COMBINED TACTILE AID AND CLASSROOM FM AUDITORY TRAINER

THE LONG-RANGE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO ENABLE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A TACTILE FM TRAINER CONSISTING OF AN FM RECEIVER, A FIVE-CHANNEL TACTILE AID, AND A HIGH-GAIN BILATERAL HEARING AID AS AN INTEGRAL UNIT FOR USE BY SEVERELY AND PROFOUNDLY DEAF CHILDREN. THE IMMEDIATE GOALS ARE TO ASSESS THE TECHNOLOGICAL POSSIBILITIES FOR DESIGNING SUCH A UNIT IN AN ACCEPTABLE SIZE, TO VERIFY THE ADEQUACY OF THE FIVE-CHANNEL TACTILE-AID PROCESSING SCHEME FOR THIS APPLICATION, AND TO GAIN ASSURANCE THAT THE THREE CIRCUITS WILL OPERATE FROM A SINGLE BATTERY SUPPLY WITHOUT ADVERSE INTERACTIONS. THE NEED FOR A COMBINED TACTILE AID/AUDITORY TRAINER HAS BECOME EVIDENT FROM THE FACT THAT MORE THAN ONE-HALF OF THE TACTILE AIDS SOLD TO SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN ACCOMPANIED BY REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION AS TO HOW THEY CAN BE MADE COMPATIBLE WITH FM SYSTEMS. WHILE THIS CAN BE DONE, IT REQUIRES THAT THE CHILD WEAR TWO BODY-TYPE DEVICES (A TACTILE AID AND A SEPARATE FM TRAINER), WHICH IS INCONVENIENT FOR BOTH THE CHILD AND THE TEACHER. FURTHERMORE, THE AVAILABLE TACTILE AIDS ARE NOT IDEAL FOR THIS APPLICATION. AS TACTILE AIDS BECOME MORE COMMONLY USED AND AS TRAINING TECHNIQUES ADVANCE, THE NEED FOR THIS INTEGRATED SYSTEM WILL CLEARLY INCREASE.