BTE or Bodyworn...??

This will allways be a question when the child starts with CI, and even more so when the child has bilateral CI.

When Lotte was one of the first to be implanted bilaterally, the Freedom had just been developed and even though she got "Freedom" on the inside, the outside was the old Nucleus. So the only bodyworns available to us (Lotte) were the "big" cases, and two of them would have been massive.

(I believe the one on the right is the bodyworn at the time....)

So, the Ci-team proposed to use the BTE's, but after picking them up 15 times an hour (per ear...), we decided that on the ear would not work. 2 coils and 2 BTE's that can loosen and fall off is too much to handle....

(Also, Lotte allways pulled off the HA's and we were not looking forward to a similar behaviour with the CI's'. In retrospect, she has never taken off the CI's. We have been fortunate with that..)

Being the engineer in the family, I clipped off the fingers of an old wollen glove, put the BTE's in the fingers, a safetypin through it and pinned them on the shoulders of Lotte...

That worked fine, without too much falling off of the coils. Plus, no need to hang the BTE on the ear.... That is allways secured (and can allways be found..)

We tried a couple of time times to put it behind the ear, but the combination of earsize and BTE-size is not compatible. Doublesided tape etc. could work, but Lotte really disliked that solution. After all, she is used to the ears on the shoulder, so why bother?

To give an impression of the difference, here are two pictures. One with the bodyworn, one with the BTE's on the shoulder..

....... vs .......

Coil+Earhanger+Bodyworn ....... vs ....... Coil+BTE (click to enlarge)

So, for the last 2-1/2 years she has worn them on her shoulders and without any problems. This includes playing outside in the sand 50% of the time when she's at the kindergarten, and the BTE never failed and was never lost. Also, the staff there can just put the coil on when Lotte for some reason cannot do it herself or simply forgets (in the beginning she would just not bother. Nowaday, she immediately puts them on..). There's no hastle with tape, glue, ear-hangers that go in the ear or caps.

As mentioned, the only thing that can fall off is the coil-piece, but soon she figured out how to put that back. Actually, that is a small disadvantage. By putting them back herself, she is putting some tension on the coil-cable, but the are pretty strong.

Remember, there's nothing on her ear, nothing in the ear, nothing on the head, except for the coil. The BTE's are safe on her shoulders.

We were worried about the BTE's under the coat for example (scratching sounds), but she has no problems with hearing when they are under the coat. Guess the coat id holding the BTE's steady so there is no scratching.)

Advantages:

* You will never loose the BTE. It's secured,

* Only the coil can fall off. The child can put it back her/him-self,

* Much lighter than the bodyworn,

* Still accessable (sp?) for the parent to change programs,

* BTE's are spaced out wider than the ears, so (I think) perception where sound comes from is better,

* We use a safetypin to attach it to the clothes so it can easily be changed from one piece to another,

* No need to buy/make special pockets in clothing, just 2 little bags with safetypins,

* When raining the BTE's will be under the clothes. (and as said, she'll still hear without problems), when there's much wind, it will also be protected from that, not causing weird sounds,

* ...... I'll think of some more - to be added later
* ...... You'll think of some more - Put it in a comment, and I'll add it.

Disadvantages:

* Possibly: Sound has to be picked up from the shoulders, (but that does not seem to affect her hearing capability. She hears a pin drop on the table... literally!),

* Possibly: Scratching sound when a coat is worn over the BTE's but we have not seen any problems,

* Cannot use rechargable batteries,

WRONG! - got info (See comments) that they are available.... only in Canada and USA??? Not here, but we will be working on it !!

* There's strain on the coil-wire when the child puts it back her/him-self, (but in the last 2-1/2 year only 1 failed.),

* There will be holes in the clothes when the fabric is thin, (but how long do these cloths last anyway..),

* ...... I'll think of some more - to be added later* Possibly: Localising sound after hearing it, initially cannot be done by turning head. The shoulders would need to turn. But like with us, we allready know where it comes from when we turn our head...

* ...... You'll think of some more - Put it in a comment, and I'll add it.

Do want to mention, that recently we started to use the BTE on the ear.

We have a feeling, call it a hunch, that Lotte wouldn't like to have the BTE's pinned on her bare skin, so at bedtime, straight out of the bath-tub or from the shower, we put the coils with the short wires on the BTE and hang them on the ears. She's OK with that but still prefers to wear them on the shoulders. But she needs to get used to it anyway.