The wonderful woman in the picture with me is Karen, my wife. About 1987 I began to notice that something wasn’t right. Other people were starting to tell me something wasn’t right. I was the last to notice and understand that my hearing was fading fairly rapidly.
The first question people ask is “How did you lose your hearing?” For a very long time, I had no clue and I still don’t know for sure “how” I lost my hearing. I spent years in the printing industry with very loud and constant noise. I rode motorcycles, used chain saws, and fired guns. But in the end, I believe it was antibiotics. Doing research, I discovered that there were some antibiotics used to fight sinus infections etc that could cause hearing loss. Since I had taken some of those drugs, and since the hearing loss was rapid, I believe that is the answer to how I lost my hearing. There are four stages of hearing loss. Prevent, Cure, Treat, Cope. It was too late to prevent. No known cure. No real treatments. I was left to cope.
Hearing aids were the first line of defence. Listening and hearing, in general, was difficult. Hearing on the phone was awful. Watching TV, movies, in the car, in church, eating out was all extremely difficult. Over time, hearing aids have improved greatly. Listening, in general, has improved over time (except with Covid and masks since I rely heavily on lip-reading). I continue to struggle on the phone but I've found that if I choose a high-quality cell phone, I can do better than I did in the past. Now that there are numerous apps using captioning and artificial intelligence not to mention Facetime, Skype and other such devices. Watching TV these days has improved with Bluetooth streaming etc. Watching movies on TV or at the theatre is usually not fun especially with music in the background.
But this website is going to focus on two items rarely discussed to help the hard of hearing. Loops and Coils. Hearing Loops can be installed in ones living room as I have done for watching TV. A simple amplifier connected to the TV audio output, with a simple wire run around the perimeter of the living room, provides an electromagnetic field. When I push the Telecoil button on my hearing aid, I pick up direct audio to my hearing aid prescription. Movies are still a challenge but most TV shows work well. But when I go to Church, go to the bank, the doctor's office, point of purchase fast food places are constant challenges. Hearing Loops and Telecoils in hearing aids solves or minimizes all of that!
Telecoils in hearing aids and hearing loops have been available for 40 years yet it is a best-kept secret. Without hearing loops, Telecoils are useless for the most part. Without Telecoils, Hearing Loops are useless for the most part. Everyone has heard of Bluetooth and Wifi but when I talk to people about Telecoils and Loops, I get the “deer in the headlights look”. My vision is to create awareness and advocacy so that the Telecoil and Loop Symbol is recognized just as quickly as the handicap or cancer symbol and that everyone in the US understands what it means. It doesn’t take a college degree to understand that some people don’t hear well. A child can “get the picture”.
The website is meant to provide information and advocate. It is a mission and a vision to help the hearing impaired and those that live with, work with, visit with the hearing impaired - what is available. My mission is to make sure that audiologists and hearing aid dispensers inform consumers that they should always have a Telecoil in the hearing aid. No exceptions! Connectivity with Bluetooth is good but it does not replace the Telecoil benefits. My mission is to have churches and other facilities outfitted with Hearing Loops so that anywhere we might go, we as hard of hearing individuals, can simply push the Telecoil feature on the hearing aid and listen to the richness of music and hear every word clearly. Not only does it benefit the hard of hearing person, but spouses, families, friends, will love knowing that we can enjoy the moment with them.
Thank you for visiting and learning. Feel free to share any and all information on this website.
"But this website is going to focus on two items rarely discussed to help the hard of hearing. Loops and Coils. Telecoils in hearing aids and hearing loops have been available for 40 years yet it is a best-kept secret."
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