Assistive Technology for Students with Deafness

The disability I have decided to report on is deafness. Deafness can limit a student's learning in many ways. The most obvious is that it can be difficult to communicate and understand what a teacher or peer is tying to communicate when the child cannot hear.  According to Nicole Agro of lifeprint.com, another way deafness can limit a student's learning is through communication because it is quite common for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to have trouble speaking. Deafness can also limit a student's learning because the student may "lack in self-confidence and feel isolated because they find it hard to communicate with peers".

One assistive technology that is used to help students who are deaf is FM systems. With an FM system, a teacher just talks into a microphone and the FM signals transmit the teachers words at a constant level. According to Gallaudet University, there are two different types of FM systems. The two different types of FM systems are personal and sound field. A personal FM system is paired directly with an individuals hearing device whereas the sound field is an increase in sound to a group of people. You can get more info from Gallaudet University here https://www.gallaudet.edu/clerc-center/info-to-go/assistive-technology/assistive-technologies.html

FM systems work in different ways because they can be used as a one to one device or as a one to many device. This means the instructor can use the FM system to talk to one individual student or it can be used to reach many students. Most FM systems have an audio range of approximately 50 feet to 165 feet. With an FM system, the user can also use this in a lot of daily interactions. More info on FM systems can also be found at https://www.hearinglink.org/living/loops-equipment/fm-systems/what-are-fm-systems/

As for the future of FM systems, I believe the direction they will go is improving the quality of the device and also making it more available for people to use outside of the classroom. I believe that this device will improve in the future by increasing the 50-165 foot range to a distance that is much greater. Overall, I just think the future of this assistive technology is just in the improvement of what is already here.


Sources
http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/public-education-for-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-students.htm
https://www.gallaudet.edu/clerc-center/info-to-go/assistive-technology/assistive-technologies.html
https://www.hearinglink.org/living/loops-equipment/fm-systems/what-are-fm-systems/