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Hard of hearing people can dream of a future when hearing
aids might also serve as wireless loudspeakers, delivering
clear, sharp, customized, sound right from inside their
ears. They can dream of communities where churches, auditoriums,
drive-up business windows and home TV rooms all broadcast
their sound directly through these in-the-ear loudspeakers.
Thanks to the refinement of "induction loop"
systems that transmit directly to hearing aids with telecoils
(T-coils), that future can be now! What wi-fi is to laptops,
loop systems are to hearing aids. |
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Why are assistive listening systems needed?
It's wonderful that churches, schools, and business have made
themselves accessible to the visible minority of people in
wheelchairs...more
Why are hearing loops the preferred assistive
learning system?
Unlike FM and infrared listening systems, loop systems that
broadcast to hearing aids... more
What hearing aids have telecoils and can
receive loop broadcasts?
Most behind-the-ear hearing aids routinely come with telecoil
sensors, as do many in-the-ear hearing aids. These are the
hearing aids typically... more
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What do loop systems
cost? And where can we order one?
American vendors offer equipment that ranges from... more
How might we loop our community?
Consider the objectives, strategies, and results
of one pioneering community, Holland-Zeeland, Michigan...
more
How might we loop the nation?
Step one has already been taken... more
What are common concerns about loop systems?
Older loop systems, some claim, suffer from interference,
sound spillover, and uneven coverage... more
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"It is the position of [HLAA] that telecoils
be given the prominence they deserve as a valuable hearing
aid feature that will allow the expanded use of assistive
listening devices."
~Hearing
Loss Association of America
"On behalf of Michigan's hard of hearing
persons, HLA-MI recommends that Michigan's public places,
as defined by ADA and MPDCR, and where sound is broadcast,
install assistive listening systems that broadcast directly
through hearing aids and cochlear implants. . ." more
"In all new and extensively remodeled
buildings, wherever there is a public address system, a
loop should be permanently installed. . . . When
there is a loop, all a hard of hearing person has to do
to be able to hear, is click on the T-switches on their
hearing aids."
~Hearing
Loss Association of California
Recent nontechnical articles explaining loop systems have been
authored by
- Award-winning audiological researcher-writer Mark
Ross.
- Hearingloop.org creator, David Myers in the Hearing
Journal (2006), Hearing
Health (2007, PDF) and
other articles.
- Denise
Portis, offering an eloquent first-person
story (PDF).
- California audiologist Bill
Diles describes how his installation of 1500 home
TV room loops has impacted his patients and his practice.
- Hearing Health 2006 article
(PDF) on varieties of personal and institutional loop systems.
The momentum toward hearing aid compatible
assistive listening is growing, thanks to recent developments:
- Loop systems have been mandated for inclusion in all London
Underground ticket offices and all
London
taxis.
- The FCC
will require digital phone manufacturers to make telecoil-compatible
phones available at every price level.
- Hearing professionals are beginning to offer home loop
systems with hearing aids, and a new website
offers them products and consultation.
- More and more hearing aids (about 50 percent) come with
telecoils, as do nearly all the behind the ear aids worn
by those most needing hearing assistance.
- The major hearing trade magazines have carried recent
articles advocating loop systems (most recently the May,
2006, Hearing Journal cover story).
- More and more American venues are being looped. These
include the U.S. House of Representatives' main chamber.
Hearing loss organizations are promoting the technology
in West Michigan, Tucson, Albuquerque, and Williamsburg.
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