Hearing Loss: Come introduce yourself and connect with others

@josmay

That’s so wrong and their advice is wrong. Bluetooth is proprietary most of the time and has a limited range. Tcoils are universal and better in large public places. I would never buy an aid without tcoils. I have tried both Bluetooth only and Bluetooth and Tcoil in my same BTE aids. Bluetooth was not better for me. I use my Tcoil for cell phones and when we had a land line and in looped areas. I advocate for more looped areas. The sound in a looped area (we have one church in my immediate area) is awesome no matter where I sit in the church or how far from the microphone. I can understand speech better. I know it’s an individual preference but Audis so often don’t even mention it to new users. Having worn aids for 45 plus years, I know what I want. I’ve tried them all.
It’s not a dying technology . Hearing aid manufacturers are so concerned about the size of hearing aids and tout their invisibility because they are so small. It’s a shame
they are sweeping it under the rug. Phonak knew I wouldn’t buy my newest aids last year until that program was in them. I had to ask for it. It’s a shame you won’t get a chance to try it out.

It’s gets my dander up as you can tell. First time users of hearing aids who don’t know anyone else who wears them or anything about hearing aids are at the mercy of the dispenser. There are some great Costco hearing aid dispensers and some not so great. They are not audiologists and it depends on the kind of training they had. Most are happy with their new aids but could probably do better. I am amazed at how many people don’t realize that adjustments are available or necessary.

Going off the subject of tcoils. By the way, I have an old ear link…a candy cane shaped hook that I put over my ear and switch to the Tcoil setting when I plug it into my phone. I have used this for gps navigations and into my iPad for Netflix or whatever I want to hear sound. Anyway, my hearing is at the profound level so Costco wouldn’t work for me. I prefer audiologists associated with an ENT practice.

Have a great weekend everyone

Happy listening

FL Mary

@josmay Don't fret about the possible lack of telecoils in your new aids. Audiologists have not done a good job educating us about the benefits of T-coils. Even though I should have been wearing hearing aids my whole life (hereditary on my father's side), I didn't get my first aid until I was 21. The aid was analog. Back then, as far as I know, all hearing aids had the telecoil. It was the norm. All telephones were land line compatible and had induction loops. Our hearing aids automatically detected the signal. The aids automatically switched the hearing aid microphone off and received the signal from the telephone loop. When you were done with the phone call, the hearing aids automatically switched off the induction loop pickup and switched the microphones back in. So, why the push to phase out telecoils? I can think of several. First, there is a stigma with wearing hearing aids. People do not want others to know they don't hear well so the manufacturers have opted for smaller devices so that aids can hide inside the ear canal. With smaller devices, there are tradeoffs. Components no longer fit. The telecoil has been the most expendable. Second, analog aids (at least professionally fit) have gone the way of the dinosaur. The telecoil, if it is installed, has to be enabled in the software by the audiologist. This is the most disturbing part for me. The audiologist has to spend more time to program the telecoil in. Plus, once they program for the telecoil, we have to test it. Back in the day, the audiologist just told us to pick up the phone in their office and call someone. What a joke. Some audiologist offices have an induction loop so that we don't have to bother someone. Ironically, some phones in audiologist offices do not have an induction loop. Regardless, time to fit for a telecoil increased. Third, cell phones have contributed to the reduction of telecoils. We hear better when we use both ears. Many use the cell phone in speaker mode, making the telecoil redundant. However, we still need compatibility between the cell phone and the hearing aid. Hence, the M/T ratings on cell phones. That will be a future discussion.
To get back to your concern about a lack of telecoil, there is a possible solution. Venues that have a loop system, should have a loop receiver. Instead of simply turning on your telecoil program, you will have to get the sound from the receiver to your ears. This is the tricky part. If you are given earbuds, they are useless unless you can hear okay using them. A better solution would be headphones that can be placed over the hearing aids so that we can take advantage of the technology inside the aids. Back in the day, placing headphones over my aids only resulted in feedback squeals. Hearing aid technology has gotten better so the feedback is not always a factor.
As with most of our health care, we have to be advocates for what we want. If you go into a venue that is not accessible, politely tell them. They should have resources to contact to help with a solution. Also, ask your audiologist if your hearing aids have a telecoil. They may be in there, but just not enabled.
Tony in Michigan

I was in sales my entire career and finally got my first hearing aids in my late 60’s because I was having a hard time in sales situations.
I am now almost 73 and on my third pair. They keep getting better but I still have trouble in noisy restaurants and with women’s voices and hearing my three granddaughters.

thank you all for your information and response to my notifications My hearing aids do not have a t-coil

Closed captioned devices are available in movie theaters, but coming attractions are not captioned. Does anyone know why?

@joemd

I know that, on tv, if a commercial is less than 5 minutes long, it does not have to be captioned as it is not deemed to be video programming. I am thinking the same FCC rule applies to coming attractions since it is advertising. I don’t know how long some of the coming attractions are in theaters. I also think advertisers on tv lose a significant target group by not captioning advertisements. Every year I miss some of the funniest ads on Super Bowl day and have to try and watch it later on You Tube.

As someone who relies on captions, I tune out ads on TV.

FL Mary

I love going to movies and as my hearing started to deteriorate I remember asking people in the theatre to turn the sound up. Little did I know it was my hearing progressively getting worse.
Finally when I had a hard time hearing my clients I went in for a hearing test and found I had substantial hearing loss in both ears.
How does closed caption work in movie theaters? I can normally hear the previews because they are louder but still miss key bits of dialogue. As far as commercials I fast forward those even during the Super Bowl.
Let me know more about closed captioning in theatres and anyone else is free to jump in with ther experiences.

Our local movie theaters offer either headphones or close captioning devices for free. Aske for one after you buy your ticket. The close captioning I feel is the best option. The contraption is on a wand, one end of which fits into the empty drink cup on the seat and the other holds a small screen for the captions. It’s a game changer

My name is Shannon. I am losing my hearing as I have aged (73).

Similar experience here. I finally had a cochlear implant in my right side. I still use a hearing aid on my left. Noisy restaurants are still a problem. Like you said the hearing aids keep getting betterm but not much improvement in noisy rooms.