeseAlarm - it's good to know they can be recycled and I can see the benefits for the whole class.

We started off with radio aids and then a new school was built and they installed sound field technology in every classroom. At secondary school DD is back to using radio aids (which she hates!) as they are transportable between classes. The radio aid comes in two parts. The teacher wears the transmitter and the child wears the receiver attached to the aid. DD did tell me that a year 3 teacher used to shout a lot at the class in general and then apologise to DD! , there were also tales of teachers forgetting to take it off in the loo.... Not sure if she was telling the whole truth there!!
DD and DS4 both have conductive hearing loss. They wear BAHAs (bone anchored hearing aids) their loss is 60dB. 90dB is very poor, but they have to find a way of getting the sound into him. If you are on Facebook there is a brilliant info page called Audiology Issues. You can FB him, and Paul will answer any questions you have about audiology equipment and technology. He goes out to schools and fits soundfields and tests the hearing levels for kids with their radio aids etc.

radio aids are great but you can't use a radio aid without a hearing aid so worth considering but not useful yet. You could ask for what I think is now called an isense, used to be an edulink that is like a radio aid but with no amplification so could be worn on the 'good' ear, usually used for kids with processing issues but again they cost ££££. The way to sell a soundfield system to the school/lea is to point out is that it will benefit the whole class not just your child. You can pretty much guarantee there'll be other kids who will have a conductive loss in the class in reception and they are supposed to help concentration all round. Do check out the ndcs site, they have lots of useful publications that you can download, they definitely have a starting school one somewhere. The helpline is pretty good too, they'll usually get an audiologist to call you back if that's appropriate. Do you see a SALT?

Ninja Yes - he's known to the SALT who deals with children with hearing loss but his regular SALT he sees once a week at the preschool attached to his primary 'to be'. He also does daily SALT with his nursery teacher in a group with 1 other child although that is more to clarify his speech. There's another child who uses a soundfield system so I guess if the precedent is there in the school it might be easier to persuade them for DS2 if need be. Interesting about the isense/edulink though - nursery have raised concerns about his 'deeper' understanding of language though as he's so young no one knows if this might be relevant yet.

SallyBear I'm not on FB (I make a point of it don't want anything else to use as an avoidance strategy! ) but will sign up if only for that group. I can well imagine forgetting to take the transmitter off and all the embarrassment that might entail! He was thought, until the last test where they used masking for the first time to have a moderate loss; when the masking showed the real extent of it I was gutted.

Very hard for you. I have known since both of mine were born that they are deaf, so I can appreciate how you feel. Have they discussed with you the possibility of using a BAHA for him, as I thought that you said that they now think he has a conductive loss. ???
BTW, we had a CT scan to see what DS4's hearing anatomy (for want of a better description!) looked like. We found that his Mastoid Air Cell System was fluid filled and always will be. He also has very narrow ear canals which doesn't help with ordinary BTE aids. His middle ear and inner ear were fine, so his hearing loss is definitely a conductive one.

We've known since birth too but the masking test done only recently has shown a much greater loss. His CT seemed normal so it's all still very confusing!

Interesting to hear about soundfields! my daughter (and I) both have unilateral microtia and i am currently battling to get her a BAHA as our local PCT won't fund them - as many won't. We have only this week has a ToD visit her in school (she is 6) and there has certainly never been any mention of any help for her in school apart from me suggesting that the teachers help her remember where to sit. I may bring up the soundfield option with the SENCO. if you want any info re BAHA funding or suchlike do PM me. The NCDS are actually extremely helpful, I've found. I've got a local family officer on my case and she is being brilliant. Do persevere with them. Good luck!

if there's a precedent for soundfield you hopefully have a good chance! The isense is good but is fiddly for a little one and may be too delicate but if they say no to soundfield it may suddenly become the better option that the isense

dd3 has a sensorineural loss with a dollop of glue ear on top, she currently has a wireless radio aid, so much better than the old body worn one she had at her old school.

Our PCT had to send it to panel. I got letters from the Audiologist and ENT surgeon at the hospital fitting it, letters from the ENT and Paed at our local hospital, plus I also wrote to them. She has bilateral microtia and atresia. We are having ear reconstruction surgery at GOSH thus August. It didn't seem so difficult for DS4, as it was just a case of providing the BAHA on a softband for him, as we are no where near doing the abutment surgery for him because of his ASD. There is another new type of Bone Conduction Aid which is called Sophono. It's fitted with magnets. here. It may be worth considering.

A friend of mine has the sophono - he's my age with unilateral microtia and tinnitus. it looks awesome!!

If I started to push for a soundfields system now though, and say he got one but then went on to use a BAHA (if they do conclude the loss is conductive) would it still be relevant? Argh, I'm getting tired now - I need to speak the the HI teacher tomorrow, urgently I feel.

sairygamp good luck with mentioning it to the school and thank you for the offer of info on the funding - I may well PM you for that!
Ninja it's heartening to hear your DD has found what suits her.
Sally that Sophono looks amazing. Did your DD start off with a BAHA on a softband to see how it went before a more permanent option?

Thank you so much, all of you. I don't think you have seen the last of me and I will be BACK with more questions. Please?

Betsy - Yes as far i am aware a soundfield system would still be relevant with a BAHA.
The soundfield projects sound across the top of the room to the back of the classroom like a blanket. Therefore enabling everyone to hear the teacher better. With the added benefit of a BAHA or BTE aid, then the sound is boosted for the individual. With the addition of a radio aid for the BAHA and the Soundfield system it's like having the sound in stereo. My DD benefitted hugely from this. HTH. PM me if you need any more info.

betsy, sally is right, soundfield system will still be beneficial with hearing aids. Unfortunately hearing aids will not give you perfect hearing so anything that boosts the teachers voice over the background noise will be good Do call the ndcs if you have no luck with your ToD, they really are very helpful.

Ninja, do you have a deaf dc too, or are you well versed in soundfield technology?

sally, dd3 is deaf amongst other things, moderate to profound loss depending on which ear and I've spent many a happy time with her ToD bemoaning the fact her old school couldn't have soundfield despite being a HI unit [sigh] they're not appropriate for her new school either but that at least is understandable! I've also spent a lot of time arguing over radio aids, the fun never ends

Ninja. Do you need my contact info for the Audio equipment guru?

thanks sally, we're fairly much sorted now, so long as they don't change her hearing aids again at her appointment next month Life would be so much easier if all makes of hearing aid were compatible with all the shoes, adapters, receivers etc!

It's all about the Europlug apparently!! Look up Audiology Issues on FB. Or google it. I also found the NDCS equipment loan people were brilliant. My friend Julie's son has a S-N HI, and she trialled all sorts of different radio aids via the NDCS to see what was the best for his needs. She has a really good ToD, mine is shite. I had to explain several times why DS4 couldn't have BTE due to his ear canals being so tiny. They can't even do the timp test on him properly as his canals are that small. My local HI unit wouldn't take him because of his ASD, thank god!! He is now in a much better place to access communication and learning now.

Spoke to the HI teacher today. It seems the LA no longer funds the sound field systems and it's down to the school whether or not they buy one. She said she didn't think it would be worth him having one in Reception; I said I wanted things to start as we mean them to go on! They do do valuable carpet time in Reception and I want this to be as accessible by him as possible.

But the good news is that they seem to cost a lot less than I thought - more like just over 1k apparently. Also that they seem to be very pleased with the one the boy further up the school uses so that's all ammunition!

Met with the SENCO today and she admitted it's something the school would probably have to buy for him as part of their duty to each learner. She has a meeting with the Finance Officer on Monday and will put the case to them then; we went armed with copies of the doctor's letter containing the recommendation for the system. Just goes to show if you don't ask you don't get! Fingers crossed the funding comes through. We don't like her one bit and she tried to wriggle a bit at the start of the meeting by saying they don't do much carpet time in reception and how most of it is free flow play so it would be impossible to use during this. She also told us the current system in use had been given to them by another school when the pupil left?

Also, we found out after school that the current, brilliant head teacher is leaving and there is no replacement. The school's going into 'federation' with another school on the other side of the borough and sharing their head, something we are really unhappy about. It's a large, challenging school with the potential to be so good but I fear now all the uncertainty will destabilise it again. We will be putting the DCs names down on the waiting lists for other local schools now I think.

Hi, Just wanted to say that my DD has recently got a hearing aid for profound unilateral deafness >95dB. She is in reception just now and it has made a massive difference to her. She hardly knew any of the phonics/letter sounds pre-aid and now she knows nearly all of them. She is also getting more confident with other children and that is a big thing for her. Her loss is mixed sensori and conductive so I don't know how relevant it is to your DS, but I am so glad that she has got the aid. I only know about the soundfield system from reading the NCDS unilateral hearing loss leaflet. It hasn't been mentioned by our professionals, but if has by yours then fight tooth and claw to get it. Like you said, you want him to start school as you mean to go on (and it is rubbish about reception being all about play - they need to be able to eavesdrop on their little friends' chat to learn). Hope that things work out with finding a school. Feel free to get in touch if you want to chat about unilateral loss (not that I know much myself!).x