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Educational Audiology
Educational Audiology Services
We partner with local school districts to ensure students with hearing loss have the tools, technology, and classroom support they need to thrive.
Our Approach to Educational Audiology
As the area’s leading pediatric audiology provider, our role as educational audiology consultants for several large school districts in our area formed naturally. By combining our clinical knowledge and passions with the academic needs of each student, we are able to address classroom acoustic concerns and offer academic solutions that seamlessly fit with your child’s hearing technology and listening needs.
How We Support Students and Schools
As Educational Audiologists, we work in several areas to support each student’s success:
- Implement strategies to improve classroom listening
- Manage and maintain technology systems, such as FM, Roger, and Remote Microphones
- Develop classroom recommendations for individual students
- Educate teachers and support personnel on the effects of hearing loss in the classroom
- Teach staff the proper use of equipment
- Work in partnership with the Teachers of the Deaf to provide resources and support that will maximize educational success
- Evaluate children with suspected hearing loss
What Is Educational Audiology?
Educational audiology is a specialty focused on how hearing loss affects a child in the classroom, not just in a sound booth. A clinical or diagnostic audiologist measures what a child can hear; an educational audiologist translates that audiogram into practical classroom guidance, such as where a student should sit, how background noise affects them, and which technology closes the gap between what the teacher says and what the student actually hears.
Classroom Acoustics and Assistive Listening
Most classrooms work against a student with hearing loss. Overlapping voices, hallway noise, hard floors, and distance from the teacher all reduce how much speech actually reaches a student's ears, even when hearing aids are working correctly.
Sound-field or individualized remote microphone systems address this directly. A teacher wears a small microphone, and the signal streams to speakers around the room or straight to a student's hearing aids, keeping the teacher's voice clear regardless of where a student sits or how noisy the room gets. Seating placement matters too: closer to the teacher and away from hallways, HVAC vents, or high-traffic areas reduces the competing noise a student has to filter out.
FM, Roger, and Remote Microphone Systems Explained
These systems solve one specific problem: a teacher's voice loses clarity the moment it competes with classroom noise or crosses more than a few feet of open air.
An RM (formerly FM) system uses radio frequency to send a teacher's voice from a microphone directly to a student's hearing aids or a dedicated receiver, cutting through background noise that would otherwise blur speech. Roger is Phonak's current generation of this technology, using digital modulation for a cleaner signal and automatic adjustment as the classroom gets louder or quieter. A remote microphone is the umbrella term for any wireless mic that streams a specific speaker's voice to a student's device, whether that's a teacher at the front of the room or a parent across a noisy restaurant.
For a student with hearing loss, the difference is significant: the teacher's voice arrives at a consistent, clear volume no matter where the student sits or how many other children are talking.
Have Questions About Your Child’s Hearing?
Do you have questions about your child’s educational interventions? Call us at (803) 620-8250 or send an email by filling out the contact form so we may listen to your concerns and discuss your needs.