Hearing the TV with hearing aids

I was just reading about the introduction of “Auracast” on a larger basis. It is an improvement on “ telecoil” which has been around forever but many hearing aid manufacturers don’t offer it because it makes the hearing aids too bulky. Heaven forbid someone would actually be able to see your hearing aids. I don’t really care if they see my hearing aids as long as they work. I will take all the help I can get.
Now the real point of my reply is what if we have “ telecoil” and “ Auracast” technology and no venues install it because it is too expensive. Then what good does it do.
Hearing loss is a disability just like any other disability covered under the ADA and yet we are being totally ignored. The reason we are being totally ignored is because we don’t demand better from our government.
Restaurants are only getting noisier and no one seems to care. Even friends of mine who don’t have hearing loss have noticed this.
The monster trucks that are for some reason so popular today are so loud I have to adjust my hearing aid settings to noisy environment just to go for my daily walk. One of my all time favorites is the person next to you at a stoplight with his radio turned up so loud his car is shaking.
Why doesn’t our HLAA organization do its job and get the government to treat hearing loss as a disability and make it easier for us to hear.
If a restaurant is not handicapped accessible they get fined. If a venue doesn’t install “ Telecoil “ or “Auracast” nothing happens.
I welcome your comments. If I am not mistaken the HLAA had a big convention recently. Should I expect any big changes? Probably not because they are not doing their job and making the ADA act work for us as well.
I don’t hold them entirely responsible because those of us with hearing loss don’t speak up and push them to do their job.
I recently returned from Europe and did not find one restroom on the first floor of a restaurant. They were all down a flight of stairs with no elevators. Imagine restaurants in this country trying to get away with that.
In closing let’s make out voices heard and get the accommodations we need. There are certainly plenty of us. We just have to demand the ADA do their job.

I use ava

@daveshaw

Yes, 'we just have to do that'. How involved are you in HLAA? How do you support HLAA? How about the AGBell Association? Or Hearing Health Foundation? Or AARP? Do you support these organizations financially or through active personal involvement?

These organizations give people with hearing loss a voice, but that voice, which is dependent on support from the people they represent can only do so much.

How do you feel about manufacturers and sellers of hearing products advertising 'invisibility' which tells people they should not let anyone see they are using hearing technology? Why is there so much stigma about hearing loss?

The organizations mentioned above are all doing a great deal to open doors. However, it is the PEOPLE who have hearing loss that have to provide support.

The national HLAA convention was outstanding. Did you consider attending?

Always good to hear from you.
I keep on saying I am going to attend an HLAA meeting and have not done so. I will try to attend the next one. Shame on me.
Why do people with hearing loss not speak up?
There are certainly enough of us out there.
Auracast should be required in every venue it makes sense to put in in.
Restaurants should be required to keep the background music to a minimum.
We have to start advocating for ourselves better. A lawyer in Denver is suing all restaurants that are not handicap accessible. Maybe we should do the same thing for people with hearing loss.
Why don’t people speak up? I don’t understand it.

"We just have to demand the ADA do their job. " That's not quite right. The ADA already does its job and that is setting the standards. Across the country, thousands of assistive listening systems* are already in use. If you encounter a facility that lacks a functioning system, you can educate the staff or file a complaint. There are a few facilities that don't have a system, but the vast majority have one. In your experience, what did the staff tell you when you talked with them?

Here's a one-page graphical summary about Auracast https://centerforhearingaccess.org/wp-content/uploads/Auracast-consumer-guide-1-page.pdf

*infrared, hearing loop, FM. Auracast isn't ready for full adoption -standards for assistive listening are expected in late 2027.

I don’t know where you live but in Denver movie theaters look at me like I am crazy when I ask if they have telecoil. I have that setting on my IPhone and never once have I been able to use it.
How about the background noise in restaurants. I would guess almost every restaurant I go to exceeds the decibel level allowed by law. Sometimes even the wait staff can’t even hear me well enough to take my order.
We are the forgotten disability in this country and anyone who doesn’t think so is kidding themselves.
Auracast is great if venues would actually install it. I am not holding my breath.
Why doesn’t Medicare view hearing loss as a disability? Why is it more important to enable disabled people to have access to a toilet or a water fountain than it is to have the ability to hear in public.
Let’s all get angry and do something.

What is Ava?

I’m sorry Ava is an app they. Do captioning a bighhelp when you can’t hear athe app is for the deaf and hard of hearing if anyone is interested the address is Ava.me

@daveshaw

There is so much terminology and acronyms!

So with your comment: "movie theaters look at me like I am crazy when I ask if they have telecoil." that's probably true: most staff don't know what a telecoil is - that's the component in your hearing aid to connect-nothing that movie theaters are responsible for.

Instead, could I suggest requesting "assistive listening" or "captioning" Here are the links for the accessibility page for the movie chains
https://centerforhearingaccess.org/place-movies/

Yes but telecoil is much better than wearing a clunky box around your next.
Auracast will be even better if we can venues to install the program.
We made it a law that restaurants have to handicap accessible. Why not the same for hearing loss? Do we have a disability just like they do?
Just a thought.