Full-size headsets
Bluetooth wireless accessories
Wired miniature earsets
Wireless hearing aids
Throat microphones
Full-Size Headsets
Sennheiser PC131 Headset — $50
Nothing beats a full-size binaural (two ears) headset for maximizing fluency. Use the headset in a speech clinic, for home therapy practice, and for telephone calls. Or use the headset in noisy environments, as the noise-canceling microphone rejects background noise. A Sennheiser PC131 headset is included with every device. The weight is 4.3 ounces (122 grams).
For hygiene in a school or speech clinic, the microphone can be cleaned with alcohol prep pads between clients. We can also have optional washable headphone covers ($5/pair).
Bluetooth Wireless Accessories
Plantronics Voyager Pro & Jabra A210 — $250
A Plantronics Voyager Pro Bluetooth wireless earset and a Jabra A210 Bluetooth adapter are included with the SmallTalk. The Voyager Pro has the best sound quality and background noise rejection of wireless earsets. The sound is almost as good as wired earsets. It's light (16 grams), comfortable, and stylish. It's monaural (one ear). The Plantronics Voyager Pro and Jabra A210 Bluetooth adapter Bluetooth kit is optional with the Basic Fluency System or School DAF. You can also use any other Bluetooth wireless earset with a Jabra A210 Bluetooth adapter.
Wired Miniature Earsets
Plantronics MX100S — $50
The Plantronics MX100S is light and comfortable and the sound quality is almost as good as the full-size headset. The MX100S can be used either binaurally (two ears) or monaurally (one ear). The microphone is built into the cord. The microphone picks up background noise so the MX100S should be used in noisy environments only with the SmallTalk's push-to-talk feature. A Plantronics MX100S earset is included with the SmallTalk and Basic Fluency Systems bought directly from us. It's an optional accessory for the other devices.
Any other cellphone earset with a standard 2.5mm plug can be used with any of our devices.
Wireless Hearing Aids
If you wear hearing aids, your stuttering treatment device can transmit wirelessly to your ears. We have a customer who'd lost his hearing in one ear. He tried a SpeechEasy hearing aid-style anti-stuttering device but returned it because that device occluded his hearing in his good ear. Then he went to a speech and hearing clinic that we recommended. The dual-degree audiologist/speech-language pathologist looked at his hearing chart and found that his bad ear was aidable. She fitted his bad ear with a hearing aid. She selected a Phonak hearing aid with an FM receiver. She then rubber-banded a credit card-size Phonak FM transmitter to our SmallTalk. He also wore a lapel microphone. She put nothing in his good ear. The result was fluent speech and he could hear with both ears! And all this cost less than his SpeechEasy.
Another customer is a priest with Parkinson's disease. He started using our Pocket Fluency System in 1998. His hearing aids have telecoil receivers so his audiologist plugged an inexpensive ($58) telecoil neckloop transmitter into his Pocket Fluency System. He also wore a lapel microphone. Thus much-loved priest was able to continue doing weddings, funerals, and masses for five years past when he thought he'd have to retire.
Have your audiologist call us. FM wireless is expensive ($2000+ for transmitter and receiver) but works well, sounds good, and the transmitters are small. In contrast, telecoil inductive transmitters are inexpensive but bulky and have poor performance.
Hearing aid receivers don't work with throat microphones unless you use a FAF upshift (we recommend FAF upshifts only for Parkinson's, not for stutterers). The frequency range of hearing aids is typically 200-8000 Hz. Throat microphones are around 125 Hz, for adult males.
Throat Microphones
Iasus NT3 Throat Microphone — $199
For our iStutter app we recommend the Iasus NT3 throat microphone. It's also a good choice with our SmallTalk in a noisy environment. The microphone is worn at the base of the throat and is hidden if you wear a shirt with a collar. The Iasus NT3 includes a monaural (one ear) clear plastic acoustic eartube. These are made for television announcers and are inconspicuous. A throat microphone sounds different from the sound picked up by a headset or other air-transmission microphone. Sounds produced by your lips, jaw, and tongue (your articulators) are muffled and weak. Your vocal fold vibrations are loud and clear. When ordering please specify if you need an iPhone plug (Adaptor F) or SmallTalk plugs (Adapter D). Also specify whether you have a regular or large neck (if you don't say we will ship a regular neckband).
