Jacqueline Rogers Scholl, MS

As a pediatric audiologist, I am continually researching and seeking out new technologies that will benefit children with hearing loss. In particular, managing unilateral hearing loss (functional hearing in only one ear) on babies has become a growing aspect of my practice. From experience and compelling data from researchers like Bess, Dodd-Murphy & Parker¹, I know that children with a mild or unilateral hearing loss are three times more likely to be kept back a grade in school and see themselves as socially separate from their peers. With these kids at high risk for academic failure and poor self-esteem, the need for early identification and intervention is paramount.

Jacqueline Rogers Scholl recommends WiFi Mic for clients with unilateral hearing loss.

With the increasing number of children with unilateral hearing loss coming to my practice, I felt compelled to try Unitron Hearing’s WiFi Mic.

Before using WiFi Mic, I found CROS and BICROS technology less than desirable. Most of the kids I fit with CROS technology rejected their device due to poor sound quality and/or loud circuit noise. There were some devices with better sound quality, but the child had to be tethered by a cord that was either too long or too short.

As a pediatric audiologist, cords around the child’s head make me a bit nervous. Even though advances in digital technology have been nothing short of monumental, CROS/BICROS microphones didn’t change from the same old technology and ugly BTE case. The fact is that these devices were not only ugly, they were also “very uncool” in the eyes of a child. Try making a 12-year-old wear one to school.

My first WiFi Mic fitting was a 13-year-old boy with a profound hearing loss in his left ear and a mild-to-severe sloping sensorineural hearing loss in his right ear. He was from a rural Oklahoma town and was home-schooled. His loss had gone undetected until his first visit to our clinic at age 13.

I decided to have him fill out the unaided Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB)² prior to fitting him with a 6-channel digital hearing instrument. Two months later, he completed the aided APHAB. I then fit him with WiFi Mic, and approximately 2 months later he completed the aided portion of the APHAB again. When I asked him to compare the two fittings, he responded that he liked the WiFi Mic better because “he could hear more.”

It is no longer reasonable to think children with unilateral hearing losses are not at risk for academic failure and poor self-esteem. Knowledge is power, and we have the power to make the changes to change the kids. WiFi Mic can help children and adults with unilateral hearing loss live fuller, richer lives by reconnecting them to the world of sound.

We are on the brink of a new era of defining deafness. Hearing-impaired children have the ability to mainstream into a regular classroom with a strong sense of self along with reading and language scores to equal their hearing peers. We must seize the present opportunity placed before us with newborn infant hearing screenings to search, find, and intervene early for all children with hearing loss.

Jacqueline Rogers Scholl, MS, is a full-time clinical audiologist for the Balance and Hearing Center of Oklahoma and is active in educational audiology legislation to benefit children with hearing impairment in her state. You can read her complete article on WiFi Mic in the May 2005 Hearing Review.

1. Bess FH, Dodd-Murphy J, Parker RA. Children with minimal sensorineural hearing loss: Prevalence, educational performance, and functional Status. Ear Hear. 1998;19(5):339-54.
2. Cox R, Alexander G. The abbreviated profile of hearing aid benefit. Ear Hear. 1995;16(2):176-186.