Remote Microphone Systems for Autistic and Nonautistic Youth: Effects on Audiovisual Task Engagement

Remote microphones (RM) have been around for decades. However, it has only been within the past approximately ten years that research has shown their usefulness not only for children and adults who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing, but also for other individuals who may struggle with communication and listening. In fact, research has shown that a RM can help children better focus their attention on the speaker and, in turn, increase spoken interactions (John Tracy Clinic, 2025). 

Research with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has demonstrated that RM systems improve speech recognition and auditory working memory (Schafer et al, 2016). Recent research with 56 children (32 with and 24 without ASD) was completed utilizing listening-in-noise tasks. Children were asked to report what they heard in response to audiovisual syllables, words, sentences, and passages with and without an RM system. Reviewers blinded to the study rated the children on engagement and protesting behaviors. 

Use of the RM system by children with ASD revealed reduced verbal, stimulus-specific protesting. The authors hypothesized that the decrease in protests from the children with ASD was likely due to their decreased difficulty engaging when listening to noise with the RM. 

References

Dunham-Carr K, Mailapur N, Keçeli-Kaysili B, et al. (2025) Remote microphone systems for autistic and nonautistic youth: effects on audiovisual task engagement. Ear & Hearing, 46(2):325-335.

John Tracy Center. (2025) Reasons for a Remote Mic Helping a Child Listen in Noise and Distance. (accessed February 17, 2025).

Schafer EC, Wright S, Anderson C, et al. (2016) Assistive technology evaluations: Remote-microphone technology for children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Communication Disorders 64:1-17.