Resources

TROUBLESHOOTING KITS FOR SCHOOLS

The EarGear Troubleshooting Kits are designed and priced for educational needs and budgets. There are 3 different kits that contain all that an educator needs to do basic troubleshooting to get a child back “on the air” during the school day. Each kit comes housed in a case with MED-EL’s EarGear logo.

OPUS 1/TEMPO+ EarGear:
Designed to support children using the OPUS 1 or TEMPO+ speech processors. The Basic Kit includes 2 earhooks, 3 battery pack lids, speech processor test device, 1 package of zinc air batteries, screwdriver, fixation bar, TEMPO+ u-pin, 9.5cm cable, 28cm cable, the MED-EL Educators CD and the TEMPO+ Troubleshooting Made Easy Card.

The Standard Kit includes all the components of the Basic Kit with the addition of a MED-EL Microphone Test Device.

The Deluxe Kit includes all the components of the Standard Kit with the addition of 2 activity covers, 1 straight battery pack, 1 angled battery back, 2 additional 9.5cm cables and 2 additional 28cm cables.

OPUS 2 EarGear:
Designed to support children using the OPUS 2 speech processor. The Basic Kit includes: earhook, pin removal tool, OPUS 2 standard battery pack cover, OPUS 1 and TEMPO+ battery pack lid, speech processor test device, 1 package of zinc air batteries, screw-on fixation bar, screwdriver, clear connecting piece, clear connecting piece with safety lock, black rectangular case, 9.5cm cable, and 28cm cable. The Standard Kit includes all the components of the Basic Kit with the addition of a MED-EL Microphone Test Device, and 1 additional 9.5cm and 28cm cable. The Deluxe Kit includes all the components of the Standard Kit with the addition of 1 standard battery pack cover, 1 straight battery pack, 1 OPUS 1 and TEMPO+ battery pack lid, 1 FM cover, and and 1 additional 9.5cm and 28cm cable, and 1 box of zinc air batteries.

Free a complete chart explaining the EarGear Kits, download the BRIDGE Catalog.

The “Ling Six Sound Cards” package contains six, 3x5 cards representing the 6 sounds from the Ling Six Sound Test. These are designed for use with young children. Useful for “listening checks” and early speech sound discrimination tasks. These appealing cards are ideal for classroom and therapy settings.

“The Educator’s CD” was designed as a “must have” resource specifically for teachers, rehabilitation specialists, speech pathologists, early interventionists and audiologists. This valuable CD contains three comprehensive manuals, the Handbook for Educators, Handling and Troubleshooting the TEMPO+ and the Guide to FM Systems for the TEMPO+.

Also included in the Educator’s CD is the Communication Options and Educational Placements booklet and the “Understanding Cochlear Implants” movie that is subtitled in English and Spanish. Each of these materials is described in the following pages.

TEACHING CHILDREN WHO LISTEN
WITH A COCHLEAR IMPLANT

The “Handbook for Educators” and “Equipment Guide” used in tandem are designed to enhance a teacher’s current teaching practices as he/she works with a student who is learning to listen with a cochlear implant. The Handbook for Educators is an 80-page guide that provides an introduction to the MED-EL system, and information to help the teacher/therapist understand the workings of the implant, the implant process, what to expect and how a teacher or therapist can participate as fully as possible in the habilitation of the child.

This resource is intended for all professionals who provide services to children with cochlear implants. Included are useful tips for classroom and teaching modifications, the importance of auditory skills, how to conduct a daily listening check, how to develop a positive auditory learning environment and much more.

The “Equipment Guide: TEMPO+ and OPUS 1” and the “Handbook for Educators” used in tandem are designed to enhance a teacher’s current teaching practices as he/she works with a student who is learning to listen with a cochlear implant. The “Equipment Guide: TEMPO+ and OPUS 1” is designed to help professionals and/or parents become confident in handling and assembling parts of the speech processors, understanding all the available wearing options and objectively verifying that the device is working properly. It provides step-by-step instructions to help identify and solve any problems.

Although the audiologist or the child’s implant center typically handles advanced troubleshooting, many teachers and therapists find that minor problems can be quickly managed without disturbing daily learning and listening. Easy step-by-step guidelines for conducting daily listening checks are included.

This is the story of MELLIE, the MED-Elephant and her family. This delightful book tells the story of Mellie, a young elephant and her family from the discovery that she is deaf through the process of candidacy, surgery, programming and use of her cochlear implants. This colorfully illustrated book is useful during the cochlear implant candidacy phase as well as for teaching children about the cochlear implant and the implantation process.

The “Loudness Scale Charts” include a range of loudness scaling charts specifically designed for children. You can print and laminate these charts for longer use or print onto photograph paper for a finished look. Special “Seasonal Scales” for children provide a total of 11 different charts.

A complete year of different seasonal scales is available on the MED-EL website.

“How a Cochlear Implant Works” is an informational movie that describes the MED-EL device. It is a good beginning resource for potential implant candidates and their families, as well as for professionals beginning their experience in working with a cochlear implant user. It is in English, but is captioned with subtitles in both English, Canadian French and Spanish.

The “HearSay e-Newsletter” is aimed at meeting the needs of teachers and rehabilitation specialists. Included are tips for working with children who have implants, news about MED-EL and its products, and other topics of interest to teachers, therapists, and early intervention providers. Sign-up to receive this e-newsletter by sending an email with “subscribe” in the subject line to educators@medelus.com.

Listen Hear is a series of newsletters for professionals, written by Geoff Plant. Topics covered include: Using PowerPoint® for Testing and Training, Why I Love to Use Rebuses in My Work, Music for Adults with Cochlear Implants, TeenTrain, Using Rhyme and Rhythm with Children, The Barrier Game; Speech Tracking, Modifications to Speech Tracking, The Six-Sound Test, Looking at Vowels, Looking at Nasals, Music for Adults with Cochlear Implants and others.

A Guidebook for Parents

“Communication Options and Educational Placements, A Guidebook for Parents” was developed in collaboration with BEGINNINGS for Parents of Children Who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing, Inc. It provides a non-biased approach designed to present the more common options on the continuum of communication and educational placements a family will encounter. Those working with parents and babies will find this resource especially valuable.

MED-EL is proud to offer Abby Gets a Cochlear Implant, a colorfully illustrated children’s book detailing the experiences of Abby Hound and her family as they transition from having hearing aids to learning about and receiving Abby’s first cochlear implant. The paperback story book includes an informational page at the end of the book describing cochlear implants and the benefits they offer. The book was illustrated by Susie Dupree and written by Maureen Cassidy Riski, a practicing audiologist and the author of Patrick Gets Hearing Aids and Oliver Gets FM.

Also available at www.ABBYGETSACOCHLEARIMPLANT.com or Amazon.com.

Kids’ Songs is a set of three original interactive children’s songs. These songs written and performed by Zack Moir, Kerryn Plant and Geoff Plant are fun, interactive songs for young children that can be used at home or in the classroom. The songs include: “I Can Clap My Hands,” “Here Is What You Got To Do” and “School Bus Blues.” The written words to each song are provided either in the CD booklet or as a pdf download.

The MED-EL Made Easy card is designed as a quick troubleshooting guide for the TEMPO+, OPUS 1, and OPUS 2 speech processors. The card has diagrams of the speech processor with explanations for changing batteries, cables and switch positions. On the other side is a chart that explains the different LED blinking patterns with instructions for interpretation and action necessary for each blinking pattern. Designed especially for education and rehabilitation professionals and parents.

“Telephone Training Tips” offers a concise overview of the key issues involved in successful telephone training for cochlear implant users. Designed for audiologists and speech pathologists, the brochure outlines various approaches to training, and provides references for further information.

Topics covered include: aims of telephone training, assessment of telephone use, telephone etiquette, therapy guidelines, telephone alternatives and accessories and useful references

A GUIDE FOR ADULT COCHLEAR IMPLANT USERS

This brochure is suitable for adults who have a cochlear implant and those considering getting a cochlear implant. The brochure is a comprehensive guide to issues surrounding cochlear implantation in adults, with the main focus on rehabilitation. Topics discussed include: information about cochlear implants, benefits of a cochlear implant, listening to everyday sounds, speech understanding, improved speech, listening in background noise, living and hearing with a cochlear implant, maximizing listening and communication, auditory rehabilitation, care and maintenance of the device and available resources for cochlear implant recipients.

The Munich Music Questionnaire is a comprehensive questionnaire consisting of 25 questions designed to record the listening habits of people with post-lingual deafness after cochlear implantation. This measure, developed by S. J. Brockmeier, is useful to assess music perception in individual patients following cochlear implantation and for studies designed to study the perception of music.