Looking to connect with HOH adults

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Cynthia B

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Hi, I am 58 and have a moderate to severe hearing loss, diagnosed over 2 years ago. I wear 2 hearing aids and am still having difficulty adjusting. I work in a hospital and struggle with hearing at meetings, talking on the phone. I am looking for others who would be willing to share what has worked for them. I bought an amplified phone to use at home, which worked for a while, but now I am having difficult hearing on that, also. My employer is willing to buy me needed equipment, but I don't know what to suggest. Looking forward to hearing from you!
 
You said you got an amphified phone but what you really need is a VOC. This will allow you to speak to whomever but at the same time "read" what the person replys to you. Also it takes a good while to adjust to hearing aids, so dont give up without a fight. Just make sure you have them re-adjusted every three months because as you wear them you will notice a change in your needs. As a matter of fact, you may find the need to go in sooner because of way they are adjusted to raise and lower amplifications. Remember, if you have not been yet told, hearing aids have many bands and each band does a seperate function. So what works for you might not for me.
While I do want to recommend equipment that your employer could get for you, the specific need is based on your position within the hospital. Nevertheless, keep posting here and we will all assist you in any way possible....Welcome to AD, smile.
 
:welcome: to AllDeaf forum. Have fun reading and posting all the threads here. See you around here. :wave:
 
rolling7 said:
You said you got an amphified phone but what you really need is a VOC. This will allow you to speak to whomever but at the same time "read" what the person replys to you. Also it takes a good while to adjust to hearing aids, so dont give up without a fight. Just make sure you have them re-adjusted every three months because as you wear them you will notice a change in your needs. As a matter of fact, you may find the need to go in sooner because of way they are adjusted to raise and lower amplifications. Remember, if you have not been yet told, hearing aids have many bands and each band does a seperate function. So what works for you might not for me.
While I do want to recommend equipment that your employer could get for you, the specific need is based on your position within the hospital. Nevertheless, keep posting here and we will all assist you in any way possible....Welcome to AD, smile.
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I believe you meant VCO (voice carry over)
 
Welcome to AD! I use a loop on my cell phone, plugs into my cell phone and then connects to my hearing aids via T coil :)
 
Thanks so much for your response. I am an Advocate in the Patient relations Department at a hospital - so when I get phone calls, most people are calling to complain and are very upset, so they are not always very patient with me asking them to repeat. I also visit patients and usually do better with that because i try to position myself so I can read their lips and I can tell them that I have a hearing loss, but when I am meeting with a family, they are usually emotional and often speak at the same time, I get frustrated as I know I am missing most of what is being said. I am going to look up VOC's - that does sound good! Do you have one at home? Does it plug into your phone? Do you use that at work, also.
 
Hi, Do you have a special type of cell phone? Are there different kinds of loops? I have such a difficult time hearing on my cell phone- my daughter and I laugh a lot because when I am talking to her, some of my guesses re: what she has said to me are way off!!
 
haha we all have that..guessing moments..and are way off..i do it a lot lol ...u can ask my gf (she is on here mostly at night) and sometimes she will be like..um what did u just think i said? lol ... Cell phones are rated so look for 1 T4/M4 rating...a lot of phones don't have both so even one with a t3 m3 rating is good too...m stands for microphone I believe and T is for telecoil..that being said a lot of deaf ppl i know all have blackberrys...I hear best on that so thats what i have, that also being said...I don't use the phone much but when I do i have an iCom that came with my phonak naidas and it sends the callers voice to BOTH ears so that I can hear the convo much better
 
Hello Cynthia. As you can expect, my fellow ADers will certainly correct my typing errors here. Yes, it is VCO for voice carry over and will help you alot. I do have one and all you have to do is remove your present phone by pulling out the line and then connect the line to your new VCO. Then get busy...first you can set up an automatic dialing to your relay service and once connected they will take over the typing of the other persons conversation to you and all you do is read the type and then respond in your own voice to the other person. Your employer is required under ADA to provide you with one but at home you are on your own, although you might check to see if your state offers assistance, it is called STAP (State Telecommunication Assistance Program). Glad to help...stay on here and expect all the ADers to come out and help you.
 
Hi, thanks for much for the information. Is it an extra charge on your home phone bill to have a VCO phone?? It is great to be able to connect with someone that understands; Thanks again for your help.
 
No extra charge and as a matter of fact if you use the relay service you can often save on LD, not always but some situations. To find out more about the relay service in your area just dial 711. Good luck.
 
You may also check in to a CapTel phone. Most times, if you can show proof of your hearing loss, you get the phone free from an agency working for your state. Mine comes from the Florida Telecommunications Relay. Got it from my local Deaf Service Center.

They do work both at home and in a work environment.


Welcome to AllDeaf!!! :wave:
 
Other thing to look into for phones is to see if you can get an amplified phone that has a headphone jack on it (many do) ... this allows you to directly connect the phone to your hearing aid via a DAI connection (this makes things much clearer for many people and eliminates background noise)

For meeting with people - I'd look into an FM system(s) For one to one communications you can use a small label mic for the hearing person to wear, for groups in a room you can see if you can get a small movable FM system that will help you hear better (you should be able to try it for 30-60days before you have to commit to purchase.

Also - talk to your audiologist.. make sure that your hearing aids are being adjusted often enough to compensate for hearing changes - while some people have very stable loss, others need to see their audie every 2 or 3 months for adjustments. The audie will also be able to provide you with options and idea for work place accommodations

If you have your own permanent office, one solution to cut down on noise is to install removable soundproofing/sound dampening that hangs from the walls either like curtains or as panels - this makes communication easier because it reduces re-verb etc.)


Keep in mid that if you hearing continues to decrease, you may need to consider altering your job in the hospital ... while they are required to make accommodations, they have to be reasonable accommodations (for instance if you are a secretary taking calls all day, they DO have to give you an amplified phone, however once it gets to the point that you need relay to understand conversations ... they are generally NOT required to do so because it is beyond reasonable accomidation)
 
I really appreciate the helpful hints..I wish i had known about AllDeaf 2 years ago. Since being diagnosed with the hearing loss, I have felt frustrated, overwhelmed and alone. It feels good to be able to talk to others that understand. Thanks again!
 
Just checking to see if anyone knows of a good Audiologist in the Boston, MA area? After reading other posts, I don't believe that mine has been as helpful as she could have been. I really didn't know what to expect and maybe I didn't ask the right questions, but I think it would be good to get a second opinion. Thanks in advance for sharing.
 
Cynthia B said:
Just checking to see if anyone knows of a good Audiologist in the Boston, MA area? After reading other posts, I don't believe that mine has been as helpful as she could have been. I really didn't know what to expect and maybe I didn't ask the right questions, but I think it would be good to get a second opinion. Thanks in advance for sharing.
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Don't know of one but I would make my first step to contact Alexander G. Bell School for the Deaf, they could point you in the right direction.
 
KristinaB said:
You may also check in to a CapTel phone. Most times, if you can show proof of your hearing loss, you get the phone free from an agency working for your state. Mine comes from the Florida Telecommunications Relay. Got it from my local Deaf Service Center.

They do work both at home and in a work environment.


Welcome to AllDeaf!!! :wave:
Click to expand...

And just to refresh, what Kirstina is talking about is a VCO phone. I have one and it works great!
 
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