Help Jamie Hear for Kindergarten

He will need two of the Oticon Amigo R2 Receivers.  They cost $895 a piece.  The transmitter/microphone that goes with it is $900.  The total, without tax, is $2,690.  Unfortunately, Jamie's insurance does not cover the cost of ANY FM system.  We wrote a grant request to the Ruston chapter of Quota Club, but they declined to help.  This leaves us to foot the bill and we simply do not have the money for the system.

At this point, Jamie is several years behind in his speech articulation due to his hearing impairment.  For his Kindergarten year to be productive, he needs this system.  Speech disabilities not only affect the way words are spoken...they also affect spelling, reading, and other linguistic endeavors.  For example, if you had never heard an "s" at the end of a plural word (spaceships), how would you now to write it?  Jamie's hearing impairment has also caused him to substitute sounds for those he did not hear.  Take the same word -- spaceships -- because of Jamie's high-frequency hearing loss, he didn't hear the "s" sound for almost 5 years.  He substitutes one of several other sounds:  k, t, d, or p.  So, when his teacher next year asks him to write the word "say" he is likely to write "tay."

I hope that my explanation helps you understand the root cause and the need he has so we can get him the equipment he needs to be successful in school.  For a good example of how his high-frequency hearing loss has affected his speech, please look at the website