Self Help For the Hard of Hearing People

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Self Help For the Hard of Hearing People
This presentation may be freely used by any SHHH
Chapters. Its available for download from
www.nchearingloss.org/programs.htm
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Did you know

• There are 28 million Americans with a hearing
  loss
• The largest disability and growing
• 1/3 over age 65 have a hearing loss
• Invisible disability
• You are NOT alone with your hearing loss
• There are many, many ways to improve a hearing
  loss

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Do I have a hearing loss?

• Do I
• turn the television volume louder than others?
• Misunderstand 50 for 15 or 60 for 16?
• Have trouble understanding people speaking to me
  from another room?
• Miss the punch line of jokes?
• Seem to hear words but do not understand them?
• Have a history of ear infections, earaches, or
  ringing ears?

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Test yourself

• Do you suffer from
• Feeling of inadequacies?
• Down in the dumps?
• Isolation?
• Loneliness?
• Denial?

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Test yourself (cont.)

• Am I
• Accused of not paying attention?
• Can I
• Hear better with one ear than the other on the
  phone?
• Have I
• Stopped attending plays and lectures because of
  the strain exerted to hear what is being said?

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How can a hearing loss be improved?

• Education
• Medical
• Assistive Technology
• Psychological
• Spiritual
• Preventive
• Research

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Education

• Learn all you can about hearing loss
• Listen carefully today
• Ask the Senior Citizens Council for information
  on hearing loss
• Read all you can about hearing loss
• Ask Questions

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Medical

• Find a compassionate, caring hearing health
  professional
• Get a medical exam
• Have a hearing test by a certified audiologist
• Understand your audiogram
• Follow recommendations for a hearing aid
• Be familiar with Menière's disease, Tinnitus,
  ototoxicity and other medical terms.
• Good competent medical advice is a must

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Assistive Technology

• What is it?
• Hearing Aids
• Telecoil
• Personal Amplifiers
• FM/Infrared systems put the sound in the ear
• Closed Captioning
• Computers
• A little help goes a long way!

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Telecoil

• A switch that changes a microphone to an
  electromagnetic induction
• Allows you to use the telephone without
  feedback/squeal
• Connects your hearing aid with other things.
• Reduces noise
• Compensates for distance and poor acoustics

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Three types of Hearing Assistive Technology

• Telecommunications equipment and peripherals
• Alerting devices
• Assistive listening devices

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Telephones

• Amplification
• Loud ringer
• Clear sound
• Try them out with an understanding that you can
  return them if they do not work
• Some Special Phones for Hearing Loss
• Clarity (available on the web and at Radio
  Shack)
• Ameriphone (available in catalogs and the web)
• Text Telephones (TTY)
• CapTel (check availability at www.ultratec.com)

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Alerting Devices

• Fire alarm
• Telephone Ringer
• Door bell
• Weather alert
• Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Detectors
• Motion Detector
• Alarm Clock

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Assistive Listening Devices

• Binoculars for the ears
• Increase loudness of specific sounds
• Bring sound directly into the hearing aid or ear
• Minimize background noise
• Reduce effect of distance between HOH person and
  sound source

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Assistive Listening Devices (cont.)

• Override poor acoustics
• Used in large areas, one-on-one, restaurants and
  for television viewing
• FM receivers
• Infrared receivers
• Inductive loop

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Assistive Listening Devices (cont.)

• Can be used for social, educational,
  entertainment, home/personal
• Americans with Disabilities requires that these
  devices will be available in certain public
  places like museums and theaters.
• Not required in churches
• Its up to you to learn how to use them and to
  ask for them

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Spiritual

• Seek spiritual help from our Creator in living
  life to its fullest in spite of our loss
• Accept our hearing loss
• be all we can be with what we have
• Make sure our houses of worship are meeting our
  needs to hear

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Preventive

• Get Sound Advice
• Rock concerts and firecrackers are too loud
• Boom cars and snowmobiles are too loud
• Chain saws are too loud
• Wood shops are too loud
• Lawn mowers and motorcycles are too loud
• Use ear plugs and help reduce noise pollution

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Research

• What can we do for research in hearing loss?
• Will temporal bones for research
• Participate in research activities
• Support research efforts
• So many good things happening in hearing research
  that people with good hearing will want our
  gadgets to hear better!

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Coping Strategies

• Be honest
• Resist the urge to bluff
• If background noise is a problem, eliminate it or
  find a quieter place to talk
• Carry a pad and pencil
• Ask people to face you when they speak
• Ask speakers to remove gum or obstacles from
  their mouths

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Organizations

• Self Help for the Hard of Hearing People
• www.hearingloss.org
• Call 738-2796
• Get on the mailing list
• AARP
• National Institute on Deafness and Other
  Communication Disorders
• National Institute on Aging Information Center

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Remember

• You are not alone!
• There is help!
• Be persistent and assertive in receiving help
• A hearing handicap can be overcome!