Davin is 8 years old and was born with bilateral microtia and atresia. In the video below, Davin and his mother, Shannon Gordon, talk about his hearing journey with his Ponto’s and their experience with the new Ponto 3 SuperPower.
“Davin’s hearing is one of the most important things in our life and we’re just trying to do what’s best for him.” – Shannon
Interested in learning more about the Ponto 3 SuperPower? Click the button below to be connected to a representative from our team.
We’d like to introduce you to someone very special!
Meet Raheeg Abdelrahman, a four-year-old girl living in Sudan with her younger twin siblings, her mother, and her father, Eltahir.
Raheeg was born with bilateral Microtia and Atresia, and when her family couldn’t find a suitable hearing device in Sudan, they traveled to Egypt to meet with an audiologist who they hoped could help them find a solution. Unfortunately, the family was unable to find an affordable solution and were forced to return home without a device for Raheeg.
That’s when we heard about Raheeg and her family through our friends at the Ear Community and partnered with them to provide two Oticon Medical Ponto Plus hearing devices for her.
The devices were sent to Egypt where Raheeg was fitted with her devices with great results:
“She can answer our call easily and surely this will help her to receive her lessons like other kids…it is difficult to get words to express my thanks but I say God bless you!
Please convey my deepest heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all of Oticon Medical staff for the help and support they provide to everybody in our Ear Community, and special thanks for Mr. Alan Raffauf, Tove Rosenbom, and Claus Frees Horneman…THANKS to YOU dear friends for giving me hope that my daughter can go to school, hearing sounds and practice her life like other kids. Thank you for making my impossible dream become real!”
– Eltahir Abdelrahman
We’re honored to have had the opportunity to help provide the gift of hearing to another individual with hearing loss and are thankful for our friends at the Ear Community for sharing Raheeg’s story with us!
If you’d like to learn more about Raheeg and Microtia and Atresia, the Ear Community blog is a great resource!
Happy back to school season! This time of year, we see many questions about FM systems in the classroom. Recently, a Ponto user and advocate sent this question our way. So, we wanted to take the opportunity to share an answer from one of our top audiologists.
Here’s the question:
“Does anyone have any experience with FM systems? My son is in the first grade, and he has bilateral BAHAs. The school ordered the Amigo for him over the summer, at that time he had the slightly older model Ponto (the Pro I believe). He had surgery to place abutments over the summer and to our surprise we received two new hearing aids with the surgery. I also got a Streamer. The Amigo isn’t wireless and doesn’t seem to be as compatible with the Ponto Plus as the Streamer.
Does anyone have experience with the different FM systems especially in the classroom setting? I have been told in the past that when FM is on, the hearing aid only picks up sound transmitted to microphone and blocks all other surrounding sound and I have been told that isn’t true. Neither of these people used the FM themselves. Can anyone who has a BAHA share?”
Enter one of Oticon Medical’s top Audiologists, Laura Phelps. Here’s Laura’s answer:
The Amigo is an FM system and is wireless. It’s likely that the Amigo FM receiver that would be used with the Ponto Pro (the older device) is the Amigo R2BA, which has 3 pins of same length, and plugs into the DAI port on the Ponto processor. This is probably what was ordered by the school over the summer. With the new Ponto Plus processor and the Ponto Streamer, the receiver used would be the Amigo R2, which has a longer Europin-middle pin. It plugs into the Ponto Streamer, not the processor.
So there are two options:
A. They can use the Amigo R2BA receiver, which is likely what was ordered over the summer, with the older Ponto Pro processors at school and use the new Ponto Plus processor and Ponto Streamer at home.
B. The school can purchase one Amigo R2 receiver which would plug into the Ponto Streamer and just one receiver would transmit to both Ponto Plus processors.
Regarding the question about what the Ponto is picking up, surrounding noise versus what is being transmitted from the teacher’s microphone:
For scenario A (above), the audiologist typically programs “Program 2″ as FM+M, meaning that the R2BA receiver on the Ponto receives the signal from the teacher’s mic and the Ponto microphones pick up the surrounding sounds.
For scenario B above, the Ponto Streamer settings default to receiving both the FM and M.
For either scenario A or B, the relative inputs from the FM Signal and the Mic signal can be adjusted if you want to change the “mix”. This is helpful if student reports that he or she is getting too much surrounding noise relative to the teacher’s voice, or vice versa.
I would recommend that the school Audiologists contact one of the Clinical Specialists through customer service for guidance, and the child’s Clinical Audiologist might need to get involved as well. It is often the case that the school Audiologist defers to the Clinical Audiologist to make programming changes since they are the ones that fit the instrument.
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So, there it is! We hope this answer helps as your student heads back to school. Do you have other questions regarding FM systems? Please let us know in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter. We’re always here to help!
Meet Arkin Silutan Lerio, a 10-month-old boy from the Philippines, born with bilateral Microtia and Atresia. Today, he’s the recipient of two Oticon Medical Ponto Plus sound processors that were donated through the Ear Community Organization.
At three months old, Arkin and his mother experienced a priceless moment—the moment Arkin tried a bone anchored hearing system for the first time. Jhoan, Arkin’s mother, knew from that moment on that her son needed the help of these devices. Just one month earlier she had learned that Arkn had a severe to profound hearing loss in both of his ears. And now, with the device, she was seeing him respond to words and sounds.
However, the family didn’t have medical insurance or the resources to proceed. And many of the medical professionals Arkin saw were not familiar with seeing a child with Microtia and Atresia. But that didn’t stop Jhoan for working to find answers, so she went online to research.
In her research she found the Ear Community Organization and applied for Ear Community’s hearing device donation program.
On August 15, 2016, Arkin proudly received two newly donated Oticon Medical Ponto Plus bone anchored hearing devices and the Oticon Medical Streamer from Oticon Medical that were donated through the Ear Community Organization.
“Many people helped Arkin along the way in order for him to receive his new hearing devices. A special thank you to Izovelle ‘Icee’ Piedad (audiologist with Philiear Inc.) for helping donate her time to fit and program Arkin’s new Ponto Plus hearing devices! Thank you also to Gabe Murphy, who wanted to give back to the Microtia and Atresia community and help a child hear better. Gabe organized a 5k race fundraiser event in Preston, Idaho for his senior class project. Some of the funds that were raised went toward paying for the shipping of Arkin’s hearing device,” Melissa Tumblin, founder of Ear Community explained.
“Jhoan says that Arkin is already hearing better and that he is mimicking sounds. She says that Arkin is already making new sounds and babbling more! Arkin also has a new friend, his monkey that he has decided to call “Otty” that came from Oticon Medical with his gift of hearing.”
Are you interested in learning more about the Oticon Medical Ponto for yourself or your child? We’d be happy to connect with you an audiologist in your area: click below and let us know!
You can read Arkin’s story on the Ear Community website here as well.
Brandon Floyd shares her Ponto story today in our new user video. She explains how her Ponto increased clarity and helped with interaction, especially when talking to customers at work.
“I was lucky enough to be able to try the Ponto for a week and I am in love! I am a cashier at a grocery store and it is imperative that I be able to hear what my customers are saying. With the Ponto I could answer their questions with enthusiasm.”
Watch the full story below and #ChooseSound #ChoosePonto.
If you would like to know more about the Ponto system and speak to an audiologist, click the button below and we will connect you.
Our next user video comes from Ally Tumblin and her mother Melissa, who talk about how the Ponto Plus has made a difference in school, at home, and on the playground.
“I’d call for her on the playground, and she would be looking all over for where my voice was coming from”
Listen to the full story below:
If you would like to know more about the Ponto system and speak to an audiologist, click the button below and we will connect you.
We met Shannon Gordon when she posted a video of her son, Davin, trying his Pontos on abutments for the first time. Shannon shared Davin’s story with us, and now we’d like to share with you too.
“Davin was born bilateral microtia and atresia. He has had bilateral canaloplasty, and Medpor. Davin received his first bone anchored hearing system (BAHS) at 7 weeks old. Two years ago we upgraded to bilateral Ponto Pluses. What an amazing transformation! On February 5, 2016, he had the surgery at U of M hospital. This video is of him receiving his Pontos on the abutments for the first time, 3 months after surgery. He loves them! Thank you Oticon for an amazing product and allowing my son to have the best hearing option out there!”
The video below captured his reaction to wearing his Ponto Pluses on abutments for the first time—3 months after his surgery.
Ross Wiseman
Today, we’re delighted to share this great timeline from Ross Wiseman through his own social media posts.
It’s his journey in deciding on and getting the Oticon Medical Ponto Plus Power bone anchored hearing system (BAHS). Through responses from the community and his own evaluation, Ross is happy and hearing great with the Ponto Plus.
YuXi Sun Todd is a seven-year-old girl who was born in Beijing, China, and is now a citizen living in the United States. YuXi was born with bilateral Microtia and Atresia and lived in an orphanage in China since she was three months old.
In May of 2015, YuXi was adopted by Lynn and Barbara Todd. Lynn and Barbara were on an adoption list for nearly 10 years before finally receiving the call about YuXi. By the time that call came, they were retired and didn’t have the income they had when they originally set out to adopt. So, they took out a loan and used savings and retirement to make it happen.
We are so lucky to be able to share Erin Wiggle’s heartfelt story about her husband, Adam. Adam serves in the Navy and has an Oticon Medical Bone Anchored Hearing System (BAHS), the Ponto.
Erin shares Adam’s account of his ordeal of chronic ear infections and multiple surgeries throughout the years that finally led to permanent hearing loss of his right ear. In her post, she leads us through Adam’s journey to getting his Ponto. Adam adjusts his life well with his Ponto. However, he reveals that one of his adjustments is dealing with the insensitivity of strangers. Adam said, “The constant questioning from strangers has left me a little bitter.”