1. < Hearing Loss
Mentor

You Have a Right to Communication Access

Posted by Julie, Volunteer Mentor @julieo4, Apr 8, 2022

Since the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was legislated we have seen many accommodations made for people with disabilities. Curb cuts, ramps, interpreters for the Deaf, etc. What about 'communication access' for the hard of hearing population? Question: What can accommodate our unique needs?

Answer: There are many technologies that can help us enjoy plays, movies, hearing in church and at meetings, etc. Problem 1. : We have to ask for it to get it in place for our use. Problem 2: We have to know it exists to be able to ask for it. Problem 3 : To educate and advocate for our unique communication needs we have to 'go public' with our hearing loss.

How many of you have advocated for and/or used technology for communication access at a local theater, or at a meeting you must attend, or anywhere else where you need to hear to participate? What accommodations did you receive?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Hearing Loss Support Group.

mickey5909 | @mickey5909 | Apr 9, 2022
In reply to @julieo4 "Most theaters do have captioning devices available. What captioning device did you use?" + (show)
@julieo4

Most theaters do have captioning devices available. What captioning device did you use?

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I have used two types of devices. One was a device that when into the cup holder which was not the greatest in my opinion because you more or less had to look down at it and not up at the movie. I have also used glasses that have the captioning in them. Those were a lot better. For the Broadway show it was another device that you had to hold to see the captioning and again was hard to watch the show on stage when looking at the captioning. That was over 10 years ago. Not sure if things got a little better there. I have never used loops and I’m sure that could be an option but even with the streaming to my aids I still like to have captioning so I don’t miss things. Especially helps with musicals and trying to understand what they are singing.

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mpeters | @mpeters | Apr 9, 2022
In reply to @julieo4 "It's quite obvious that there is a need for this technology on these tours. They attract..." + (show)
@julieo4

It's quite obvious that there is a need for this technology on these tours. They attract a lot of seniors, and a lot of seniors have hearing loss. Good for you to plan ahead. The good news is that this technology is getting used and people who need it are starting to learn it's available. I would be interested to know what kind of technology was in use. I suspect it was FM. We had a lot of FM tech in our community prior to advocacy for preferred hearing loops. FM is great because it's portable, but it requires receivers. You can purchase an FM receiver to use in places where FM tech is used. The only problem is that it has to be able to pick up the frequency that the transmitter is using. Often, that is 72.9 as that was set aside for this purpose. Some receivers can adjust to more options. Mentioning this only because you said they ran out of receivers. I hope that fact encouraged them to make more available. Thank you for sharing your experience. Are you planning to travel again soon?

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No, sadly, I am a senior with multiple comorbities and now possibly COPD thanks to an asymptomatic illness with Covid. We may start traveling again domestically, using n95 masks and choosing uncrowned places. And taking our refrigerator ( a real one) in our car for food.

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mpeters | @mpeters | Apr 9, 2022
In reply to @julieo4 "Bet if we took a survey on masks that close to 100% of people who use..." + (show)
@julieo4

Bet if we took a survey on masks that close to 100% of people who use hearing aids or cochlear implants would hate them with a passion! Do you know anyone who has lost a hearing aid due to masks? I know several.

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My husband lost a hearing aid while walking toward the car. I haven’t lost hearing aids because I wait until I’m home or in the car to take them off in case a hearing aid comes off with it. It is a nuisance but I really need to wear the mask. Rest of my husband’s story; locally could not get matching hearing aid so went looking online and found the one he needed. They agreed on a price. Then they couldn’t supply him with the one missing hearing aid so they offered him two hearing aids for the same price. We have learned that we don’t have to buy hearing aids from our audiologist, we can get them less expensively other places.

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Mentor
Julie, Volunteer Mentor | @julieo4 | Apr 9, 2022
In reply to @mpeters "My husband lost a hearing aid while walking toward the car. I haven’t lost hearing aids..." + (show)
@mpeters

My husband lost a hearing aid while walking toward the car. I haven’t lost hearing aids because I wait until I’m home or in the car to take them off in case a hearing aid comes off with it. It is a nuisance but I really need to wear the mask. Rest of my husband’s story; locally could not get matching hearing aid so went looking online and found the one he needed. They agreed on a price. Then they couldn’t supply him with the one missing hearing aid so they offered him two hearing aids for the same price. We have learned that we don’t have to buy hearing aids from our audiologist, we can get them less expensively other places.

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That is very true, however hearing needs to be tested appropriately. Hearing aids need to be fit properly for the user to get the best possible use from them. A lot depends on the severity of a person's hearing loss. If amplification is all one needs that's an easy fix.

Do you shop for glasses or other medical products online?

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Mentor
Julie, Volunteer Mentor | @julieo4 | Apr 9, 2022
In reply to @mickey5909 "I have used two types of devices. One was a device that when into the cup..." + (show)
@mickey5909

I have used two types of devices. One was a device that when into the cup holder which was not the greatest in my opinion because you more or less had to look down at it and not up at the movie. I have also used glasses that have the captioning in them. Those were a lot better. For the Broadway show it was another device that you had to hold to see the captioning and again was hard to watch the show on stage when looking at the captioning. That was over 10 years ago. Not sure if things got a little better there. I have never used loops and I’m sure that could be an option but even with the streaming to my aids I still like to have captioning so I don’t miss things. Especially helps with musicals and trying to understand what they are singing.

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Our local theaters have the cup holder device. I found it worked OK, but had to do a lot of adjusting to get it in the right space. I've only tried the captioned glasses at an exhibit at an HLAA convention. The people seemed to prefer those.

All those movies have built in closed captioning. In some areas, folks have advocated for those closed captions to be 'open' for a few performances. That's on my agenda for advocacy 🙂

Like you, I always have the captions on my TV, even with streaming. I guess I'm just so used to it that it's 'my normal'. Also grateful that my family members have adjusted to it being there.

Does anyone complain about the captions you enjoy?

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1 reply
imallears | @imallears | Apr 9, 2022
In reply to @julieo4 "That's a common story with grand kid's performances. My grandaughters were both in a high school..." + (show)
@julieo4

That's a common story with grand kid's performances. My grandaughters were both in a high school that had an outstanding theater program. Over the 5 years they were involved, I mentioned hearing loops every time I attended a performance. They did have an FM system so that helped. I brought my own neckloop so I didn't have to remove my personal hearing devices. It is costly to install hearing loops, but in the long run, having something that people in the know can simply plug into w/o having to request a battery powered receiver from student volunteers who have no idea what they are for, would be much less trouble.

Again, it's about education and advocacy. We have to keep asking for it wherever we want or need to hear.

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@julieo4

Hi Julie,
I can’t tell you the number of times I have asked a neighbor who is CEO of Entertainment at one of the largest theater groups locally, and a close family friend , to give me the name of someone with whom I can discuss hearing loops. I mentioned that the entire main theater can allocate just a couple of rows instead of the entire theater for looping. Lord I know he is busy and has had some family deaths recently but it apparently has never sunk in. I would like to use his name as a referral rather than go through the entire chain of command. Time to start nudging again. I see him occasionally but his wife more so will go in that direction.

Sigh
FL Mary

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1 reply
Mentor
Julie, Volunteer Mentor | @julieo4 | Apr 9, 2022
In reply to @imallears "@julieo4 Hi Julie, I can’t tell you the number of times I have asked a neighbor..." + (show)
@imallears

@julieo4

Hi Julie,
I can’t tell you the number of times I have asked a neighbor who is CEO of Entertainment at one of the largest theater groups locally, and a close family friend , to give me the name of someone with whom I can discuss hearing loops. I mentioned that the entire main theater can allocate just a couple of rows instead of the entire theater for looping. Lord I know he is busy and has had some family deaths recently but it apparently has never sunk in. I would like to use his name as a referral rather than go through the entire chain of command. Time to start nudging again. I see him occasionally but his wife more so will go in that direction.

Sigh
FL Mary

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This is pretty typical. We ask and get nowhere so we stop asking. Sometimes we have to get more assertive than we want to, especially if we know the people with whom we must educate. Have you mentioned the ADA?

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imallears | @imallears | Apr 10, 2022

@julieo4
Hi Julie,

Yes to the ADA and they are in compliance because they have those stupid headphones with earplugs.
You can only educate so much on the types of hearing loss. I think he thinks it’s just me or a handful of people with hearing loss in the area. People understand culturally Deaf better than our whole gray area of loss. That is why I use the term deaf (a discussion we have had here) so often as I navigate through life. Many saw the movie Coda and the one about the drummer which was wonderful but doesn’t help “us”. We have tv series like Little People and The Housewives of whatever state. I would love to see a series or documentary about “us”. We would have to come up with a name for it.

As an aside…I helped my son and daughter-in-law with a 2 day garage sale this weekend and forgot to bring my “I read lips” button. Boy, was that hard. Good thing one or both of them were there all the time with all these people milling around, heads down and turned sideways. It was also posted on Facebook Marketplace so you can imagine the number of people. I was the money holder making change and keeping track of our stuff and their stuff in a notebook. Really hit home with my daughter in law how difficult it was for me. But wow, over 2 grand!
That’s it from me on a busy beautiful Sunday visiting in Orlando.

FL Mary

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1 reply
tonyinmi | @tonyinmi | Apr 10, 2022
In reply to @imallears "Hi, About 5 or 6 years ago I attended a high school play at a local..." + (show)
@imallears

Hi,

About 5 or 6 years ago I attended a high school play at a local newly renovated live theater that my granddaughter was in. They had absolutely no hearing accommodations whatsoever. I mentioned to the ushers up front that it was an FDA violation etc. When we were in our seats an usher came down to me and took my personal information and said I would be contacted.
A week or so later one of the directors at the main (different) theater emailed me and stated that they were newly renovated and apologized and gave that as the reason for no accommodations. Two weeks later she emailed and said they had just installed a $7000 Senshauer (spelling?) system and invited me to tes it. There was another play that I attended about a month later and the ushers up front knew what devices they had but not how to use them.Theynfound someone who did and, to my dismay, it was headphones and some sort of gadget. We couldn’t get it to work when we were seated and the hearing people could not even hear anything. At the end of the play I let them know of the problem and emailed the same person. She responded and said they would get on it. We never returned to that particular theater but I let her know that the headphones would not work for anyone with hearing aids. You would have to remove the aids and use earplugs. The personnel upfront didn’t have a clue how to use them…….one was charged and no one ever asked my input. She got the message so I don’t know what improvements were made. I did say there were also no notices in the lobby that devices were available.
Knowing the caliber of the theaters involved I am sure they did pay attention but I had no reason to go back to that particular theater.
And that’s my story.

FL Mary

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@imallears Your experience should be Problem #4 in @julieo4 post - The HH (Hard of Hearing) person should also know how the technology works! Sennheiser makes a variety of HAT (Hearing Assistive Technology) so it could be several products that come to mind. What I typically do is to take a picture of the equipment that is given to me. I make sure I get a picture of the model number and do the research when I get home. Most venues will give you a voucher for future visit so the next time you go, you'll be more familiar with the equipment. To not go back to the venue is not fair since they are trying to be accessible. Granted, they failed miserably, but if we can help them, we help the next HH person that asks for accessibility.
Tony in Michigan

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2 replies
willows | @willows | Apr 10, 2022
In reply to @billchitwood "I have a terrible time with masks, not only hearing the other person but they also..." + (show)
@billchitwood

I have a terrible time with masks, not only hearing the other person but they also cause my aids to fall off. I have small ears and it is difficult to keep the processors in place at anytime. But you add strings and I really have a problem. The other day I was helping my husband with his walker and his mask (sort of hands full) when I immediately had to try and put a mask on. My CI hit the floor. Fortunately it was ok. Then it was almost impossible to get it to stay in place with the mask on and the doctor's receptionist kept asking me questions as I was trying to mumble, 'just a minute please'. Then Bill wanted to help so he was grabbing my hand and trying to grab the CI as well. A comedy of errors.

As you might have guessed, I really dislike masks!

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I also can’t hear when people are masked up. I wear 2 behind the ear hearing aids and masking devices for tinnitus. In addition to the tinnitus, masking devices,/ hearing aids, and actual masks on people I live in Quebec. English is my mother tongue but almost everything in Quebec takes place in French. I am fluent in French but according to the audiologist French tones match my hearing loss more closely than English tones. All that to say that understanding speech outside the home is hopeless for me.

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