Editor’s note: Anne Taylor is a bilateral cochlear implant user, a Gallaudet certified peer mentor for the Hard of Hearing, president/board member of the local chapter of Hearing Loss Association/Sarasota/Manatee, guest columnist for the Venice Gondolier Sun.
About five years ago, we saw the Venice Commons Publix was looped.
In Venice, to name a few, the Theater, City Hall, Community Center, Church of Nazarene, Presbyterian Church, Venice United Church, Epiphany Cathedral have been looped for some time.
The Venice Community Center’s loop now works well – thanks to an update by Jim Scott, president of Complete Hearing Solutions LLC.
The Venice Police department is one of the latest venues to be looped- supported by Jim Scott and the Hearing Loss Association of America/Sarasota/Manatee chapter.
John Holic, a former mayor of Venice, is pushing to loop every community room in Venice – including the new fire stations.
What does all this mean?
This is the international sign showing the location is equipped with a hearing loop. The loop is a thin copper wire surrounding the room – either on the floor or on the ceiling – which electromagnetically transmits from an audio system (microphone) to the telecoil (t-coil) in your hearing aid or cochlear implant.
Most behind-the-ear hearing aids (all but the smallest in-the-ear hearing aids) and all cochlear implants have a telecoil, which is nothing more than a tiny coil of wire. Ask your audiologist to activate it and show you how to turn it on. It will be either a push button or a flip switch.
When a hearing aid/cochlear implant user turns on the t-coil, the loop system delivers an amplified, high-quality signal to the hearing aid/cochlear implant. Listeners enjoy improved speech clarity without the background noise.
The loop can be one simple loop of wire, or an array of looped wires which surrounds a seated area, a meeting room, the back seat of a taxi cab, or a check-out counter. Also available are neck loops which help the listener hear the television more clearly.
According to Connevans.com a personal inductive neck loop is “loop of wire” worn around the neck, with the hearing aids turned to the telecoil pickup setting the user can then hear the pickup sound without the general room background noise.
How does the loop work?
“Electronic audio input from a microphone, TV, audio player, telephone or any sound system feeds into a driver (amplifier). The hearing loop driver conditions the low-level audio frequency electric current before it enters the wire loop, ensuring that the resultant electromagnetic field is consistent and at the correct strength. This is the same type of low-level audio frequency electric current that feeds into the loud speaker wires of a regular audio system,” according to ampetronic.com.
Hearing loops have been used in Europe for about 40 years
Juliette Sterkens wrote an article called “Hearing Loop Technology” and says that David Myers, a professor of psychology, attended a religious service in 800-year old Iona Abbey, Scotland, and struggled to hear the words.
All he heard through his recently obtained hearing aids was the garbled sound of the minister’s amplified voice. Just as he was about to give up, his wife noticed the international blue sign indicating that the location was looped.
Myers turned on his telecoil and discovered the words from the minister came into his ears — directly and crystal clear. Myers had not known this level of clarity and understanding was even possible.
Juliette Sterkens writes Myers was so thrilled to find out about the loop technology, he began advocating for hearing loops in his community. His efforts quickly led to the adoption of hearing loop technology in hundreds of public venues. This simple technology is now being advocated by a growing number of hearing health professionals.
Sterkens says Hearing Loss Association of America and the American Academy of Audiology announced a joint collaborative public education campaign — “Get in the Loop.”
• Advantages of Hearing Loops over Traditional FM or Infrared Systems
• Inconspicuous — no need to locate, check out, and wear a visible headset
• Loop systems utilize a universal frequency that any telecoil-equipped instrument can pick up anywhere in the world where a loop is found
• Eliminated hygienic concerns associated with ear buds or headsets
• Listeners use hearing instruments they own and as a result, sound is optimized for their personal needs
• Hearing loops are compatible with modern cochlear implants and hearing aids
• Loop systems don’t require venues to purchase, maintain, and replace as many portable receiving units
You do not need to face hearing loss alone. Contact the local chapter of Hearing Loss Association of America where you will find support, information, education and advocacy from the peer mentors and members. The Hearing Loss Association Sarasota/Manatee chapter is offering four free Zoom meetings online during the pandemic.
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November 11, 2020 at 12:00PM
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