How to Use Mother's Distraction System

Sections of this document

Overview

This document outlines the "Mother's Distraction" system which is used when conducting audiological tests on young subjects in the CMA 2 CSD Clinic Audiology Booths. Mother's distraction is used to prevent the caregiver from hearing a small child's audio test and potentially telegraphing non-verbal cues to the child when the child is being held in the caregiver's lap. The distraction system consists of a CD player, iPod input cable, source selector, headphone amplifier, and a pair of over-the-ear headphones which are worn by the caregiver. Music is played through the headphones at a sufficient volume to prevent the caregiver from hearing the child's audio test.

Mother's Distraction equipment is available in Booth Pair B & Booth Pair E.

Items Needed

Audio CD or music player with 3.5mm headphone output (laptop, ipod, ipad, etc)
Circumaural (aka over-the-ear) headphones

Before the Session

Encourage the caregiver to bring their favorite CD or iPod to the session.
Confirm the headphones are connected to the test subject jackpanel connector marked "Mother's Distraction"
On the researcher side, select CD on the Mother's Distraction Switcher. Set the volume to 10:00.
Load any audio CD into the Mother's Distraction CD player. Play the source and confirm audio is present in the mother's distraction headphones

During the Session

On the researcher side, load the caregiver's CD into the Mother's Distraction CD Player - or - connect their iPod to the Mother's Distraction iPod cable Note that this cable is not the same as the Audiometer's iPod cable. Check the labels.
Select CD or iPod on the Mother's Distraction Switcher. On the Mother's Distraction Switcher, set the volume to minimum.
Play the source. If you are using an iPod-type device, set the volume to 70%
Have the caregiver put on the Mother's Distraction headphones. Advise them that you are going to increase the volume in their headphones. Instruct them to signal when the volume is at a comfortable level. Slowly increase the volume on the Mother's Distraction Switcher until they indicate the volume is appropriate.

After the Session

Help the caregiver remove the heapdhones and hang them taking care that you don't create a trip hazard with the cables.
Don't forget to return the caregiver's music.

Troubleshooting Mother's Distraction

No Sound from Mother's Distraction CD	Are you playing music from the correct CD player? ~ There are 2 CD players in the rack. Ensure you are using the one labeled " mother's distraction"
	Is CD selected as the source on the correct switcher? ~ There are 2 identical switchers in the rack (Audiometer Aux In & Mother's Distraction). Ensure the one labeled "mother's distraction switcher" has CD selected as the source.
	Is the CD player time moving? ~ Ensure the CD player is turned on, has a CD loaded, and is playing. You should see the time indicator on the front of the CD player progressing.
	Is the CD you're trying to play a burned CD-R? ~ Sometimes CD players have trouble with burned CDs. This could be due to the type of CD media or perhaps because the author failed to properly burn it for playback on an Audio CD player. ~ Ensure the CD was burned as an Redbook Audio CD (not MP3 CD, not data CD) using CD-R media (not CD-RW, DVD-R, not DVD+R, not BD-R, etc). ~ Ensure that when burned the disc was "closed" by the burning software. "Closing" the disc writes the table of contents to the disc and makes the disc readable by Audio CD players. ~ Try playing a commercially produced Audio CD instead and see if the behavior changes.
No sound from Mother's Distraction iPod	iPod headphone cable connected completely? ~ Some iPod cases can prevent the audio cable from being fully inserted. Remove the case if necessary. ~ Try connecting another iPod or your phone and see if the behavior changes.
	Correct iPod cable? ~ There are 2 identical iPod cables in the rack (Audiometer Aux In & Mother's Distraction). Ensure you're using the cable labeled "mother's distraction iPod".
	iPod selected on switcher? ~ There are 2 identical switchers in the rack (Audiometer Aux In & Mother's Distraction). Ensure the one labeled "mother's distraction switcher" has iPod selected as the source.
	Is the iPod playing? Is the volume on the iPod turned up? ~ Confirm the device is playing and that the volume is turned up using a standard set of headphones. ~ Try connecting another iPod or your phone and see if the behavior changes.

No sound from any Mother's Distraction Source	Are the Mother's Distraction Headphones connected to correct jack? ~ In the rack there should be a 1/4" cable labeled XXXX connected to the front-panel headphone output of the Mother's Distraction switcher. This cable feeds into the rack and then on to Jackpanel position XXXX on row XXXX which is labeled XXXXX. Ensure this cable is plugged into the Mother's Distraction switcher. ~ Confirm
	Is there power to the Mother's Distraction Switcher? ~ The mother's distraction switcher has a small blue LED to the right of the headphone volume knob. Ensure that this is lit indicating that the switcher has power.
	Is the Volume on Mother's Distraction Switcher turned up? ~ There are 2 identical switchers in the rack (Audiometer Aux In & Mother's Distraction). Check the volume knob on the one labeled "mother's distraction switcher". ~ Try plugging in a pair of headphones to the front panel jack of the Mother's Distraction Switcher. If you hear audio through these headphones, the issue is downstream of the switcher (cable, jackpanels, Mother's headphones). If you don't hear audio through these headphones, the issue is upstream of the switcher (sources).