Loop People | Loop Places - Vignettes

OK, one more story about our buddy Harry who is working to Loop Lincoln – at least his life in Lincoln! Harry has identified several places at work, where he benefits from assistive listening equipment. It’s typical for a person with hearing loss to struggle in a large group meeting room, especially with ambient sounds such as air conditioning, paper rustling and side conversations. So along with the other microphones for Zoom and telephone connections, he puts his at the far end of the table,connected to his portable loop. Using the loop’s internal mic, plus the 2^nd mic, he can hear it all, and even share the loop with another telecoil user. He then stations the microphone at the entrance to his cubical so when someone knocks or speaks from behind his back he hears them through the portable loop next to him. Co-workers are curious about it and learn a lot about hearing loss on the job as he explains how it works and why it is so helpful.

Harry, who has significant hearing loss, is a newer member of our Loop Oregon committee. He zooms in to our meetings from Lincoln NE, and it appears he is single-handedly working to change the assistive listening culture and awareness in his world. I will have a few stories to share about him and am subtitling them: Loop Harry, Loop Nebraska! Most recently he was in the hospital overnight for some planned surgery. He pre-requested assistive listening support. He was told that an ASL interpreter might be available or “other communication aids like picture, letter and number sheets”. Well, Harry doesn’t sign. He talks and hears with assistance.

He ended up taking his own portable loop in with him after the hospital provided no assistive equipment. The law is in place, but Harry needed to look after himself first and foremost! And he taught them about loops. There’s no help for the sandwich, though.