You may have noticed I haven't posted in a few weeks. No, make that a month. Shortly after dealing with a family emergency I went to the annual SayWhatClub (SWC) convention, which was held in San Antonio May 13-17. All of us that went feel fortunate that the con wasn't a week later or we all would have started building a modern-day ark.
The meeting room at the convention hotel was looped as has been the case at the three previous cons I attended. This was the first year that I took advantage of it. Prior to flying to Texas I went to Boise Speech & Hearing and had my hearing aid audiologist set a program so I could manually switch to the T-coil setting. I knew I had a T-coil in my hearing aid, but it was set up to automatically switch to the telecoil only when using the phone. It seems as though the hearing aid processor automatically adjusts to the T-coil settings only for phone use since that is predominantly why people use T-coils. I also made sure I knew how to switch my CI into the T-coil. I believe there was a way to do it directly on the processor, but I decided to use my remote control because it was easier for me and I didn't have to remember what button to use on the processor.
After sitting in the first workshop for a few minutes I remembered I needed to switch my hearing aid and CI to the T-coil program. I started with my hearing aid, pushing the program button until I heard two beeps indicating it was in the second program, the T-coil. Instantly, the speaker's voice was right in my ear. So amazing! Then I pushed the T-coil button on the side of my CI's remote and voila! I was listening in stereo! The sound was synced and the speaker's voice was crystal clear. Who needs extra listening devices when you have T-coils and a loop system?
So what is a hearing loop? A hearing loop, or induction loop, is a wire that goes around the perimeter of a room and is connected to a sound system, allowing the sound to be transmitted electromagnetically straight to the telecoil in your hearing aid or CI.
Europe has been on the hearing loop bandwagon for years. As a matter of fact, in 2003, at the beginning of the program to honor the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, an announcement was made to remind people wearing hearing aids to switch them to the telecoil setting. You can even find loop systems in the back seats of a taxi in London and the departure area of Gatwick airport. It sounds like one more reason I need to get to England. I need to try all the looped public areas and report back!
In the meantime, here are some articles and websites that will provide you with more information about hearing loops:
http://www.hearingloss.org/content/loop-technology
http://www.hearingloop.org/fq_preferred.htm
To sample the difference in sound quality with a loop, click on the video on this website:
http://hearingloopsystems.com/hear/
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