Annual Report 2010/11 - Sonova

develOPing SPeeCh CaPaBilitieS
– modern FM technology makes it possible
At the age of two weeks, Noah Warburton was diagnosed with profound
to severe hearing loss. This meant that he would have no chance to develop
normal speech capabilities without technological help.
His parents decided to have him fitted with hearing instruments
as soon as possible, and he got his first pair of
hearing aids when he was two months old. At the age of 17
months, he started wearing naìda in combination with
an fM system.
The hearing instruments allowed noah good understanding
when people faced him directly. The fM system did not only
further improve his understanding – his speech capabilities
progressed tremendously when he started wearing the
system. noah immediately started pronouncing words much
clearer. Today, his speech capabilities equal those of his
peers, and he will have the same chances as the other
children when starting school.
The fM system functions in a simple way. The person
talking to noah speaks into the transmitter, and the voice
is transferred directly into the receiver of his hearing
instrument. His mother uses the fM system almost all the
time and his pre-school teacher also carries it most of
the time. Without the fM system, noah needs to face the
speaker to be able to fully understand; the fM system
allows him to hear his mother even when they are driving
in the car, when he is playing in the garden or when they
are in different rooms.
noah has gained much confidence through the fM system.
He doesn’t miss out anything and he feels much more comfortable
with it. Sometimes, he even tells his mum to turn
it on because he wants to be part of everything that is going
on and being said in the family.