Thread View: alt.support.hearing-loss
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Started by abcd
Wed, 10 Dec 1997 00:00
hearing aid purchase
Author: abcd
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 00:00
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 00:00
68 lines
3466 bytes
3466 bytes
Hello all: I need to purchase a pair of hearing aids for my 3 1/2 year old son. These are his first hearing aids. His audiogram is 500 Hz 55 db 1000 Hz 45 db 2000 Hz 35 db 4000 Hz 20 db This is sometimes termed "reverse" loss (greater in the low frequencies). The audiologist discussed as being "good" aids Widex Senso Oticon Digifocus Phonak (with audio zoom) Resound (BT4) Sonar MultiPro (not necesarily recommended in this order). I have heard a lot of good things about the Senso, but I have reservations. Some of these stem from the fact that the fitting seems to be more subjective in this than in analogs. For example, the audiologist said no aided audiogram is possible for the Senso (I guess because the logic circuits are designed to filter constant frequency long duration sounds). She said the digitals were designed mainly to aid speech reception and the main criterion for evaluating their effectiveness was how the user's speech understanding improved. My son won't be able to give the same level of feedback about this that an adult can, and thus there will have to be more subjective evaluations as to how the aids are working like does he seem more attentive. I am uncomfortable with this. I have also read the posts discussing the volume hunting and the clamping after loud noises. To me, these seem like they could be significant drawbacks (maybe even more so for a child). I also don't see the audio zoom for him since he won't be able to change programs. The zoom feature is supposed to be for his later years, but by then there may be better aids on the market. Is some other feature of the Phonaks that make them very good aids? The Resound, Oticon, and Sonar I heve not heard much about. I have heard the Oticon digitization scheme is not technically as advanced as the Widex and that the Oticon does not try to go as far in signal processing and removing background noise as the Widex. I have heard (again, hearsay) thet *most* aids are designed to more naturally fit a loss that slopes the other way, since this is a bigger market. Are the digitals the most flexible? If it were not for the clamping and volume hunting problems, and the less complete post - fitting examination, I would really like him to try the Senso. I would appreciate comments from anyone, especially professionals and hearing aid users who have experience with reverse loss. What aids fit this well? What should I stay away from? What about the earmold for this? I would also appreciate comparisons between the aids I listed, or any others that may be suitable for this loss. What objective (sound booth) measurements are possible post - fitting with the digitals? Are the Senso and Digifocus the same? Is there any important information lost (especially for a child) by being able to do less post - fitting measurements? Thank you all very much for your comments.
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