← Return to Hearing Loss: Come introduce yourself and connect with others

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@julieo4

The telephone can be a problem, but technology available can remedy that. Get a captioned telephone. CapTel and CaptionCall are the two prime providers. They require landline connections, so work everywhere. There's a cell phone app called Innocaption that works with cell phones. You're hearing healthcare providers should be sharing this information with you IF you tell them about the issues you have that are problematic. There's a heck of a lot more to helping hard of hearing people than simply putting a hearing aid in their ear! They must also do some counseling, which means asking about your life, your lifestyle, the things you enjoy, and perhaps miss doing, etc. By the way, those captioned phones are free in most instances when you have a diagnosed hearing loss. Your state office or commission for deaf and hard of hearing will have information. Each state is a bit different, but they all have departments of health and human services that cover disability issues.

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Replies to "The telephone can be a problem, but technology available can remedy that. Get a captioned telephone...."

Thank you, Julie! Yes, I know about captioned phones but haven't tried to get one...yet. First, we live on acreage and I'm often outside working while my husband, who can't walk a distance or without his damned walker, is in the house. Because we have zero cell phone reception here, we have a special extended-range phone system which we purchased when he got on the waiting list for a kidney years ago. The system allows me to carry a handset while I'm outside so that he can intercom me if he needs help. In addition, we can only have Charter/Spectrum here, and they are downright hopeless. When we moved here full time six years ago, it took three months and four different numbers to get stable phone service, much longer to get internet, and over a year before we could watch TV. We learned not to call Charter after one of the servicemen tried to turn the Charter one-ton van around right at the creek culvert and got it high-centered with the front wheels hanging over the water...meaning we had no access until a special tow truck arrived to get it out. So, messing with our phone service requires true grit...and being able to hear! We have no closed captions on TV, either. Yes, I know that they're mandated due to ADA, but Charter apparently didn't get the message. I've learned to rely on the internet to get news.