Discussion

Consumers lack information to access effective communication

PR is needed to educate consumers about Assistive Listening Systems. The following was just posted on a forum I follow which is an example of story showing the needs of consumers:

“I bought a pair of Resound Omnia hearing aids about 6 months ago.I would describe my hearing loss as between mild to moderate and dont wear them all he time.When I do wear them it is listening to a speaker in an auditorium wearing a microphone.I have trouble understanding about half of the words. The volume of the sound is fine, but the words have an electronic sound making it difficult to understand. Does anyone else have this problem?”

My answer: Hearing aids only have a 3 to 6 foot range. So you need an ALS (Assistive Listening System) to hear clearly in large spaces like auditoriums and churches. If you have hearing aids with telecoils in them, then ask your hearing professional to turn on that feature and show you how to use it. Then look for signs showing an ear. It may also say Loops or have a capital T ( for telecoil).

As said above Loops and FM systems are the most common listening systems. You can usually check them out at reception or security. With your telecoil enabled HA you can just sit down and turn on you Telecoil program. With FM you need to check out a radio, and a neckloop which connects to your HA telecoils. If you don’t have telecoils, then you will be given a headset to plug into the radio. Good Listening!

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