You Have a Right to Communication Access

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.

@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

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.

@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

Have you seen the documentary "We Hear You. Now Hear Us"? It is about the HH population. Four members of HLAA created it for the Cannes Film Festival. It won an award for best documentary about disability. I am not sure how to access it currently. There are some legalities and rules about how to access it. (Not HLAA rules; rules related to the production of the film.) I will try to get more information about this for a future post.

@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

Thanks Tony. To educate others about our unique needs, we must know what they are ourselves. We also must have a clearer understanding of the technology that works well for us. How do we do that?

@tonyinmi

Hi,

Just to clarify , I did not return to the venue because my granddaughter was no longer in high school and there were no more plays to be seen there…not because of the equipment. Actually they did not fail too miserably because the system was installed within a matter of weeks even though no one consulted me about the type of accommodations I would need. And yes I did email and thank them but told them at the time why they would not work for me. I am sure those headphones have helped a number of people. I cannot hear at all with just earplugs and I have tried a number of them. I would really have to shove it in too far and hold it it in to be able to get some type of sound out of the better ear, but that sound is not enough for understanding.

FL Mary

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?

@julieo4 It's difficult to stay on top of the technology available. Several years ago, I found out that the venue, where the Detroit Symphony Orchestra performs, had installed a system for people with hearing loss. I was able to obtain free tickets for a practice session! The system turned out to be a Sennheiser MobileConnect. The system broadcasts a Wi-Fi signal that is picked up by any smart phone. An app needs to be downloaded to make it work. I was able to use the Bluetooth streaming from my phone to my hearing aids so didn't even need additional head gear. The system worked great except for the problem when the person speaking doesn't have a microphone. I was not able to hear what the conductor was saying but the music was clear. For people without smartphones, you would be given an Android phone, with the app already installed, and stereo earbuds. Some places may require a drivers license to make sure they get the equipment back.
Tony in Michigan