@jett215 I wanted to respond to you for both your question on telecoils, but also because I live in Eastern PA as well. I live in Berwyn, Chester County. In addition, I am the Eastern PA Chapter Coordinator for HLAA which means I work with the 5 HLAA Chapters around Philly. I would imagine one of them would be close to you that you could join the Chapter and start meeting others with the same or similar issuers as yourself. The Chapters are for socialization as well as education. We are meeting virtually now on Zoom, but it would at least get you in contact with others nearby who you could get together with once everyone is comfortable again. Let me know where you live and I can hook you up with the Chapter leader for the Chapter in your area. The next meeting on October 26th is going to be a combined meeting of the 5 Chapters on Zoom with a speaker discussing all of the different microphones you can use in conjunction with your HA's.

As far as telecoils, I just bought a new pair of HA's a month ago (Phonak Marvel) with telecoils in them. Telecoils are small wires that fit into your HA's and if you were ever in a room which had a hearing loop installed, your telecoils act as a direct sound receiver so that when the speaker speaks into the microphone at the front of the room, you can hear him/her directly in your HA as if they were talking directly to you. You don't hear all of the other ambient sounds in the room or auditorium that might normally affect how well you hear the speaker. It is an awesome feeling when you first use the telecoils. You won't believe what you were missing. The telecoil also lets you use certain assistive listening devices in conjunction with your HA's for meetings in noisy rooms. I highly recommend you ask the audiologist for telecoils in whatever HA's you buy.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Mike Miles