I have hearing loss and I wear hearing aids. They are the sort that hang behind the ear and have a small transparent plastic wire that runs over the top of the ear to end in the ear canal. My hearing loss is such that I can hear much conversation clearly when I am near the person and prepared to listen. However, if Lynn is in another room and speaks suddenly, I almost always know she has spoken but I don’t know what she said. I have to ask her and I ask often, enough that it can be a burden and a pain for us both.
Yesterday, I listen to a presentation by Dr. of Audiology Juliette Sterkens. I had been told she was a good presenter and she was. She is an audiologist in private practice and has much experience in fitting hearing aids and in helping people learn to use them as well as possible. Dr. Sterkens has a mission, begun when she heard Prof. David Myers discuss hearing loops. They are special wires that can be strung around a public meeting room to assist those within the loop with the use of hearing aids. Many modern hearing aids have an optional setting to take advantage of the presence of a hearing loop. Pressing a button on the hearing aids can allow the loop to transmit a special signal that originates at the mike of a speaker and is transmitted right to the ear of a hearing aid user.
I had heard of hearing loops but not actually experienced them until yesterday. I can see why Dr. Sterkens is promoting them. The loop made hearing what she was saying easy. I could hear and understand her clearly. She pointed out that the same federal law that requires special parking for the handicapped near buildings also requires hearing loops be installed in all public use facilities such as schools, auditoriums and courtrooms. It doesn’t help a hearing aid user if there is a hearing loop but the hearing aids are not set to take advantage of it. There is a symbol being used to signal users that a hearing loop is available:
Dr. Sterkens told us that the sound as it emerges from a speaker’s lips is often loud enough at that point for most people to hear clearly but that the sounds’ power falls off quickly without mechanical assistance. I found that my very hard-of-hearing mother could hear me if I spoke gently right into her ear when her hearing aids were being repaired. The loop I made use of yesterday made the speaker’s voice very clear, even when she was just whispering.
Hearing can be very important in maintaining quality of life, social connections and other aspects. There are a number of organizations that might help with doing so, such as hearingloop.org, betterhearing.org, and the HLAA, hearing loss association of America.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
