Moose Jaw Times-Herald, April 24, 2009
Boy's hearing improved thanks to Elks
By Sarah Swenson
Members of the local Elks Lodge No. 7 have helped to improve the hearing of a young Moose Javian.
Geno Schneider, who will be three in May, recently had a frequency modulated, or FM, receiver system donated to him by the lodge, with the help of the Elks and Royal Purple Fund for Children.
Schneider was born with mild to moderate hearing loss. While not completely deaf, he can only hear certain tones.
"It's been really difficult," said Schneider’s mother, Danielle. "It's set him back developmentally from where he should be."
"He speaks what he hears, and if he's not hearing all the sounds he needs to develop, then there will be a delay in learning," said Pat Lamb, Geno's audiologist.
"That's what he's experiencing now. His speech is not that clear because he hasn't heard it properly."
Part of the Elks' national mandate is to assist with deaf detection and treatment in children. Lamb was aware of this and helped Danielle to approach the Elks Lodge and request funding.
"Pat brought it to our attention and we saw the need," said Art Watson, a member of the Elks' charity committee. "We applied and between the fund and our local lodge, we got him the system."
FM systems are an additional expense on top of personal hearing aids and are often not covered by insurance. Geno's hearing aids alone cost about $2,000 and one FM system usually costs upwards of $2,300.
The FM systems work much like a small radio transmitter and radio receiver. While at daycare, Geno's aide wears a small FM transmitter with a lapel microphone, which sends a low-power FM radio signal to the receiver. The receiver is attached to the bottom of Schneider's hearing aids.
"What that does is it enhances his learning, his speech development, his language skills," said Lamb. "Because now he's getting that signal right there, in his ear, without distortion due to distance or background noise."
His mother and daycare workers have already seen an improvement.
"Now he can count to 10 by himself and he knows his colours and shapes and can say them," said Danielle.
Sarah Swenson can be contacted at 691-1255
