Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) - radio aids and proprietary remote microphone systems - optimising listening opportunities

Revised version: Contributions by members of the ALTWG (Stuart Whyte, Brian Copsey, James Mander) including Educational Audiologists from the professional associations; British Association of Educational Audiologists (BAEA) (Claire Bateson, Anne Bailey) and BATOD (Teresa Quail). | View as single page | Feedback/Impact

Why use assistive listening devices?

Assistive listening devices (ALDs), also known as assistive listening technologies (ALTs) can provide a much-needed option for deaf children and young people (CYP) to access speech and sounds.

Modern hearing aids, bone conduction hearing devices and cochlear implants allow most wearers to hear quiet speech when the listening situation is quiet, the speaker is in close proximity and with a known speaker.   However, in reality, the world is a noisy place, and a great deal of communication takes place in less-than-ideal listening situations.  There will be times when a CYP may struggle to hear.

These devices work with a CYP’s hearing aid or speech processor to make it easier for them to listen to and concentrate on the sounds or voices they need or want to hear, particularly when there is background noise or other distractions in the environment.

These devices help to overcome the problem of distance by bringing the speaker’s voice right into the listener’s ear.  Microphones on hearing aids and speech processors work best at a distance of around 1-3 metres but CYP are not often at this critical distance from the speaker.  Sound energy decreases the further away from the source one goes.  The doubling of the distance will result in a decrease in 6dB.  This is known as the Inverse Square Law.