ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES

Part 2

Assistive technology for one-to-one communication

The hardwire personal system brings the listener closer to the source of the desired sound, and reduces background noise and provides greater intelligibility. The hardwire system is so named because the user is connected directly to an immobile electronic system by headphones. These hardwire systems are excellent for the various communication situations that require assistive technology to make communication between two people easier. They can be used in situations such as patient and caregiver in a nursing home or hospital, child and teacher in the classroom, friends at a restaurant or in an automobile. The hardwire personal system can also be used to improve enjoyment because it offers good sound quality. These systems are the simplest and least expensive but limit the mobility of both the speaker and the user.

For TV, closed captioning (CC), is a wonderful resource people can take advantage of with most televisions which offer the written caption for the TV audience to read, in addition to listening.

Group Listening Situations

There is equipment available to make communication easier in group-listening situations. They can be used with or without hearing aids and are beneficial in homes, offices, classrooms, theaters, courtrooms, places of worship, and lecture halls. These group listening systems include:

· FM systems: FM radio waves transmit sound from the source to a receiver worn by a hearing impaired person. Installation of this system is easy.

· Infrared systems: Sound is converted to infrared waves and then back to sound by the listener’s receiver. While this system is easy to install, the range is limited and infrared waves won’t pass through obstructions such as walls or around corners.

· Induction loop systems: These hard-wire loops are placed on floors or walls and convert sound to magnetic forces. Hearing aids with a telephone switch (T-coils) pick up these magnetic information and change them back to sound.