The tactile acoustic monitor as an aid for post-lingually totally deafened adults: a pilot study

Two women with a total acquired hearing loss who had previously derived no benefit from hearing aids were fitted with the tactile acoustic monitor (TAM) (Summers et al., 1981). Speech perceptual and productive abilities were assessed using a variety of tests prior to TAM fitting, at the time of fitting and after one month of daily use but without detailed training. Self-report and questionnaire data were also obtained. Results indicated that the TAM aided the detection but not recognition of environmental sounds. Lip-reading was not improved, and there was a worrying trend toward the use of an elevated voice pitch with changes in voice quality including increased occurrence of creaky voice.