Hearing Problems
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The ProblemA lot children suffer hearing loss often caused by Otitis Media (Glue Ear)Approximately 80% of 4-10 year olds suffer from temporary hearing loss during the school year. Much of the population is ‘hard of hearing’ rather than ‘deaf’. Did you know?The great opera star Luciano Pavarotti taught in elementary school but left to sell insurance because he found it too hard on his vocal chords! The Theory Many classrooms have poor acoustics. A lot children suffer hearing loss often caused by otitis media (glue ear),underdeveloped hearing or are poor listeners. The real issue for teaching staff is not hearing loss, but what they can do to improve the child's ability to hear. Children who have hearing loss miss out on both the primary sources of spoken information and the reinforcement of language from incidental listening. This will have a long term effect on their academic ability. Background noise levels in a classroom can easily reach 60 decibels, average conversational noise level is also 60 decibels, so if children are to hear, the teacher needs to raise their voice to an uncomfortable 15 decibels this level. When the teachers raise their voice, their speech production is affected; the low powerful vowel sounds get louder and ‘mask out’ or smear the quieter, high frequency, consonant sounds. Voice amplification helps overcome the effects of background noise. Children quickly recognise that the teacher is speaking and respond by reducing their own noise level in order to hear properly. A regular comment from children is that the teacher has stopped shouting at them. The improved clarity of the teacher’s voice is also of particular benefit to children for whom English is not their first language. The Literacy and numeracy hour now requires the teacher to teach directly for a whole hour and for the class to listen actively for that hour. Amplification of the voice will cause less vocal strain and make for less stress/anxiety overall on the teachers and their classes. If the microphone is left on during guided reading then some children not in the group will benefit from the reading reinforcement they get from overhearing other children being taught. In use it’s been observed that this reduces noise levels from the rest of the class as they are all hearing the teachers voice. The SolutionThe All New Trantec S10 Soundfield SystemThe use of an enhanced voice amplification system installed in the classroom. Four or six small speakers are fitted around the classroom to give good, all round sound coverage. You have a radio microphone which leaves you completely free to wander around the classroom. You can switch this on/off at will, so you have complete control. When required you can also connect a cassette recorder to this system, this will help reproduction, especially as you will have a constant level throughout the room, this is particularly helpful If you use a cassette recorder with a lower output for example the Coomber 393 model, which is designed as a small group listening station. A CD player can also be used with the system if required The Conclusion These systems offer the following benefits:
To hear the systems in everyday use or speak to someone or for an unbiased user opinion please contact feel free to contact:
All prices exclude V.A.T. E&OE. For further information please contact Yvonne or Phone 01452-305181 Further reading on Otitis Media visit the following sites: http://www.allsands.com/Kids/Health/glueear_rpa_gn.htm http://www.kidsource.com/asha/otitis.html
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