Six months ago, 10-year-old Jesse Hampton was diagnosed with a hearing disorder.
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But now the Unanderra boy has a new special friend to help him overcome his problem – a personal FM hearing system, appropriately named “Amigo”.
The device, worth almost $1000, was made possible thanks to the Australian Lions Hearing Dogs organisation which provides mainly specially trained dogs to Australians with hearing difficulties.
But the organisation also came to the rescue of Jesse, when he was diagnosed in August 2016 with Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD).
After years of speech pathology and following a special assessment by a qualified psychologist, it was decided Jesse would benefit from a personal FM transmitter hearing system, Amigo.
Australian Lions Hearing Dogs chief executive officer David Horne explained people with the CAPD disorder have a condition where the brain distorts sounds so it is difficult for them to distinguish the difference between them.
This system eliminates any distortion so they can understand where the sounds are coming from. It also removes background noise.
In Jesse’s case, his teacher at Unanderra Public School is in direct contact with him in the classroom via a microphone she wears around her neck which conveys her words to the Amigo device.
Jesse recently received his Amigo via Figtree Lions Club (district 201 N2) members, president Peter Brown, secretary Jim Tolerton and the club’s Bulletin editor Geoff Failes.
His mother Amanda said she cried when she heard their application for the Amigo had been approved by the Australian Lions Hearing Dogs.
“We couldn’t afford to pay for it so it was wonderful when we heard they were able to help us,” she said.
“Jesse has been trialling one at school already and it has been very effective.”
Figtree Lions president Peter Brown said his club was delighted to be able to hand over the device to Jesse on behalf of the Australian Lions Hearing Dogs.
Mr Horne said the organisation had donated more than $1 million worth of hearing assistance hardware since it was formed in 2007, thanks mainly to a significant bequest.
