Coaching and Late Onset Hearing Loss - A Partnership
that Works - Part 3
Presented by Norma Svedosh and Homer Mullins
Norma is a licensed social worker and Homer is a retired attorney. They
founded a company called Odyssey Hearing Solutions, which provides support
for people with late-onset hearing loss.
This is part three of three parts.
For more coverage of this great convention, please point your browser
to http://www.hearinglossweb.com/res/hlorg/alda/cn/2006/2006.htm
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Part One
Part Two
One of the techniques we use is brainstorming. This is a very powerful
technique, especially if someone is stuck. Coaching is very different from
consulting, because we don't provide answers. We assist the client to
arrive at solutions to his problems.
Here's a problem I face. I have late-onset hearing loss and I wear two
hearing aids. They work pretty well in some situations. But one place I
have a real problem is when I'm driving and my grandchildren are in the
back. I can't hear them. I would love to have some suggestions about how
to deal with this.
Homer: My advice would be to loop the car. You can do that under the
rugs, attach it to a little amplifier, and attach some microphones in the
back seat and by the shotgun position. Then you can use a neckloop and
hear what's going on very clearly. I knew about this theoretically. But I
bought a system and put it under my favorite chair, and it works great!
Norma: Thanks, and that's a great idea. It would solve the problem when
I'm in my car. But I also have the problem in other cars. I have three
children, and the problem also occurs when I'm driving one of their cars.
Audience member: I think an FM system would work just great. It's a
little complicated to have multiple microphones, because you need a mixer.
You can use Velcro to attach the microphones to the back seats of the
cars. The beauty of this system is that when you arrive where you are
going, you can take the system and bring it to the restaurant, or
whatever.
Audience member: Another idea is to mount a convex mirror right under
the rearview mirror, and use that to lipread.
Audience member: another idea is to use a microphone that plugs
directly into the DAI input of your BTE hearing aid.
Audience member: It's really important to have only one person talk at
a time, so I don't think you need multiple microphones and a mixer. Have
just a single microphone and pass it around. That also encourages people
to speak one at a time.
Norma: Does anyone here have a question that they'd like to hear some
brainstorming on?
Audience member: These ideas are great for HOH people. But I'm deaf.
What can I do?
Audience member: You might try one of the portable communications
boards. You type what you want to say and pass the board back and forth.
Audience member: I'm deaf and my family are all hearing. They use the
telephone to communicate. I prefer email, but I'm not able to share in the
phone calls. So I've shown up at the wrong place and the wrong time. Are
there any suggestions that can help me with that?
Audience member: Another suggestion would be that when people have
information that is very important to send them an email and then call
them to tell them they have an email waiting.
Audience member: Going back to the guy who was deaf and needed to
communicate in the car. I think it's dangerous to try to lipread someone
in the car if they're right next to me. It's a little easier if they're in
the back seat. So it's a little safer to have them in the back seat,
Audience member: Just to add to the person talking to grandchildren,
one important thing to do is to set up some ground rules ahead of time.
Try to establish some parameters, like what the topic will be. Also have
some basic signals to give people feedback - thumbs up or thumbs down.
It's not going to be as easy as it used to be. But the people I work with
who are the most successful are the ones who can move on and realize that
it's not going to be as easy as it used to be. If you take control of the
communication, that can make it less stressful.
Audience member: For the gentleman who had relatives who insist on
using the telephone, you might get a CapTel phone.
Homer: How about a speech recognition device that has a small screen,
and you can mount it in a location that's easy for you to read. I'm not
sure the device is available yet, but it will be soon.
Another option for the gentlemen with the relatives who insist on using
the phone - you can get a service where people answer your phone, take a
message, and then send it to you as an email.
Norma: Another idea might be to have people use cell phones that have
IM. They could still use the telephone, but then communicate in a manner
that's appropriate for you.
Part One
Part Two
