Important note: If you are attending an event in a "looped" room and use a hearing aid with a t-coil, see the instructions below for using an induction loop.
Financial assistance may be available to obtain hearing aids. The first step for financial assistance resources for hearing aids is to check with your health care insurance provider to find out if they carry hearing aid coverage. After that, check out the list of resources at the Hearing Loss Association of America to see if you might be eligible for any of the programs listed there. Another NYC resource is the Center for Hearing and Communication.
A good recap of what to do when you think you have hearing loss may be found here.
Here is a brief list of further resources:
For a few more resources on the topic of hearing and hearing loss, please continue to scroll down.
Financial assistance may be available to obtain hearing aids. The first step for financial assistance resources for hearing aids is to check with your health care insurance provider to find out if they carry hearing aid coverage. After that, check out the list of resources at the Hearing Loss Association of America to see if you might be eligible for any of the programs listed there. Another NYC resource is the Center for Hearing and Communication.
A good recap of what to do when you think you have hearing loss may be found here.
Here is a brief list of further resources:
- Connect with the Hearing Loss Association of America.
- From the Hearing Loss Association of America: Basic Facts, Types of Hearing Loss & Treatments, Hearing Aids.
- Age-related Hearing Loss
- Communicating with your Healthcare providers: Guide
- NYS Consumer Guide to Hearing AIDS: Download PDF
- Leisure Resources: TDF and Theatre Access New York City, NYC Movies,
- Tinnitus: Information from the Mayo Clinic and from Hearingpedia
For a few more resources on the topic of hearing and hearing loss, please continue to scroll down.
Instructions: How to Use an Induction Loop with Your Hearing Aid
Most hearing aids have a t-coil, which is a separate copper microphone from the one you usually use. To use it, all you need to do is turn your hearing aid to the t-coil position. (The t-coil also helps you hear better on the telephone.) If you do not know if you have a t-coil in your hearing aid, ask your audiologist. Often a t-coil is in your aid but not activated; there is no charge to activate the t-coil. If the t-coil is working well, it will pick up the signal from the loop and you will be amazed at how well you can hear.
It is best to wait to turn your hearing aid to the t-coil position until the speakers start using their microphones since when you have the t-coil on you cannot hear those around you. When the t-coil is on, you hear only what is coming through the sound source hooked up to the loop.
After listening to a presentation with a microphone (or a movie through a TV that is hooked up to the induction loop), be sure to turn your hearing aid/cochlear implant back to the regular microphone setting so you can once again hear the people around you.
If you have some hearing loss but do not wear a hearing aid or have a hearing aid but no t-coil, you can access the same wonderful sound by using headphones with an appropriate portable receiver.
What Exactly Is an Induction Loop?
An induction loop consists of three things: insulated wire, an amplifier and a sound source (e.g. a TV or a microphone). The wire is installed around the perimeter of a room, usually in the ceiling or on the floor. The looped wire is connected to an amplifier (equipment used in stereo systems to make the sound louder) which, in turn, is connected to the sound source, several of which can be hooked up to the loop at once by using a mixer. The system creates a magnetic field within the looped area. The magnetic field signal carries the sound from the loop directly to the t-coil (telephone program or telecoil or t-switch) of a hearing aid/cochlear implant or the special receiver of a headphone set. All background noise is eliminated. It is an amazing technology that has been used in Europe, mostly Great Britain, for 30 years and the U.S. is catching up.
Most hearing aids have a t-coil, which is a separate copper microphone from the one you usually use. To use it, all you need to do is turn your hearing aid to the t-coil position. (The t-coil also helps you hear better on the telephone.) If you do not know if you have a t-coil in your hearing aid, ask your audiologist. Often a t-coil is in your aid but not activated; there is no charge to activate the t-coil. If the t-coil is working well, it will pick up the signal from the loop and you will be amazed at how well you can hear.
It is best to wait to turn your hearing aid to the t-coil position until the speakers start using their microphones since when you have the t-coil on you cannot hear those around you. When the t-coil is on, you hear only what is coming through the sound source hooked up to the loop.
After listening to a presentation with a microphone (or a movie through a TV that is hooked up to the induction loop), be sure to turn your hearing aid/cochlear implant back to the regular microphone setting so you can once again hear the people around you.
If you have some hearing loss but do not wear a hearing aid or have a hearing aid but no t-coil, you can access the same wonderful sound by using headphones with an appropriate portable receiver.
What Exactly Is an Induction Loop?
An induction loop consists of three things: insulated wire, an amplifier and a sound source (e.g. a TV or a microphone). The wire is installed around the perimeter of a room, usually in the ceiling or on the floor. The looped wire is connected to an amplifier (equipment used in stereo systems to make the sound louder) which, in turn, is connected to the sound source, several of which can be hooked up to the loop at once by using a mixer. The system creates a magnetic field within the looped area. The magnetic field signal carries the sound from the loop directly to the t-coil (telephone program or telecoil or t-switch) of a hearing aid/cochlear implant or the special receiver of a headphone set. All background noise is eliminated. It is an amazing technology that has been used in Europe, mostly Great Britain, for 30 years and the U.S. is catching up.
More downloadable resources below.
| misconceptions_about_hearing_loss.pdf |
| tips_to_better_communication.pdf |
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