Acoustics - hearing, listening and learning: Guide

Using Personal Radio Aid systems with Soundfield

Personal radio systems help to overcome the problems of distance, and to a certain extent, background noise, to give a good signal to noise ratio (SNR) to those children with a hearing loss. Case studies of pupils using personal radio systems will be published in the Radio Aid/Assistive Listening Devices MESHGuide.

Radio aid systems can be connected to soundfield systems. Studies and experience have shown that for children with hearing aids and Cochlear Implants, the radio aid is the best system for speech intelligibility. However, when correctly connected to a soundfield system, these pupils have the benefit of good access to speech plus the overall benefits of the soundfield system, such as keeping background noise down in the classroom.

For a practical consideration of signal to noise ratios in working classrooms see:

McCracken, W., Roberts, A. and Wilding, T. (2012) Study of FM in Real World Settings (Oticon Foundation) 

Personal FM or Soundfield amplification system? 

Australian Hearing.

This is a summary of an analysis of 9 studies, by Schafer & Kleineck, into the use of these systems with Cochlear Implanted children.