Thunderbirds Charities recently awarded Desert Voices a $25,000 grant to support the installation of a Phonak/Roger wireless digital system at the school. “We are thrilled with this gift,” said DeeAnn Chapman, Executive Director of the school. “We will now be able to, by August when school opens, equip the classrooms with the most effective Hearing Assistive Technology (HAT) that enhances significantly the ability of the children to hear more clearly what the teacher is saying,” she added.
The system features wireless microphones on a lanyard worn by the teacher and tiny receivers that simply click onto a child’s existing hearing aids, bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA) or cochlear implants. The child hears the speaker’s words directly in their ears, without any distracting background noise. Hearing assisted technology helps them sort through all the noise around them to focus on the key signal where their attention should be directed—the teacher. Chapman expects that during the 2021-2022 school year 27 children will be using this technology. “We are so very thankful for the extraordinary generosity of Thunderbirds Charities, they have been a supporter of Desert Voices for 20 years ,“ Chapman said. “They have helped give voices to hundreds of children.”
This grant is part of the Spring 2021 cycle. View a list of all Recent Grantees.