Looping system in public rooms improves hearing
By Ellen Sussman
Editor: The movement to install loops in public places is gaining
momentum. Here's an article about loops being installed in Green Valley,
Arizona. This article is reprinted by permission of Ellen Sussman and
the Green Valley News.
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A not-so-new technology to help those with hearing loss to hear
better is being installed in some public spaces in Green Valley.
Known as the "looping system," it will be installed in the
main meeting room of the Joyner Library tentatively by the end of March.
Green Valley Recreation has looping systems in the auditoriums at the
East and West Centers as well as portable units for use in classrooms.
Additionally Valley Presbyterian Church is looped, the chapel at St.
Francis-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church is looped with plans to also loop
its fellowship hall and Beth Shalom Temple Center is in the process of
getting re-looped.
Now, people who have a hearing aid with a tele-coil, also referred to
as a t-coil, can hear voices clearly via magnetic signals.
Locally Louis Touchette is knowledgeable about the workings and
successes of the system and will help install it in the library.
"There were complaints from those who were coming to the meeting
room that they couldn't hear. People come to a meeting to get
information; this (looping system) will accommodate them," he said.
La Posada added the system last year and Touchette called it "a
showcase for the looping system."
Since working as a crew chief in the Air Force and hearing jet
engines at close range as a young adult, Touchette has profound hearing
loss that requires him to use two hearing aids. Familiar with the
looping system, he has installed smaller versions in homes and will be
installing a system in his new home now under construction.
Touchette said that many seniors have varying degrees of hearing
loss. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other
Communication Disorders 32 percent of people over age 65 have hearing
loss and 40 to 50 percent of those 75 and older have hearing loss.
"With so many seniors affected the looping system brings
long-hoped-for relief," he said.
How looping works
Essentially, the looping system is a loop of wire that encircles a
room. The loop picks up the sound of a person speaking, and with the
help of an amplifier, is transmitted through the wire and confines of
the looped room. When a person selects the "T" (telecoil or
telephone) position on the hearing aid the signal from the loop is
processed within the hearing aid to make to necessary corrections. The
intelligible sound is then delivered to the person's ear.
Touchette said for many hard of hearing people the loop is a near
perfect solution to deficient hearing.
Similar in design to the room loop is a small portable type
"neckloop" that goes over the head and is worn like a
necklace. It plugs into a receiver, which in turn, receives its input
from either a microphone or a wireless transmitter with a microphone.
The hearing aid picks up the signal from the neckloop in the same manner
as it does the room loop, Touchette explained.
No hearing aid?
For those who have hearing loss but do not have hearing aids, or who
have hearing aids that don't have a t-switch there is an alternative. A
"Pocket Talker" type receiver or wireless receiver can be used
instead. Additionally, a device that resembles a hearing aid called an
"In-the-Ear Loop Receiver" can be inserted into the ear and
used with a room loop or neckloop.
Touchette said an In-the-Ear Loop Receiver can be purchased for about
$125.
Improved hearing worldwide
In Great Britain cathedrals, churches and auditoriums now broadcast
sound wirelessly to hearing aids. That's because legislation in the UK
has mandated looping public buildings, theaters, churches and post
offices.
At London's Gatwick Airport announcements that were once muddled,
distant and hard to hear are clearly heard by those who set their
hearing aid to the t-coil position. Banks and train ticketing stations
are also getting looped.
The United States is starting to pick-up on the improved technology.
A 2005 survey found that 48 percent of new American hearing aids now
come with tele-coils.
Inspired by Prof. David Myers, Ph.D. who began looping
Holland-Zeeland, Michigan it's said to be American's most supportive
community for people with hearing loss. More than 80 venues have
installed looping systems.
The U.S. House of Representatives, looped in 2005, now allows
hard-of-hearing legislators to hear the speakers.
Closer to home the Adult Loss of Hearing Association (ALOHA) in
Tucson has undertaken an initiative "Let's Loop Tucson" to
create a modern city of looped public buildings to include theaters,
churches and senior centers. ALOHA's aim is that it be a preface to
"Let's Loop Arizona."
For further information Lou Touchette may be reached at loutouchette@cox.net
Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer for the Green Valley News.
