My daughter is a 1st grader and has had a FM system at school since kindergarten.
She has phonak aids with the easy FM system. With boots that we connect to her aids. On the weekends her hearing aids work great but once she goes to school and they use the FM system she comes home with one aid or both off. So she is not hearing anything. Our team at school is great with checking them but we cant figure out why this happens.
I have changed batteries that day and she will come home from school and one aid or both will be off. Now if I open and close the battery door when she gets home for the night they work just fine. Somedays they will both be working other days this will happen its random and annoying.
I dont get it. We have had this issue since kindergarten. With her aids "shutting off" even with a new battery. On the weekends we leave the boots on and they are great till school.
I have sent them into phonak and called them. I have called my audiologist at the school her ENTaudiologist aswell DHH teacher. Still happens. I know its the transmitter but we have sent it in to phonak with her aids all together for a complete overall twice and still happens.
So my question is has anyone or their child had this problem with their FM at school........Any advice would be great. thanks
What's the batteries' expiration date? I used to have annoying probably when my hearing aids constantly beeps to tell me to change batteries due to dying. I knew how long the battery last and that was a week and a half normally. My audiologist told me it is because of the fact the batteries I was using was not 4 years from now. The batteries I had were useless. It must be four years from now for the expiration date.
Ever since he had told me, I never had a problem with my hearing aid batteries ever again. I would buy the batteries that is in 2016. So, try checking into that and see. Plus, inform your audiologist on the batteries' expiration date as well. Not all audiologists are aware of this and it is important to share this fact.
Plus, be sure there isn't annoying sound your daughter may be hearing from the FM system. If she hears some strange noise like static or any form of different noises, then I would advise on making sure the microphone wire is straighten out to clear the noises away.
Talk to her about how she feels with the FM system and what kind of problems she may feel. Sometimes, it's a lot to expect out of a child to wear an FM system, especially when it wears you out before half a day gets to you. She may not be comfortable with the idea of using them and you might need to explain why it is important.
Is there someone helping her with the taking off the hearing aids and the FM system? At her starting age, she may not be into the whole routine and she should have someone set the hearing aids up with the FM system as well as taking them off.
At first, I always I had to change hearing aids over to FM system - mind you, they're old FM system - where I had to take off my hearing aids, put on the FM harnesses, and the FM system onto me. I didn't have a problem until I wasn't hearing the way I wanted to hear. That's when I felt no need to use them and complain about them. I would often feel better using the hearing aids instead. Of course, by the time I was 11 years old, they gave me a new set of FM system and it felt a bit better. It was better than the old technology they gave me and the newer one was only requiring to wear a belt. The wiring to the hearing aids is a hassle, but I enjoyed the better sound to somewhat. As I got older, there were noises that got me distracted in class. I complained and they struggled to find out what was wrong.
They gave me a new one before I entered to middle school and turned into wireless FM system. It's not perfect, but less hassle with the wires. The issues were the static noises and it was very distracting. I often try to use less of the transmitter because I felt independent to pay attention in class and I have more energy.
I went through a lot of issues from middle school through the end of high school. The FM receiver's metal part were sometimes missing pieces or broke or wasn't connecting to the hearing aids due to being too loose. Static interference were too much to focus on, so I often turn them off to keep focus in class and only turned it on when the class got noisy and I was trying to have a conversation with the teacher.
Plus, I help out a lot with my Deaf teacher/speech teacher to give them an understanding what their students are dealing with on the FM system. It helps out when I advise on the fact batteries are easily drained out. In fact, I was spoiled to be given two FM system because one kept getting sent in to get fix or the batteries would die off quickly, so I would only use them half of the day.
Other times, I wouldn't like what I hear or not clear enough. I would just stop using it and focus in class.
Talk to your daughter and see it from her point of view. She may know what is going on. Or, maybe some of my experiences are already answering for you. I hope everything works out well for you.
