Digital Modulation systems are tools to allow people to hear better in noisy, busy environments which children often face on a daily basis.
Hearing aids can provide your child with access to auditory information in the environment around them. However, when it comes to challenging listening environments such as noisy environments, reverberant environments, or listening from a distance, hearing aids are typically not enough on their own to allow your child good access to the information he or she needs to hear. Imagine your child in the backseat of a car, trying to overcome traffic and road noise to hear you speaking to him/her. Or your child in a gymnasium with all the noises, reverberations, and echoes of other children playing and screaming, trying to hear the teacher or coach give directions.
These are a couple of examples of the obstacles children with hearing loss may face on a daily basis. A digital modulation system is typically recommended to overcome these obstacles, in school and at home.
Digital modulation (DM) systems are a crucial part of treating your child’s hearing loss and must usually be used in conjunction with hearing aids in order to provide your child with access to auditory information in the school environment and other challenging listening situations.
A DM system uses digital signals to transmit sound from a microphone (worn by the speaker) to a receiver (worn by the individual with hearing loss).
In the classroom environment, the transmitter (microphone) is typically worn by the teacher and the receivers are often built in to the student’s hearing aids, allowing for a seamless connection. When in use, the DM system will give priority to the teacher’s voice, sending it directly into your child’s hearing aids; this will mean that your child can hear the teacher even if the teacher is on the other side of the room, if the classroom is noisy and the teacher must try to talk over the other students, or if the teacher isn’t facing your child while speaking (if the teacher is writing on the board and speaking with his or her back to the class, for example). Your child will still hear his or her peers through the hearing aid microphones; however the DM system helps to provide your child with access to the teacher’s voice in these challenging listening situations.
The DM system has many uses, which can be quite fun to explore! Additional uses include connecting the DM system into other audio sources such as videos or other multimedia at home and in the classroom. In other words, the DM system can be connected to cell phones, tablets, computers, and other devices; when used in the this way they essentially eliminate the need for earbuds or headphones as the sound from the device goes directly into the hearing aids!
This link has further information about some of the digital modulation systems available.