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10/13/2017  |   10:30 AM - 11:30 AM   |  East Ballroom at Shalala Student Services Building

The new challenge in the Hard of Hearing community: Fitting hearing impaired persons with Personal sound amplifier products PSAPs in place of hearing aids.

For a novice, it is difficult to tell the difference between a Hearing aid and a Personal sound amplifier products, because, they both produce amplified sound, which to hard of hearing persons this is considered problem solved. Though, there may not be problem with fitting a client with a Personal sound amplifier products instead of a hearing aid, there is a problem if the unsuspecting client is getting a Personal sound amplifier products instead of a hearing aid. This is the current practice in many developing countries. The past 5 year have seen a growth in number of Personal sound amplifier products either sent by patients’ relations from Abroad as a gift of hearing to patients back home for fixing and use, or received by a professional for fine tuning the volume as the sound are often too loud or too soft and in most cases, not heard at all. In all the cases, no audiogram was involved with the purchase of the Personal sound amplifier products. Back home in Nigeria, you find Personal sound amplifier products listed on online shops or displayed in showcases within shops and pharmaceutical stores. The problem here is that they are labelled as Hearing aids. However, this problem is not restricted to Nigeria alone, you find this in most developing countries as well as developed countries, including the United States and the United kingdoms; the difference may be that with the developed countries, you find proper labelling. Perhaps this prompted the United States’ Food and Drugs Administration(FDA) to issue a guideline in 2013 that PSAP is “intended to amplify environmental sound for non-hearing impaired’’ and stating further that ‘’PSAPs should not be marketed as hearing aid replacements’’(Smith et al 2016).

• To have a clear distiction between a Hearing aid and a Personal sound amplifier products for use in developing countries
• To check the exploitation of the Hard of Hearing in developing countries
• To ensure best practice to the advantage of the Hard of Hearing in developing countries

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Eneche Audu (POC,Primary Presenter), Special Education Resouce, enecheaudu@yahoo.com;
Born in Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria in June 1979, Attended Primary and Post Primary schools in Kaduna. Had my training as an audiologist in Akwa Ibom State, Southern Nigeria. Completed my MPH at the University of Liverpool in 2014 Currently about to complete a Bachelors in Educational Psychology at the University of Abuja, Nigeria's Capital, Currently the Director of the Rehabilitation Services for People with Disabilities of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja.