WHILE learning can be difficult for children at the best of times, spare a thought for Kathleen Angove.
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Kathleen, who is in Year 4 at Sapphire Coast Anglican College, has an auditory processing problem.
This means Kathleen has an almost five-second delay between speech and hearing that message.
However, the classroom environment is set to become a lot easier for the Jellat Jellat child.
Kathleen, 10, has received an Amigo T5 and R5 hearing aid, courtesy of Lions Australia.
Bega Lions Club president Sam Warren and treasurer Peter Wiley presented the technology to Kathleen and her mum Danielle Angove on Friday.
Kathleen will hold the Amigo R5 and be connected to her teacher through the T5 device.
The transmitter and receivers are end-to-end, body worn FM solutions that use manual channel selection.
The devices are child-friendly and are equipped with a standard headphone.
A grateful Kathleen said “I can’t stop smiling” after receiving the technology.
“I’m excited, it will be nice to hear better,” she said.
Ms Angove said the devices will make a “real difference” for her daughter.
“She has an almost five-second delay, which has created lots of learning difficulties,” she said.
“This will block out distractions and help send the message straight away.
“Kathleen will get the message directly from the teacher, without that distraction of other sounds.”
Friday ended a frustrating seven-month wait for the Angove family.
In April, Kathleen attended her first hearing consultation at Community Health, Bega.
Local audiologist Christine Thake then referred Kathleen to Hearing Australia in Nowra.
“We paid $700 for a consultation and they found a problem, but then told us it would cost a couple of thousand dollars,” Ms Angove said.
“Hearing Australia recommended that we apply for the Lions grant.
“I thought this is our one chance at doing it.”
Ms Angove said her family suspected that Kathleen had hearing problems for a couple of years.
“It’s been a long issue – I can’t tell you how many specialists I’ve see who couldn’t see a problem,” she said.
“The school has been very supportive and they will do on-on-one teaching with Kathleen.”
Ms Angove said “there’s always an answer” for parents who have children with learning difficulties.
“I hope it will increase awareness for parents,” she said.
“We explored the options of auditory processing and we’ve had fantastic community and financial support.”
Bega Lions Club secretary Peter Wiley said he was happy for Kathleen and her family.
“The Lions were happy to help,” he said.