 Environmental Aids This section is to give some information and understanding on deaf aids. | |
| Environmental deaf aids have been around for many years, and constantly change with new technology. These aids, do just that. They aid and assist the deaf community to live in the modern society we have now. Just the same as we all have environmental aids, like washing machines, phones smoke detectors etc. They are there to make life easier and safer. With the exception that deaf aids are specialized for deaf and hard of hearing people. Door Bell When a caller presses the door bell on a deaf families home, the house lights will flash instead, or as well as a bell. Special interface is installed to the fuse box to allow equipment to be connected. This can be flashing lights and transmission to a vibrating belt pager. The pager will probley be used for may devices around the home, but the display will state which device was activated. This is useful if your working in the garden or garage for example. Minicom / Text phone / Uniphone Obviously the normal phone would be useless to a deaf person, so they use something called a minicom. This device uses text messages, looks like a phone but with a keypad and a text display. Starting to be a little out dated now by the advent of newer technology such as email and mobile phones using SMS (short message service) or text messaging. The minicom is only any good if you have someone else with a minicom at the other end. And this device tends to be a slow form of communication. But has served the deaf community very well, and will still be around for many years to come. And yes that bright spark in the back said, how do they know a caller is ringing them. The minicom will be connected to the same interface as the door bell. The house lights will flash and the pager will vibrate. The lights flash the same rate as a normal telephone, so the deaf person will know the difference from a door bell flash to a minicom flash rate. And obviously the pager will say "Minicom" instead of "Door bell". www.westmercia.police.uk/redditch Police minicom helpline number 08456 000 30 In an emergency you can use a normal hearing land line phone. Dial " 999 " and ' tap ' the receiver. This alerts the police this person is probley deaf. They can find the address from the phone number, and despatch someone to you. There is no emergency fax number, which is a shame because most deaf people use faxes! Receiving a call on a minicom When you answer the phone you will hear electronic clicking or a voice saying. " Hearing impaired caller, use TDD ". Ensure the minicom is plugged in and switched on, then put the handset into the rubber cups. Make sure the mouth piece and cord is to your left. The signal receive light should start to flash on the minicom. Start Typing by saying who you are. " Hi its Rod ". When finished type in " GA " this means go ahead. (Newer models have pre recorded messages.) Continue the conversation in this way, wait for each other. You don't have to be a speed demon. The conversation is terminated when both parties have entered " BIBI SK " (stop keying). Some units have printout facilities, so important messages can be kept on paper. Type talk Type talk is simply using a minicom to an operator at a hearing relay station based at the RNID in Liverpool. This service is funded by BT and is a 24 hour service. The deaf user calls the relay station and types in the message, the operator will convert the text into speech and talk to the hearing person on the other end of the line. Then convert the reply back to text for the deaf person via the minicom. Fantastic service but obviously a slow form of communication. Even though the service is very confidential, discussing certain private things must be difficult. This together without the emotion conveyed means messages could be misinterpreted or misunderstood in the wrong context. Making a type talk call Call the service centre on 0800 515152 You will be asked if you've used the service before, they will then need your phone number. Your name and address. Your account number (this will be given to you on the first usage of the service, to save repeating the same info for every call you make). The name and number of the deaf person you want to call, you will then be connected. This call will take longer than a normal call, speak clearly and slower than normal. So the operator can type in your message. Remember your speaking to the person you called and not the operator. Also good practice to indicate when you have finished what your sentence is. Prefixs for RNID typetalk on BT Text direct 18001 - for textphone calls 18002 - for normal hearing phones 18000 - for textphone emergencies Baby Alarm Very much like hearing baby alarms with the exception that they flash house lights and or vibrate the belt pager used for the door bell and minicom mentioned above. These can be linked to another vibrating pad under the pillow of mother and father. To wake them for night feeds etc. Fire Alarm Also very much the same as hearing fire alarms with the device connected to the fuse box interface, so that the house lights flash (usually at a fast rate) and pagers and vibrating pads under pillows all activate. Fax The fax has become very widely used by the deaf community, its easy fast. Off the shelf product, and many hearing families have them. Especially if they have deaf friends or relatives. Pager / Mobile The early pagers and mobiles where not much use to the deaf, but were used. Now both types easily available with vibrating functions. Developed for the deaf community. Most non deaf aware hearing people think this is just another selling gimmick though. Subtitles / Teletext Obviously very useful for the deaf and hard of hearing, sub titles are found on page 888 on most TV channels. In Britain a great majority of terrestrial channels, about half of the programs are covered by subtitles. Used more for non signed news and info pages than films or soaps for example. There are special video recorders obtainable that can record the subtitles with the picture. DVD & Videos A larger amount of films are now available with subtitles. Clock Alarms Basically there are two types of clock alarms, one that activated a vibrating pad under the pillow. The other that activates and flashes a bed side table lamp. Watches Wrist watches are available that use vibrating alarm technology with flashing back lit displays. Kettles Temperature colour changing kettles are also commonly available in lots of retail shops. i.e. the kettle changes its colour when the water is hot. Hearing Booster / Radio Microphone This is used for the hard of hearing, it amplifies the sound from a TV or radio, or a classroom environment to a pair of head phones. This enables the hard of hearing person to hear the program, while the other members of the family aren't blasted out of the room by the high volume. The older types used wires, but the newer types use infer red and use no wires, with obvious benefits. Induction loops A lot of hearing aids have a telecoil fitted, some times called a 'T' switch. When the hearing aid is switched on to the 'T' setting the telecoil will pick up amplified magnetic wave signals from induction loops. This enables the used to hear without all the background noise picked up by the hearing aids own microphone. This does have other benefits as the sound seems to come from all around and not just in front of you, this has obvious benefits in say a theatre or concerts. Induction loops are fitted in some shops, banks, churches, cinemas, hospitals, theatres etc. Induction loops can be small say around a bank or shop counter, or very large around a whole room. Domestic induction loops are available for home use, and portable ones are on sale too. Next time your out in the super market look out for the cash till with a counter loop, many have the sign shown below. The 'T' signifies telecoil setting.  Conference folders are also available which makes it possible for people with impaired hearing to fully participate in meetings at work or in lectures. The amplifier and two microphones are built into a folder. Two microphones pick up speech and transmit the sound to the ear via a neck induction loop. Car induction loops are also available, so speech and music can be enjoyed better. Hearing Dogs There is an organization called 'Hearing Dogs' that train dogs to alert deaf people to everyday sounds, like the door bell, microwave finish ding, cooker, fire alarm and other danger possibilities. Very useful to those who live alone and would also like some company. Their web site worth a look just for the cute dogs! Hearing Aids While hearing aids have there very good uses, they are not suitable for all deaf people. The amplified sound is mono so sound direction or source is not possible. All sound is amplified, thus background noise becomes a nuisance. Loud noises can be painful for the user, so users often turn them off during loud events and forget to turn them back on. So hearing aids do not restore normal hearing, they aid hearing. They can also pick up interference from mobile phones, fluorescent lights, radio transmissions and buzzing from transformers, these can also create feedback and cause annoying whistling sounds. Hearing aids can be uncomfortable to wear, as well as not cosmetically appealing. especially for the younger users. Having said all that their benefits, far outweigh any drawbacks. Together with the very many different types available with today's technology, there are well over 2 million used in the UK alone. Some privately purchases hearing aids do have more sophisticated technology to screen out back ground and unwanted noise. Hearing aids are free from the NHS or around the £500 mark if bought privately. Behind the ear hearing aid Probley the most common, and most seen hearing aid. Fits behind users ear and sound is channelled into the ear via a thin soft tube. Has a volume control for differing rates of deafness.  individually fitted ear moulds need to be made, which fit entirely into the ear with no external parts. This type is less noticeable and clumsy than other types. So preferred more by the young and fashion conscious. Also has integral volume control.  This is similar to the in the ear aid, but much smaller and fitted deeper into the ear. Completely in the canal type, almost invisible. Only suitable for hard of hearing people because the amplifier not powerful enough, the battery is to small. Uses ears own natural sound collecting and is very good for telephone use. Must have large ear canals though, not suitable for everyone. In the ear canal type, practically invisible as well but used for a wider range of hearing loss, because they are larger they can amplify the sound better. They also have more features such as a telephone switch.   In the canal Completely in the canal This is a vibration transmitter that's mounted onto a steel headband, which exerts pressure on the head to make a good contact. Normally worn on the hairless part of the skull bone just behind the ear. These do have a few problems however, can be uncomfortable, clumsy and can create sore patches and head aches. Bone anchored hearing aid A titanium screw is implanted to the hairless part of the skull bone just behind the ear. Known as the mastoid process. Same principle as bone conduction type above, but without the clumsy head band and soreness. Body worn hearing aid Still available but rarely used these days. An amplifier fitted in a body worn box, with wires leading up to an earpiece fitted into your ear. But a very powerful amplifier is available with this unit, so useful more to the more profoundly deaf user Spectacle hearing aid Special spectacles fitted with one or two hearing aids, similar principle to behind the ear hearing aid. Sound is channelled to the ear via a small soft tube. Cochlea implants Cochlea implant is an electronic device which can provide a source of sound to help profoundly deaf people who otherwise cannot understand speech with conventional hearing aids. This type of implant directly stimulates the hearing nerves with electrical currents, from an externally clipped on microphone just behind the ear, so even total deaf ness may be reversed to some type of sound. The newest type, have multi channel systems which allow the user to access different types of stimulated speech processing technology. This type of implant is very controversial in the deaf community, because is challenges some of the basic foundations of deaf culture its self. Some young deaf children have been terrified by this garbled mass of sound, that the brain is not used to processing and never use the system again. It seems to be seen as a choice for the profoundly deaf to choose later in life, if they feel the need. (see the ear page too.) True to say that not all implants work, and there is always a small risk with any surgery. People with no hearing memory will struggle to comprehend the sounds the do hear. The cochlea implant is not a miracle cure for deafness, it's only suitable for less than 1% of people with hearing loss. The received sounds can not be classed as normal hearing.  
Cochlea implant
Implanted electrode into Cochlea Advantages of a hearing aid Communication with family and peers is more easy. Can mix with the hearing people better, and don't feel isolated. Can hear danger coming, cars, bikes and alarms. Can use the 'T' switch in different places like post offices and shops. Can hear the TV and radio better, but music is still difficult. Help me hear my own voice so that I don't keep shouting at people. Disadvantages of a hearing aid It picks up the background noise and amplifies that too, so makes things difficult to understand. Its uncomfortable and can make my ear sore. If I wear my glasses, this can also be difficult and sore. Its small and the controls are difficult to adjust. Wind and traffic noise makes the hearing aid useless. battery's don't last long and there is no indication when they will run out. All the sound is from one direction, so I can't tell where the real sound is coming from. Hearing people start to shout and pull strange faces at me when they notice my hearing aid. What the future may hold 1. Video phones are only just becoming fast enough to produce quality pictures at real time. However I think these will not become common place just yet. People in general still tend to use web cams and net meeting on the internet, as you can have multiple people or a whole family on one call, all for the cost of a local rate call. 2. Our computers today already can change our voice patterns into text, and text to voice. It still has a way to go before becoming widely used because at the moment, each program has to be trained to understand individual voices. But I can see that in the future hand held units could be used to translate voice to text and text to voice. 3. In addition to that a cleaver chap called James Auger has designed a tooth implant, which picks up digital signals potentially from mobile phones, radio or computers. Then transfers the sound to the inner ear by bone resonance. The implications of being able to have an internal implant that could provide important information is vast. This could pick up fire alarm messages, train station and airport announcements. School and university bells. Computer training software, theatre, shop announcements, baby alarms, door bells, etc,etc. The ideas are endless.   environmental deaf aids at http://www.rod-parrott.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk |