Hearing the TV with hearing aids

Thank you!

All TV's have captioning if purchased after 1993. You can turn it on or off with your remote. I keep captioning on my TV all the time. I also use a Pocketalker Pro for listening to the TV along with the captioning. They are sold by Williams Sound Corp. at http://www.williamssound.com.
Hermine Willey
cohear@aol.com

The Pocket Talker device can also be very helpful in noisy social environments, and when driving in the car. It's a base level device that can work with telecoils in hearing aids when used with a neckloop. They can also be used with ear buds or headphones.  

Pocket Talkers are often available for use by patients in hospitals. Good piece of hearing assistive technology! I've found the Pocket Talker to be an eye opener when presenting or talking to people who have hearing loss but no hearing help.

A pocket talker is helpful when traveling and your hearing aids will not work or if in the hospital or you know someone in a nursing home with hearing loss. Also, log onto the Hearing Loss Association of America. I finally joined this organization after I retired. I am still a member. They have a convention every year that is worth attending and you will find many items including types of hearing aids for people with hearing loss or someone you know who has a hearing loss. Hearing loss is an invisible disability by Rocky Stone who started this organization in 1979, he was a CIA agent with hearing loss.
Hermine Willey
cohear@aol.com

Is pocket talker a wireless device? is mic tethered to device or wireless? I tried a "comfort duet" device, (earphones & mic wired to device. ). sounds better than hearing aids. big problem is tethered mic which limits range of sound reception. if I could find a device with a wireless mic that had some decent range of sound reception, I would throw my hearing aids away.

I have a similar feeling; just plain amplification seems to be at least as good as the super fancy hearing aids. Very annoying.

If I use the amplifier to connect to the Bluetooth on my heating aids, then I’m able to hear the TV. The downside though is that I can no longer have a conversation with people in the room. Is there anyway to hear the tv and the people around you at the same time?

@bruceandruth1970 What brand of hearing aids are you using? There may be a smartphone app that you can use to adjust the amount of signal from the bluetooth and the hearing aid microphones. If you don't have the ability to adjust it with an app AND you have a name branded hearing aid, your audiologist should be able to program the hearing aids to provide the mix you want (for instance 60% bluetooth, 40% microphones). You just wouldn't be able to adjust the mix "on the fly".
Tony in Michigan

Yes, the Pocket Talker requires a wire from the headphones to the desired sound. There are wireless ways to connect that require hearing aids equipped with BlueTooth or telecoils. Both can be adjusted to allow less than 100% reception from the TV or other sound source.

With telecoils you need to have what is called an M/T setting. That allows sound from both the hearing aid microphone and the telecoil input to enter the hearing aids. I personally prefer having 100% when in telecoil mode because the M piece allows background noise as well as the direct sound. Sometimes we just can't have it goth ways!

I have a friend who refers to the M/T setting as his 'marriage saver'. His wife wants to be able to talk to him when he's listening to TV.

We all have to make some adjustments. Also, it's about clarity, not just amplification. Do you have a hearing healthcare provider who shares information about these things?

Thank you so much for the information. I have Oticon hearing aids. I will check with the audiologist to see if it would be possible to program them to provide the mix I want.
Thanks again.