What are the biggest difficulties deaf or HOH people face nowadays?

@kronberg
I also have Live Transcribe (for Androids only) on my phone along with 3 others. When this app fails from time to time I found Otter to be the best for accuracy and distance and use the free version.

FL Mary

@catladyde9 and @tonyinmi
Just a thought....I have on my Phonaks, 2 Tcoil settings...one was full Tcoil and the other was Tcoil +mic. I had the T +mic disabled. I mainly used that one in looped areas so I could hear the speaker and also hear any questions from the audience. I found that I heard better in the full TCoil setting. My Tcoil setting is also programmed a little differently from my other hearing aid programs for optimal hearing, I thought maybe the hearing aid Tcoil program might be the culprit but , like Tony said, contact the company or, get back to the place you bought the phone from....challenge them and have them do the contacting.

Although I use Innocaption and my phone had a m3/t3 rating , when I switch to TCoil I need a plug in ear link that fits over the ears...looks like a thin candy cane shaped device. I use this on my Captel landline when I use it . I can’t hear anything on the Captel unless the ear link is plugged in or I have a neckloop plugged in.
However , my Samsung has superior voice quality so I don’t really use the ear link on the cell .I don’t think they even make this ear link anymore so it stays with the landline. I also use my neckloop with GPS occasionally. For reference my loss is profound and I need these gadgets.

FL Mary

@julieo4
That’s my other response too although I am using the I read lips one more with the masks. People seem to get those 2 responses better.

FL Mary

@tonyinmi Thank you for your quick reply. I rarely use the Alcatel (it usually just sits, unused,
on my kitchen counter). Except when I am driving in unfamiliar places, I usually forget to bring the cell phone with me. I haven't actually used the cell phone since last summer. Just discovered the Verizon store where I purchased the Alcatel no longer exists (not a "corporate" Verizon store, just an authorized retailer). This Alcatel user manual (a PDF document found online -- the little pamphlet was useless) re M4/T4 "these ratings are not guarantees....This device has been tested and rated for use with hearing aids for some of the wireless technologies that the device uses...Your 4051S device is M4/T4 compatible. Reference ANSI C63.19-2011.... T-Ratings: Wireless devices rated T3 or T4 meet FCC requirements and are likely to be more usable with a hearing device's telecoil....."

@imallears Thank you for your quick reply. My delightful hearing specialist at Costco has 'tweaked' the Resound's remote programs several times since I purchased in three months ago (it has four programs -- normal, TV, telecoil and noisy places). I have not any experience in any looped areas (with the pandemic, for over a year I have not ventured outside my home except for essentials - grocery/pharmacy, basic non-delivery shopping, medical & dental, all regular and emergency cat veterinarian visits, car servicing/gas. That is still the case now and likely will be until face masks are no longer necessary outside our homes. My Panasonic Amplified landline so far usually works well for me (except with calls involving some "customer service" agents who have never communicated with hearing impaired customers, have thick, heavy accents, speak far too rapidly, do not/cannot enunciate clearly (enunciating clearly is "foreign" concept). I rarely use the Alcatel, except when driving in unfamiliar areas. The Alcatel usually just sits on my kitchen counter. I haven't used it since last summer.

FYI- lots of areas giving away free captioned phones and special smoke alarms or the hearing challenged. I received my smoke alarm when there was a fire near me. The fire department and the neighborhood association have a record of me asking foe help in finding a cheap alarm system. Couple of years have passed until the fire happened near me. A lot of areas afterwards installs these alarms for free.

@bookysue, Hi bookysue. So far I am managing well with my Panasonic amplified landline (its booster works well for increasing the volume, and it also has a "slow talk" feature which usually is enough to make it easier to hear fast speakers). Hopefully it will be awhile yet before I will need a captioned phone. I have happily been using closed captioning on all TV programs.
(My TV may be an "ancient" Plasma/vintage 2013. I am holding off as long as possible before I am forced to replace it with a privacy invasive smart TV. A recent Consumer Reports article indicated the only way to avoid the privacy invasive spying of a smart TV is by never connecting the TV's internet). In 2013 I had to have strobelights/horns installed in my condo (they are connected to my condo building's existing fire alarm system) The horns so far are impossible to ignore.

Exactly what I do whenever needed