ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES

Hearing plays an important role in our ability to communicate with others. For persons that do not hear well, it may become difficult to attend social activities and speak with friends and loved ones. Assistive listening devices can give back this ability to communicate.

Hearing aids are microphones placed in the listener's ear. They can be tailored to a person's hearing loss. They do not perform well in all situations, and they may amplify more sounds than we want to hear in noisy settings. Luckily, a variety of assistive devices can be used along with, or in place of, a hearing aid.

3 types of assistive listening devices:

A microphone is one such device that is positioned a few inches from the speaker's mouth and allows the speaker's voice to be heard directly in the listener's ear. A microphone:

reduces the effects of background noise
may be used alone or with a hearing aid
may be used in public places, such as churches or theaters and
allows private listening to TV and radio, so the volume does not bother others

Closed captioning is another assistive listening device that is a standard feature on TVs made since 1993. It allows the use of subtitles for TV and video viewing. Special decoder boxes can be bought for TVs made before 1993.

Assistive listening devices have also been designed for telephone use. Phone amplifiers may be built-in or they may be portable. Another device connects to the phone allowing you to send and receive a printed message.

Alerting devices are also helpful and can include bed vibrators, loud signals, or flashing lights. These can be made active by alarm clocks, doorbells, telephones, smoke detectors, or baby monitors.

When speaking with someone who has a hearing problem, there are many things you can do to improve communication. Face the person and speak normally. Do not hide your mouth, eat, or chew gum. Be sure to reduce background noises. Be expressive and use facial or hand gestures that will give useful clues. Be patient. It is important to include the hearing-impaired person in conversation so they do not feel alone and excluded.

Thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, these assistive listening and alerting devices are now available in most public and government spaces. There are many things you can do about hearing loss. The first thing is to check with your healthcare provider. You can also get helpful information from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) by calling 800-241-1044 or TTY at 800-325-0778 or the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) at 800-638-8255. Visit their websites at www.nidcd.nih.gov and www.asha.org.

Disclaimer: This content is reviewed periodically and is subject to change as new health information becomes available. The information provided is intended to be informative and educational and is not a replacement for professional medical evaluation, advice, diagnosis or treatment by a healthcare professional.

HIL File GHEA4681.RF2 VRS# 4681 Data Version 7.0