Phonak Naida but school wants use loaner??

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smileysk8

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My 6 year old daughter has a Phonak Naida hearing aid but we just got a note from the school audi that they are using a school loaner aid for her while she is at school and then switches it back to her Naida when she goes home.

They said the reason is the loaner aid has FM capabilities built in.

I don't know much at all about the FM systems. We just adopted our daughter internationally a little over a year ago and have been learning about hearing aids as we go. So I admit I don't know much about it. But we got her a top of the line hearing aid from what we were told. Does it not have built in FM capabilities? Why did we spend all that money on this hearing aid if she's not even going to use it at school?

I am confused about it. Does anyone know about this hearing aid or why it is not good enough for school when we were told this was top of the line?
 
Not much time so I am sorry for my breifness

a) Naidas are FM compatable, they need a receiver which you you can get from your Audiologist or depending on where you are located the school board should pay for it.

b) Switching between Naidas and other aids will not be good as Naidas are transpositional aids and process sound completely differently. In the end your daughter will not get optimal use out of either aids.
 
Wow! That's for that info. I had no idea. My daughter has only had this hearing aid. She got it in May and it is her first one. I don't know what she is hearing but she seems to be hearing a whole lot more since the audi turned up the volume on it a month ago. We believed she was profoundly deaf when we adopted her in '07 but were surprised to find out later that she is only profoundly deaf in one ear and the other ear she is moderately severe. So that ear has been aided since May. Anyways, thank you for that info. I will for sure bring that up to the school audi when I talk with her.
 
NP!

I am profoundly deaf in both ears and I use Naidas too!

Does your daughter sign at all?
 
Yes we have been teaching her ASL since we got her home in September 07. She is doing very well. I home schooled her last year for kindergarten to help with adjustment and bonding issues. She has been in public school Deaf Ed program since the beginning of this school year for 1st grade. From what I understand she is the highest level signer in her Deaf Ed classroom and is the same level signer as her 2 Deaf friends in her mainstreamed classroom.
 
Completely off topic here...

Jenny, I just read your post on your blog about Christmas. My daughter right now seems to really enjoy our large family gatherings even though she is the only Deaf person there with an all hearing family and extended family. However, after reading your post, I can't help but think her feelings about our family gatherings will change as she gets older. She grew up in orphanages with all hearing kids and caregivers until we adopted her. She did not know any sign language and so she made her desires known in other ways. I am sure it was a very hard life for her not having a formal language but she is still good at getting her point across to hearing people who don't know sign language and I think it is b/c of her earlier life experiences. Even so, at some point I am sure she will get tired of trying to communicate with people who don't sign and feel left out when everyone is talking and she doesn't know what anyone is saying. Her immediate family (mom, dad, and brother) all sign. My younger sister took ASL 1 in college last semester and so she signs some. A few of my nieces and nephews watch "Signing time" and so they know a few signs as do some of my other sisters (their moms). Most everyone in my extended family doesn't know enough signs to hold a conversation with her. Most of the time she doesn't seem to care at all. Sometimes she will ask me what someone is talking about but other then that she just plays with her cousins. Do you have any advice how to help her feel included and enjoy the large family gatherings throughout the years of her growing up and beyond? What can I as her mother do to help?
 
Ci?

First let me commend you on the incredibly moving thing you have done in taking in an orphan from another country and providing both love & a chance at a better life. I was just wondering if a ci or the possiblility of one in the furture been considered?
 
Not that I think Cochlear implants are horrible or am against them in anyway. But, if she is learning ASL and JUST got new hearing aids, i think that those should be used first.The naidas tend to have a longer adjustment period, so if she is doing well with hearing aids, then there isn't much need for a cochlear implant at this point in time. If down the road she still is not getting much use out of hearing aids then look down the CI route. But if she seems happy with the ASL and isn't frusterated with her hearing and such then I would wait for a CI evaluation. Just my opinion...
 
smileysk8 said:
Jenny, I just read your post on your blog about Christmas. My daughter right now seems to really enjoy our large family gatherings even though she is the only Deaf person there with an all hearing family and extended family. However, after reading your post, I can't help but think her feelings about our family gatherings will change as she gets older. She grew up in orphanages with all hearing kids and caregivers until we adopted her. She did not know any sign language and so she made her desires known in other ways. I am sure it was a very hard life for her not having a formal language but she is still good at getting her point across to hearing people who don't know sign language and I think it is b/c of her earlier life experiences. Even so, at some point I am sure she will get tired of trying to communicate with people who don't sign and feel left out when everyone is talking and she doesn't know what anyone is saying. Her immediate family (mom, dad, and brother) all sign. My younger sister took ASL 1 in college last semester and so she signs some. A few of my nieces and nephews watch "Signing time" and so they know a few signs as do some of my other sisters (their moms). Most everyone in my extended family doesn't know enough signs to hold a conversation with her. Most of the time she doesn't seem to care at all. Sometimes she will ask me what someone is talking about but other then that she just plays with her cousins. Do you have any advice how to help her feel included and enjoy the large family gatherings throughout the years of her growing up and beyond? What can I as her mother do to help?
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First, I think it is wonderful that you are thinking about this. Many families don't.

When I was younger it wasn't an issue. I was running around with the other kids and playing. It's only when I got old enough to join in with the adults it became an issue. I can speak and speech read, and I will in1-1 conversations but really without being able to Sign I get tired pretty quickly and it is easier for me to bow out. Please also know that NONE of my family signs. I started with it early on but then I was thrown into an oral program. It was when I moved out on my own that I really started signing again. I always signed growing up but it was not my primary method of communication like it is now.

Really, take cues from your daughter. If she is happy playing with her cousins let her do it! If she starts to seem frustrated perhaps teach her cousins some sign yourself, or if they are interested look into some kids ASL classes in the area. Maybe they can all go, even your daughter. Try to get your family interested in learning her language early on. That is my best advice!

I am support worker, mainly working with kids with hearing loss as well as other disabilities. I am more than willing to chat with you more about your daughter if you have questions! I was also adopted myself and I use Naidas. PM me if you would like and I can give you my email address :)
 
Does your daughter use one hearing aid or two? I grew up using only one hearing aid, the NHS in Britain, at least in my area, had a policy then of only providing a hearing aid for the better ear. I have now been fitted with two super power hearing aids, because NHS policy has changed, and the difference between having one and having two is amazing. I didn't realise how much I had been missing for years. If your daughter has just one hearing aid she may do better with two. I also use fm at uni and find quite a difference when using a receiver on each aid as opposed to just one.
 
My daughter wears only one hearing aid and it's on her left ear which has a moderately severe hearing loss. We used a loaner aid for a couple months for the right profoundly deaf ear. It did not seem to benefit her at all. She didn't even know if it was on or off. In sound booth tests and in real life she didn't seem to benefit from the second aid so after discussing it with the audiologist we decided to just go with the one aid.

She is doing very well with it. At school they are working with her on learning to listen. She can identify most or all the sounds on the speech banana (ooo, eee, shh, etc.). She hears birds chirping and dogs barking. She will turn to her name being called. Most of the kids in her Deaf Ed class do not sign much at all as most of them are more oral deaf. I fully believe that ASL is the best mode of communication for my daughter. I had several Deaf friends in college and I am sure my beliefs about ASL stem off of their beliefs and their experiences growing up. I have been very firm with the school to let them know I want them to sign in ASL to her.

As far as CI's. Touchy subject I know. While I am not against them, I have never really considered them for my daughter. I don't even know if she would be a candidate for one for her right ear with a profound loss or since she can hear some with her left ear if she would not be. I don't plan on looking more into it but who knows what the future holds.
 
I'm pleased to hear that your daughter is doing so well with her hearing aid. I think you are doing the right thing teaching her to sign. I was brought up entirely oral and have only recently started to learn BSL. I wish now that I had been able to learn signing years ago, being deaf and entirely oral is very isolating, you don't really feel that you belong to either the Deaf world or to the hearing world. Hopefully your daughter will be able to benefit from both.
 
djchur said:
I'm pleased to hear that your daughter is doing so well with her hearing aid. I think you are doing the right thing teaching her to sign. I was brought up entirely oral and have only recently started to learn BSL. I wish now that I had been able to learn signing years ago, being deaf and entirely oral is very isolating, you don't really feel that you belong to either the Deaf world or to the hearing world. Hopefully your daughter will be able to benefit from both.
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Ditto.
 
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