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Judith Reese

As a new school year begins, be sure kids can hear teachers

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A child’s hearing difficulties are not always easy to spot.

That’s why volunteers like Alice Jones of Zephyrhills can play such an important role in a child’s life.

Alice Jones, of Zephyrhills, recently was honored for her volunteer work for the Sertoma Speech & Hearing Foundation of Florida. She conducts hearing tests at various Pasco County schools, to help detect hearing loss in children. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Alice Jones, of Zephyrhills, recently was honored for her volunteer work for the Sertoma Speech & Hearing Foundation of Florida. She conducts hearing tests at various Pasco County schools, to help detect hearing loss in children.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

Jones — recently named Sertoma Speech & Hearing Foundation of Florida’s volunteer of the month — has spent the past several years traveling to various Pasco County schools to conduct hearing tests for children.

The 76-year-old goes to schools within roughly a 20-mile radius of her home, sitting with children who are wearing earphones, and asking them if they can hear the sounds coming through the wires. When they can’t, Sertoma lets the school know, so they can inform the child’s parent.

Most of the time the youngsters can hear. But when they can’t, there are places where they can plug in for help, said Barbra Antonelli, an audiologist at the New Port Richey site for All Children’s Outpatient Care Center of Pasco.

Children can be born with hearing loss or it sometimes develops as they grow older, said Judith Reese, an audiologist at JC Audiology in Lutz. Federal law requires screening of infants. That typically occurs before the baby leaves the hospital, or during a follow-up visit soon after.

Some Pasco County public schools have staff members who conduct hearing screenings, but others use volunteers to do the checks. Sertoma volunteers, like Jones, conduct hearing tests for kindergarten, first- and sixth-graders in Pasco County public schools.

The organization always is looking for more help, Jones added. She got involved because a member of the Zephyrhills Noon Rotary Club asked members to volunteer.

Schools where Jones has helped out over the years include Connerton Elementary School in Land O’ Lakes, Veterans Elementary School in Wesley Chapel, West Zephyrhills Elementary and Stewart Middle schools in Zephyrhills, and Pasco Elementary and Pasco Middle schools in Dade City.

There are various causes of hearing loss, Reese said.

“One of the things that happens most often in children is a temporary hearing loss that is due to ear infections or even a build up of fluid in the ear,” Reese said. “Those are easily treated by medical professionals.”

Early detection is important.

“We really like to catch them early because you can have significant delays in speech and language, even if somebody has an ear infection for just a few months,” Reese said. “When they’re developing their speech and language, it can have a big impact on the child.”

Infants who are not startled by loud sounds may have a hearing loss, Antonelli said. If they don’t respond to their name or a dog barking, that may also be another sign.

Sometimes the problem is not obvious, Reese said.

Typically, if a child has an ear infection, parents become aware of it because it hurts.

“So, they’re crying or their ears are real red,” Reese said. “But if it’s just a build up of fluid, they may kind of just disengage, or tug at their ear.”

But sometimes fluid inside the ear doesn’t hurt, but is hindering a child’s hearing. In a case like that, a parent may think that their child is refusing to behave, or lagging behind in school because they’re not trying, Reese said. In fact, it may be that the child didn’t hear his parents or teacher, or didn’t hear them accurately.

It’s not just a matter of hearing sound, Reese explained. It’s also a matter of processing it properly.

Some signs that children may have a hearing loss include errors in articulation, Antonelli said. It also may seem that children don’t listen well or have trouble following directions. Or, they may want the volume on the television turned up.

When children don’t get help, they can experience academic and social difficulties.

If the hearing loss is spotted early, though, those problems can be avoided. Even newborns can be fitted with hearing aids, Antonelli said.

“Basically, they’ll never fall behind,” she said.

For more information, call Sertoma at (727) 834-5479, or visit FamilyHearingHelp.org.

Hearing loss symptoms and getting help

Hearing loss can happen when any part of the ear is not working properly, including the outer ear, middle ear, inner ear, acoustic nerve and auditory system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The losses can vary greatly and can be due to a number of causes, the CDC says.

Here are some facts from the CDC to help you learn more about symptoms of hearing loss and what to do when they appear.

Signs in babies
• They do not startle at loud noises
• They do not turn to the source of a sound after 6 months of age
• They do not say single words, such as “dada” or “mama” by 1 year of age
• They turn their heads when they see you, but not if you just call their name
• They seem to hear some sounds but not others

Signs in Children
• Speech is delayed
• Speech is not clear
• They do not follow directions
• They often say, “Huh?”
• They turn the television up too high

The signs and symptoms of hearing loss are different for each child. If you think that a child might have hearing loss, ask the child’s doctor for a hearing screening as soon as possible.

Published August 13, 2014

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Technology helps people hear the word of God

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At some point in life, most people know how it feels to be out of the loop.

They’re sitting at a table in a restaurant, but they’re too far away to hear what is causing the laughter erupting at the other end of the table.

St. Timothy Catholic Church’s architectural design is acoustically challenging because of its high ceilings, hard surfaces and glass. A hearing loop has been installed to enable people with hearing difficulties to be full participants in the liturgy. (Courtesy of St. Timothy Catholic Church)
St. Timothy Catholic Church’s architectural design is acoustically challenging because of its high ceilings, hard surfaces and glass. A hearing loop has been installed to enable people with hearing difficulties to be full participants in the liturgy.
(Courtesy of St. Timothy Catholic Church)

They’re at the edge of a crowd and can’t hear what the speaker is saying.

Someone is singing on stage, but they can’t make out the words.

Imagine if that was an everyday experience.

That’s the kind of social isolation that people with hearing difficulties often face. Even with hearing aids, it can be difficult for them to hear in acoustically challenging places, such as a restaurant, a concert hall or a church.

But technology is available to help change that scenario in places where sound systems are used. And recently, St. Timothy Catholic Church installed a hearing loop to help parishioners who have hearing difficulties become full participants in the liturgy.

Charlie and Judith Reese of JC Audiology contributed the system components, which cost about $8,000. The Reeses are parishioners, and Judith is an audiologist with an office at 1541 Dale Mabry Highway, Suite 201, in Lutz.

Keith Thal and his friend, James Weeks, volunteered their time and expertise to install and fine-tune the system. They both are professionals in the electronics field and knowledgeable in the science of sound, Judith said.

Chase White, the director of music at St. Timothy, also played a key role.

“St. Timothy is the first and only Catholic church in Hillsborough (County) that has this technology,” Charlie said. “I doubt that there are more than three other churches of any denomination in Hillsborough that has this.”

A hearing loop, for lack of a better description, is an antenna that is based around the perimeter of a room or a building, Judith said. The antenna is linked to the sound system, and a person with a hearing aid that has an active telecoil — or T-coil — can pick up the signal.

“The person puts their hearing aid in the reception mode, and whoever is speaking on the microphone, it comes right into their ears,” she said. “Also, it’s appropriately set for them because it goes through their hearing aid, so it compensates for their problem areas for hearing.”

Hearing aids cannot be retrofitted to include a T-coil, but many hearing aids have them already, and their wearers simply are unaware of that fact, Judith said.

Those purchasing new hearing aids may want to ask about the T-coil, she added, so they can be activated in large spaces that are acoustically challenging.

“The audiologist would set it at the level that’s going to work best for that person,” she said. “They may have a knob or a switch or button on that device, to turn it on to the hearing loop channel, as it were.”

The technology has been around for decades.

“I think it’s about half of the hearing aids that are fit that have telecoils in them,” Judith said

It’s not a cost issue, she said. People just need to know to ask about it when they get their hearing aids.

“The hearing loop technology is just one more tool in our box to help people who have hearing impairments to live, full active lives,” Judith said.

At St. Timothy, there are two hearing loops. One goes around the chapel, on a ledge. The other, in the main sanctuary, was put in the conduit holding other sound system wiring.

“St. Timothy, in particular, is a very acoustically challenging structure because of the architecture,” Judith said. “It’s kind of a basilica style with a big high-rounded ceiling, all hard surfaces, terrazzo tile, hard walls, lots of windows and metal. Even for people who have good hearing, it can be tough.”

“There’s no carpet, no anything to absorb the sound,” Charlie said. “It’s all glass, marble and metal. So, that makes everything bounce off.”

Hearing loss, in some ways, is worse than other disabilities that are visible, because it takes people away from society, Judith said.

“You can’t engage,” she said.

And, at church — where people come for spiritual refreshment and guidance — they can feel left out.

“It’s very frustrating,” Judith said. They’ll say, “Everybody else is laughing at what the pastor said, but I didn’t hear it. They sang this beautiful song, but I couldn’t hear the words. Everybody else is crying.”

In large spaces, such as church, it can be especially difficult to hear because of background noises, the Reeses said.

“The music overwhelms the talking, or the people talking behind them, or children crying or laughing, or whatever,” Judith said.

That noise competes with the liturgy of the Mass.

“There are all kinds of accommodations they make for other disabilities, but very few accommodations for hearing loss,” Charlie said.

As the American population ages, the Reeses expect hearing loops to become more common, much like wheelchair ramps, hand rails and handicapped parking spaces.

“This really has taken root in Europe,” Charlie said, noting Westminster Abbey has a hearing loop.

The hearing loop project at St. Timothy took the better part of two years, Judith said. It took time to get the equipment installed and to fine-tune it, so it’s an effective way of helping people hear.

Rev. Kenneth Malley, pastor at St. Timothy, said he knows the project is appreciated by people of all ages who have hearing difficulties. He recalled one older woman telling him about a hearing loop system at Our Lady of Lourdes church in Dunedin.

She had tears in her eyes, Malley said. She told the priest, “I could finally hear what was going on.”

St. Timothy and Our Lady of Lourdes have hearing loops, and Our Lady of Fatima in Citrus County is investigating the possibility of adding one. The Diocese of St. Petersburg is unaware of any other church within the diocese that has the technology, but some churches may have installed one without informing the diocese.

The project at St. Timothy took some time, the Reeses said, but they think it’s worth the effort because it will help open people’s ears to the word of God.

Published May 21, 2014