"ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIES & SOLUTIONS FOR

INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE HEARING-RELATED ISSUES,

ARE DEAF AND DEAF-BLIND" WEBINAR

~ September 14, 2010 ~MARTHA RUST: Good afternoon, everyone. We are

going to go ahead and get started.

You guys are in for a great treat. We have two

awesome presenters with us this afternoon. We have Becky

Sills, who's the director of the VR Deaf Services Program

here at Georgia Department of Labor, and also Becky Morris

with Beyond Hearing Aids, Incorporated out of Kentucky.

And they will be our presenters for today.

We are so glad that you are able to join us.

We are trying something different with this

webinar, and actually are offering it closed-captioning

during this time. And I will put -- or actually I'll ask

Liz to put the closed-captioning e-mail address right in

the public-chat box so you can click on that if you'd like

to follow along with closed-captioning for today.

Also we are giving CRC credits for this webinar as

well, and you just need to e-mail Liz Persaud -- and she'll

put her e-mail address up in that public-chat box again --

just to let her know that you are needing the CRC credits.

We are really excited about being able to offer credits for


our webinars now.

If you don't mind, as well, I've noticed that some

of you guys have already put your name in the public chat.

That helps us to keep track of who needs credits and also

who participated today in our webinar. So if you wouldn't

mind just putting your name in the public-chat box, too, as

well.

Just got a few little things I'd like to share with

you about our webinar system if this is the first time

you're participating in one of our webinars.

There is a public-chat box, and above the box where

you see your name and the other participants' names, you

can actually write in that box and submit questions that

way. You just write your question, hit "Enter," and it

will come right up in that public chat. We'll be

monitoring that throughout.

Also, if you would like to participate with a

microphone, you can press the "Control" key, and that

alerts us that your hand is up, and we'll be able to

release that mic and give you control so you can speak.

Our webinar system is only one person speaks at a

time, kind of like a walkie-talkie. So once you are

speaking and you're finished speaking, please be sure to

release the mic. And you'll notice if your mic is released

because, at the bottom right-hand corner, you will see a


microphone, and if it's lit up in red, that means you have

control of the mic.

We are also recording this webinar. So if you're

unable to -- or you know folks that are unable to attend,

we will have this webinar archived and the transcripts up

on our website within the next couple of weeks as well.

So again, thank you so much for joining us today.

And I'm going to pass this over to Becky Sills.

BECKY SILLS: Hello and welcome. I'll get started

with our PowerPoint presentation. And there will be a one-

or two-second delay as I click on the PowerPoints and have

them come up.

Here's the information about the CEUs and CRC

credits. I'll let that stay up for just a second if you

need to get those.

Testing one, two. Can you hear me now? I got a

message that you can't hear my mic. Is that better? Can't

hear me very well. Okay. I'll try to speak louder.

Here we are with the information about the CEU

credits. We're moving forward.

Oh, that's better. Okay. I'll try to remember to

speak up, but let me know if I fade away.

First we'll start with some facts about hearing

loss. As you know, hearing loss affects communication.

And communication is very important in order to build


relationships and gather information. So when you have a

hearing loss, it interferes with that communication.

There are 31.5 million Americans who have hearing

loss. And of that number, about 94.8 are hard of hearing.

Speaking a little bit louder. Sorry about that.

Of that number, 94.8 are hard of hearing, about 3.8

are late deafened, and 1.4 are prelingually or culturally

deaf. Let me talk a little bit about the differences in

those three.

Many of you probably know individuals or may

yourself be hard of hearing. And the range for hearing

loss varies.

And there's no definition -- legal definition, like

that of blindness -- for what constitutes deafness and what

constitutes an individual who's hard of hearing.

But late deafened means usually that the individual

became deaf as an adult or at least after they learned

language.

Individuals who are prelingually deaf or culturally

deaf are those who were born deaf or before they acquired

language. That's when they lost their hearing.

Shifting now to the next slide, some more facts

about deafness.

Individuals with hearing loss represents the single

largest disability group in the United States. And if you


think about it, we're everywhere. I have a hearing loss.

I've been in rooms where I've just asked people to raise

their hands if they have a hearing loss, and it's always

surprising at how many people in the room have a hearing

loss.

And you think about your family and your neighbors

and people you work with, you probably can identify a lot

of people. So that in itself represents the largest single

disability group in the United States.

Hearing loss is the third largest medical condition

for older adults.

And I'm getting a message that you can't understand

me clearly. Hang on and let's troubleshoot and try to find

that out because I feel like I'm kind of talking loud. Is

there a volume control we can adjust?

Let me ask, when Martha had the mic, could you hear

her better and it's just me? Testing. Is this better?

Can you hear me better now?

Okay. I'm going to try to go on and see -- anybody

else out there having problems with hearing me or just a

few? Okay. All right.

We'll try to go on, and I apologize for those who

can't hear me well. Perhaps you could click on

"Captioning," and then you can fill in the gaps where you

can't hear me.


Okay. Back to the slide.

Hearing loss represents the third largest medical

condition for older adults. Three out of ten over the age

of 60 have hearing loss.

I just got a comment about being far away from the

mic. Actually I feel like I'm eating it. So I don't know

what else to do. Perhaps we're going to try switching

mics. Hang on just a second.

CAROLYN PHILLIPS: Hey everybody. This is Carolyn,

and we're just going to see if y'all can hear this better.

Are you able to hear me? And just if some people could say

yes. All right. Very good.

Well, I'm going to turn this right over to Becky,

and we'll see if maybe this does the trick.

BECKY SILLS: Testing. Can you hear me now? Yeah.

No. No. Barely. Okay. I'm going to do the rest of the

thing in sign language. Sorry if you can't see me.

Okay. Some people can hear me, and some can't. So

I don't know what the deal is. I apologize. But click on

the captioning, and that will help.

Hearing loss represents the third largest

disability group of individuals who are coming back from

the wars. So that is very significant as we're planning

for services in the future to veterans.

Individuals with hearing loss tend to wait about


seven years before seeking assistance. And this is not in

a slide, but this tends to be more with males than females.

And I don't know if there's this ego thing going on or

what, but individuals with hearing loss tend to be in

denial for a little while until they accept that they truly

have hearing loss and that they need to do something about

it.

Hearing loss affects 12,000 children born in the

United States every year. And that represents about 3 in

1,000, and it's the most common birth defect.

Captioning. Somebody asked about the captioning.

Scroll up, and you can see that link. On my screen it's

purple right now. But move the scroll bar up a tad, and

you can see it. It's from Liz.

Okay. Moving forward. More interesting facts

about hearing loss.

5.2 million children between the ages of 6 and 19

have permanent noise-induced hearing loss. And that means

it probably could have been avoided because it's something

that happened in their environment that caused their

hearing loss.

And 75 percent of high school seniors have

measurable hearing loss. You might wonder why that is, but

think about when the iPods came around and MP3 players. A

lot of the hearing loss that we're seeing now in young


people is related to their use of those devices, cranking

it up loud in their ears.

One out of 14 of individuals between the ages of 29

and 40 have a hearing loss. And one out of six of the baby

boomers, age 41 to 59, have hearing loss. And I represent

that group, but my hearing loss started a lot earlier.

Untreated hearing loss is very costly. More than

24 million Americans have a hearing loss but don't use

hearing aids.

And a study was done recently a couple of years ago

to show how that translates economically. And it

represents about $122 billion in lost revenue for

individuals with hearing loss. And that represents about

$18 billion in unrealized federal taxes.

So it's important to treat hearing loss. Even just

the use of a hearing aid can assist in various ways to

improve your economic condition.

Now, the next slide that we're going to talk about

was taken from the Better Hearing Organization on their

website.

And let me say up front that the information posted

there is related mostly to individuals who have a hearing

loss but are not in that culturally deaf group, because

actually some of the things we'll talk about in this slide

are just the opposite for the culturally deaf group.


Individuals with untreated hearing loss sometimes

show signs of being irritable, negative, and angry because

of the struggles that they have in trying to understand

what's going on. It affects their energy level and their

stress level and often causes depression.

And we're getting a message now that my mic is

faint and cutting out and asking if something is hitting

the microphone. I don't know.

Are you holding it a different way, Carolyn, than I

did? Okay. I'm going to switch over to my head. Just

hang on a second.

Okay. I put it on my head now and have the

microphone in front of my lips, and I'm not holding it.

Somebody says that's better. Okay. Much better. Okay.

So the moral of this story is, when you're on a

webinar, don't try to hold a microphone; wear it on your

head.

Okay. Moving right along.

Some individuals who have untreated hearing loss

avoid social situations, tend to withdraw because they

don't want to be misunderstood or misunderstand others.

And that causes loneliness, isolation, and social rejection

sometimes.

The strain of trying to stay alert all the time and

understand what's going on all the time causes fatigue.


And with that, sometimes it appears that the individuals

are no longer alert or that they might have a risk to

personal safety because they don't appear to be alert.

Sometimes it affects memory because of the brain

cells having to work overload, extra hard all the time. It

can impair memory and the ability to catch on to new tasks.

Sometimes it affects job performance. And we've

already talked about the earning power of untreated hearing

loss. So that is very important in this economic time.

And with all these other factors going on, sometimes that

diminishes psychological and overall health.

So all of that sounds pretty nasty. But that's

related to individuals who have a hearing loss, who

possibly don't seek the help they need, don't wear hearing

aids, and don't know how to get the help that they need.

Hopefully, through this webinar, we can give you

some resources that will help in those areas if you know

individuals that fit that category.

Let's talk a little bit about unemployment and

underemployment. Sadly, individuals with hearing loss

often are unemployed. And if they are employed, sometimes

they don't move up the ladder as their hearing counterparts

do. And there are various reasons for that.

Employers sometimes are reluctant to hire

individuals with a hearing loss. Most often that's related


to just the fact that they don't know the facts that deaf

individuals, people with hearing loss, can work and be very

valuable employees. A lot of misunderstanding about

hearing loss in the workplace.

Oftentimes individuals with hearing loss are

overlooked for promotions because of the things we

mentioned in a previous slide. A lot of it's related to

confusion or misperception or the fatigue and the other

stressors that are going on in their life so that they

don't appear to be the kind of employees that would need to

be moved up in employment or promotions.

And some people just deny that they have a hearing

loss, even when they do, and they are perceived as not

alert. Sometimes that causes issues in the workplace or

even out in the world.

I was in the grocery line recently with a guy in

front of me. And the cashier spoke to him and asked how he

was doing. And he ignored her. And by the look on her

face, you could tell that she was irritated that he was

being so antisocial.

So she spoke to him again a little bit louder and a

little irritated, and I noticed that he didn't acknowledge

her. So I just tapped him on the shoulder, leaned over,

and signed "deaf," and he replied back, yes, he was deaf.

He and I had a signed conversation.


So there's a lot of confusion sometimes that

happens when we don't even know that a person has a hearing

loss. So I was able to inform the cashier that he wasn't

really ignoring her; he didn't hear her. And it was

obvious from our communication in sign language.

But there are a lot of quality-of-life issues that

affect performance on the job. And fatigue around speech

reading is a very important thing, and we'll discuss in

depth a little bit more about that.

So there are a lot of things that we need to

consider when we're talking about employment for

individuals with hearing loss. Some of them, as I said

before, it's just based on confusion and not enough

information, not enough education out there about the ways

that we can affect that more positively.

Hearing loss is invisible usually, but its effects

obviously are not.

This next slide shows the various causes of

deafness. And these percentages may have changed slightly

through the years. This slide is a few years old. But

I've not been able to find any other slide to update it if

the percentages are different from that.

But if you'll notice, there's a high percentage of

unknown as the cause for deafness. We within VR need to

cause code in our system so that we can identify the type


of impairment plus the reason for the impairment. But in

many cases with deafness and hearing loss, there is no

known cause.

And we spoke earlier about the number of children

who are still born every year with hearing loss and the

effects of that.

If you'll notice the rubella percentage, that's

probably a little lower now that we have full control -- or

mostly control over rubella syndrome.

But hereditary is about 12.5 percent. And that's

interesting because at one time there were 51 gene markers

that were linked to deafness. And at that time -- it's

been a while since I've done that study, but at that time

they were seeking out more deaf people to study genetically

so that they could identify even more. So there's a lot of

different reasons for hearing loss.

Let me tell you a quick story around the

complications at birth. I was teaching a sign language

class at a hospital once, and we had a nurse in my -- there

were several nurses in that particular class, but one nurse

was pregnant.

And she was a nurse in her husband's pediatric

practice, and they had a four-year-old deaf child in the

practice as a patient. So she came to the class to learn

how to communicate with this four-year-old.


And as it turned out, she was a great student. She

learned very quickly. And then when she delivered her son,

he had a very traumatic delivery and ended up being deaf.

And they assigned the cause of his deafness to the

traumatic complications during delivery.

It was a very interesting story. She started

signing with this baby instantly once they identified that

he was deaf. And his language was not delayed. He

progressed so quickly at the school for the deaf that the

school suggested that they remove him from that school and

put him in a mainstream program where he could be

challenged even more.

One sad thing about that story is his father was a

pediatrician from another country, and their culture was

all about the superiority of males. And so for a while he

actually blamed his wife for the deafness of their son

because, if she hadn't learned sign language, then he

wouldn't have been born deaf.

But they worked through those marital issues, and

he came around. And that's good, and they're still

married. And the guy's grown now and doing great. Just a

side story. It's not in the slides. You don't have to pay

extra for that.

The next couple of slides are just examples of an

audiogram. And we're not going to go into these in depth


because of the time.

But I just wanted to show you that normal hearing

is represented by the X's and the O's across the very top

of that page. The numbers on the left side of the page

represent the loudness measured in decibels. And the

numbers across the top of the page represent the frequency

measured in hertz. So the top-left corner would be very

low sounds in frequency and very soft, and then it gets

louder as you go down the left side and higher in pitch as

you go across to 8,000 hertz.

The next slide shows normal hearing plus that of an

individual with a hearing loss. And if you'll notice that,

in the higher frequency starting at 2,000 hertz going

through 4,000 and 8,000, that's a typical pattern. Not all

patterns, however, of hearing loss show that. But it's

very common for individuals to have a high frequency loss.

Sometimes that's caused by noise in the environment, and so

we watch for that.

The next slide you'll see shows a little bit about

the speech sounds that we have in English. And the vowel

sounds are more in the lower frequencies, and the consonant

sounds are in the higher frequency.

So if you can imagine, if you have a pretty severe

high-frequency loss, the majority of what you will hear

will be vowels. And that means A, E, I, O, and U. And it


would be hard to understand speech if that's really all you

heard.

This webinar today is not really all about

audiology, so we won't spend a lot of time on that. But

this next slide talks about how to read an audiogram if you

have the opportunity or need to be able to do that.

There's a lot to it, and I can provide offline more

assistance to you if you need help in reading audiograms

and determining eligibility related to hearing loss. And

also my staff can do that as well.

I mentioned earlier about employers and lack of

knowledge. It's not just employers. The biggest challenge

I guess that deaf and hard-of-hearing people have is

adjusting to the attitudes, the ill-informed attitudes of

individuals out there who think -- who really don't know

much about deafness or hearing loss.

There's an argument about whether an individual

should learn to sign or not. If they learn to sign, will

they be able to function in the hearing world. We don't

have enough time in this webinar to go into all the debates

about that.

But just know that the attitude around hearing loss

is very important. And if we can do anything to help

change attitudes and help in education, I think that's our

goal.


Some employers don't even know what deaf people can

do. So we, in the deaf region, would be happy to help in

any way we can to help educate other staff members who also

don't really have all the answers on what deaf people can

do.

There's a slide later on that will show you just

the types of employment that I know of deaf people doing

that will help to see that deaf people really can work.

They really can function. Although their hearing loss --

the reactions to their hearing loss may be unique, it's

still something that we can all work with and assist.

Some people say, "Well, deaf people can lip read.

So that's not a problem." But, actually, lip reading is a

challenge. There's a slide later on that will give a

little more information about lip reading.

But first let's talk about the culture of deafness.

90 -- actually, it's now more close to 95 percent -- 90 to

95 percent of deaf people are born into a culture that is

foreign to them. That means that they were born into a

hearing culture, and they don't hear.

Deaf culture is identified in writing with a big D,

Deaf. And those individuals who may have lost their

hearing later in life is represented with a little d, deaf.

The word "hearing impaired" is not really a

politically correct term to be using anymore because deaf


individuals don't see themselves as impaired, and they

don't really see themselves as needing to be fixed.

So if you don't know the origin and when the

hearing loss started, the safer thing to refer to

individuals with hearing loss is "deaf" or "hard of

hearing" or "individuals with hearing loss" instead of

"hearing impaired." So erase that from your vocabulary.

There's always a struggle between oral versus

manual, meaning the individuals who are deaf and learn to

lip read and speak and those who are deaf and use sign

language who can also still lip read and speak in some

situations as well.

But the best thing to think about is whatever

works. Let's work on whatever works. If an individual

prefers one method over another, it's not our decision to

make. But let's assist in communication to do whatever

works.

24 to 40 percent of what we say in English is

hidden inside our mouth. That means it's not even visible.

So lip reading is not possible if it's hidden inside the

mouth.

And another 20 percent of what we say looks like

something else on the lips. So if you ask a person, "Can

you lip read?" that particular sentence is pretty lip

readable.


So if you asked a deaf person that and they

understood that sentence, they might be struggling with

whether they should lie in their reply to you. If they

say, "Yes, I can lip read," then you might expect that they

will understand everything else you say. And we already

identified how much is hidden and how much looks like

something else.

So it depends on residual hearing. It depends on

the visual environment. It depends on the noise in the

room. It depends on individuals, whether they have a

mustache to cover their lips or how lip readable they are.

So that's a really complicated question to ask, and

the answers would change based on the environment.

Critics and proponents alike claim that 30 to

50 percent of understanding actually takes place when

you're lip reading. So there's a lot of guessing that's

going on.

The next few slides talk about basic communication

principles.

And I'm watching my time carefully because I don't

want to get into Becky Morris's area. She's got some

fabulous information about technology.

But you'll have this PowerPoint available to you so

that you can review it if we fly quickly through these

PowerPoint slides.


The important thing to remember is that

communication is a matter of common sense and courtesy.

And you should ask yourself, "What can I do to make it

easier for the two of us to communicate?"

And don't assume that all deaf people know sign

language or that they don't. It's always okay to ask a

deaf person or person with a hearing loss how they prefer

to communicate. And it may change with the situation.

So just because they say, "I need an ASL

interpreter in this situation. I might need an English

interpreter in another situation. Or I might could use

CART or PowerPoint," or whatever the communication mode may

be. Just be flexible enough to know that it can change.

It's important to speak naturally and with

expression. Don't cover your mouth or have things in your

mouth. Face the speaker. Sometimes when there are

interpreters involved, it's a little uncomfortable for

hearing people to look at someone and talk to them when

they are not looking -- the deaf person is not looking back

at them.

So eye contact is still important even though the

deaf person may be watching the interpreter. And when

you're talking to someone who is trying to lip read, it's

always better to give the topic first before you proceed.

And that way the individual trying to lip read you can put


a framework around where you're going with your

conversation.

And then if it doesn't work, if they don't

understand what you say, then repeat what you said exactly

as you said it the first time. That way, if they only

missed one word or one key point that you were trying to

say, then they can plug in that gap if they catch it the

second time.

But if that doesn't work, then think about

rephrasing your statement because, as we said before, some

things are not visible on the lips. So it may be that your

sentence or your phrase that you're trying to say is not

lip readable.

This slide represents something that we already

talked about. This next slide is the various ways that you

can use to communicate with individuals with hearing loss.

Various forms of sign language. Tactile

communication. Deaf-blind use that as well as print on

palm. Close-vision interpreting is usually deaf-blind.

Some individuals prefer English. Some prefer ASL.

And they're not the same language. They are actually two

separate languages.

So there's a lot going on, and it's really not up

to us to determine what's best for the deaf person or

person with hearing loss. It's really their decision on


how they communicate. And one size does not fit all.

A lot of people are concerned about the cost of

accommodations. And I guess the biggest cost would be

interpreters; if there are interpreters in the room, and if

there's a great distance that they have to travel or the

reoccurring cost of interpreters. But it's vitally

important, if an individual needs an interpreter, that that

be provided because they really can't function very well

and get the information they need unless they do have those

interpreters.

Other ways to accommodate are CART services, which

are realtime captioning the events going on in a meeting or

a training session, which is, if you clicked on the

"Captioning" tab, you're seeing that now.

There are various devices that help with telephone

usage for individuals who are hard of hearing and also

deaf.

And the Georgia Council For the Hearing Impaired

has a telecommunication equipment distribution program

where much of the equipment used to communicate on the

phone, it can be free of charge to individuals who qualify.

So information on their program is listed at their

website. That's GACHI.org. And I won't go into the

technology because Becky will do most of that.

So the issues that we face around employment with


individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing, first of all,

is communication barriers, obviously, if that's an issue

with being able to communicate on the job. Attitudinal

barriers. Cultural differences also come into play that

need to be considered. There's the accommodation cost.

And also English access.

We don't have enough time on this webinar to talk

about the English access issue. But it's huge in

individuals who have never heard English. We in America

just assume that English is -- that's our language.

Everybody can learn it. It's not a big deal. And it's not

a big deal if you can hear.

But it's one of the most difficult languages to

learn if you can't hear. So maybe we can do a webinar in

the future about English access because there's a ton of

new information and research that we can discuss and the

effects of that on individuals who don't hear the language

or have never heard the language.

This next slide is about workplace accommodations.

Actually, Becky has written a great book, which I have the

link to -- and she can tell you about more when she has her

turn -- that talks about various things that we can use to

accommodate individuals with hearing loss on the job.

And this is the list of just deaf people that I

could think of and the types of jobs that they hold. So


just take a moment to look over that. And you can see that

deaf people really can do just about anything, except maybe

hear.

I was part of a writing team for the model state

plan for VR Services for individuals who are deaf,

deaf-blind, hard of hearing, and late deafened. And this

slide shows the link to that model state plan. You can

download it for free or order a hard copy at a very cheap

level.

If you wanted to get more information, there's tons

of resources in that book. And there's also a comment

about Becky's book "On The Job With Hearing Loss."

Becky, I share that information about that book a

lot. So I hope you're getting lots of orders from people

that I've referred to you.

Another slide on just Internet resources. There

are tons and tons of information out there on hearing loss

and deaf individuals and communication, ASL. So if you

Google "deaf" or you Google "ASL" or you go to any of these

websites, you'll see lots and lots of information, more

than we could cover in this limited time.

Okay. I feel like I raced through that. I'm glad

we finally got the microphone working. I will now pass it

on to Becky.

BECKY MORRIS: Okay. Hey, everyone. Hi. Becky


Morris here. Want to make sure before I start that you can

hear me okay. If I could get some feedback on that from

everyone. Okay.

Before I start, are there any questions that

anybody has for Becky Sills? I can stop now, if you have

any, to give Becky a few more minutes; or we can get it at

the end because I know at the end we'll also have time.

Okay. I'm not seeing anything, so we'll see what

we can get towards the end for both of us.

What I'd like to do is give an overview of some of

the newer assistive technologies that are out there.

I'm not going to be covering equipment that's on

the telecommunication equipment distribution program.

You'll find that at the Georgia Council For Hearing

Impaired's website.

And what I'm going to talk about is some of the

newer technologies, assuming that you have some basic

understanding. And if that sounds okay, we're just going

to go ahead from here.

We're going to talk about FM systems, some of the

new alerting systems, and some of the very new work

telephone options that are dealing with Bluetooth for

people with hearing loss who are wearing hearing aids.

As I go along, if you have any questions, we can

answer them as we go, or I can get them at the end. I'll


do my best to keep up with that.

You should be familiar with FM systems, traditional

FM systems. I'm showing the Listen system, which is good

for mild to moderate loss. And I'm showing the new

Williams Sound Motiva system on the right.

The red arrows, what that indicates is, on the left

arrow, there is a microphone, a lapel microphone, that goes

into that open jack. And that would be for the teacher.

And on the receiver, that second arrow with that

black microphone that's sticking up, is a receiver for

someone who's wearing a neck loop and using their hearing

aids and telecoils. And what that gives them is full

access to what the instructor is saying or the person, the

main speaker in a meeting.

And that second microphone will pick up sounds

around them. So they can turn that up to hear

conversations or turn it down if it's interfering.

So these are two of the traditional systems that

operate on frequencies that can be used in colleges and

could be compatible and flexible with some other systems

that may also be in the college setting already.

You can go ahead.

This is another traditional FM system. And it's

made by Comtek. It's on a different frequency. It's on

the 216 frequency. You don't really need to know what that


is unless you're trying to be compatible with other systems

already in the workplace or in the educational setting.

But this is a system we use a lot for people with

severe hearing loss. These systems have been around in

colleges for 15, 20 years. So they're very durable, and

they work very well. And this system comes with an earbud

and a neck loop already.

The picture on the left, I just wanted to show it

to you because, if you're using a pass-around microphone,

you can get that rigid microphone that screws into the top

of the transmitter. So I just wanted you to see that

that's another way to increase the flexibility of the

system. So that's just an added accessory.

You can go ahead.

This is another system that I wanted to talk about

because it's newer, and it's very popular. And it's the

Contego system from Comfort Audio.

If you look at the red arrows, they're a little bit

off center, but they're indicating where the microphones

are. There's a microphone on the transmitter, which is on

the right, and on the receiver, which is on the left. So

you get a microphone near you and away from you.

On the receiver you can control both the

microphones on the transmitter and the receiver so you can

turn up or down the sounds near you. But you can also


change the microphone setting.

And you'll see on the blue arrows they're offset a

little bit. There's a circle on the left and more of a --

not a triangle but a smaller area on the right. And it

allows you to change the microphone directionality so you

can get everything around that microphone, or you can just

get what's forward facing.

So let's say you're in a restaurant, and you want

to hear the person across from you. If you set that

transmitter on the table and you set it to directional,

which is on the right, it's going to pick up the sounds in

front of it more than the sounds all around.

People consider this an FM system, but it actually

operates on a different frequency than all of the other

traditional FM systems. So it's not going to be compatible

with anything else that's out in the workplace already,

unless it's another Contego system.

This is a fantastic system because it's modern

looking, and it's very functional with the double

microphones so that you have both close and far remote

microphones.

And I don't see this used in colleges very much,

but this has been an excellent product for at work for many

people. The price, just so that you know, between the ones

that we've looked at so far, they're all fairly comparable


in price.

Here are two other newer FM systems. If you're

looking at websites or catalogs, you'll see the Bellman

Domino or the Conversor systems. Those, again, are better

used for single use only, not in a school setting. They

operate on 2.4 gigahertz, the same type of frequency that

many cordless phones operate on. So their distance is

shorter, but they still work very well.

I don't do a lot with these, but I wanted to show

them to you because you'll see them out in catalogs. But

for a work situation, I think they could work well. In a

college situation, they can work, but they will not be

flexible or interchangeable with any other systems.

Go ahead.

Now, the FM systems that I've talked about so far

are ones that many counselors and disability service

providers can order and do order regularly for their

clients.

But this system, if you look at the bottom where it

says "MLXi Receiver," that is an FM receiver that snaps

onto or boots onto a behind-the-head -- behind-the-ear

hearing aid or a cochlear implant speech processor.

Now, in a college setting, there's a conversation

going on right now that the receiver itself, that very

small part is the receiver part of an FM system, and the


boot has to match exactly whatever the hearing aid is. And

it provides the interface.

And many colleges will purchase both of those to

make the system accessible, but it is likely that boot will

not fit on another person's hearing aid since all the

manufacturers have different ones. But it's not that

expensive, $40 to $80 I think per unit.

But this FM system is typically purchased through

an audiologist or recommended to an audiologist. And the

transmitter portion that the instructor uses would be the

top two items on the right, the Smartlink.

They have several different versions of a

transmitter that's a handheld, or you can use a lanyard to

have it around your neck. And that is a typical

transmitter.

And there is a newer transmitter called Inspiro.

These are all from Phonak. We're going to talk a little

bit more about the Inspiro.

Now, if your hearing aid does not have direct audio

input, so if you have in-the-ear aids or you prefer to use

a telecoil on your hearing aid, then they also have a neck

loop receiver.

Now, this is an item you won't see in catalogs

anywhere. This is what's usually available through the

audiologist.


If you can go ahead.

The reason I wanted to spend a little more time on

the Inspiro system is that the Inspiro transmitter also has

a handheld microphone called the DynaMic.

Phonak's newest platform for processing sounds is

called DynaMic FM. And the benefit of this, what they say,

is the clarity. And of course I listened to it at a

conference, and it was absolutely fantastic, but we were

not in a real-life situation; we were in a conference

room -- or in an exhibit hall.

But what I wanted to talk about is that Inspiro

transmitter and those DynaMic receivers. What's different

about this system is that you can have multiple

transmitters, so you have multiple microphones, which is a

really important option for let's say a teacher who is hard

of hearing and needs microphones out in the classroom or a

public speaker needs more than one microphone. You can get

that now.

You take one transmitter as like the master, and

you can put up to nine other transmitters hooked to that or

programmed to that to give you multiple microphones.

It's a really expensive option right now. I know

something else is supposed to be coming out soon -- can't

talk about it yet; I don't have any information in writing

yet -- from another manufacturer.


But this is one option that has allowed many

teachers and public speakers the flexibility to get those

extra microphones.

Again, it's only available through an audiologist

who works with Phonak equipment. And it doesn't matter.

You do not have to have a Phonak brand hearing aid. It's

that audio boot, which is the next part up from that red

arrow, that interfaces in between the hearing aid and the

receiver. That's what makes it compatible with just about

any behind-the-ear hearing aid or ear-level speech

processor.

So it's a really great option. Just wanted you to

know about it because you're not going to see it in writing

anywhere in catalogs or websites unless you're out on

Phonak.com's website.

You can go ahead.

One of the things that I've heard a lot of people

say -- because induction loop systems are now really,

really popular, which is fantastic.

What an induction loop system is, there's a

transmitter with a microphone, but it doesn't send a radio

frequency.

There's a loop of wire, a physical loop of wire,

that you run around the room or around the seats that plugs

into that transmitter, so that anyone who's speaking, the


sound will go through that loop of wire, and anyone sitting

within there, if they have a hearing aid with a telecoil or

a cochlear implant with a telecoil, all they have to do is

flip a switch to go to telecoil, and they'll pick up

everything coming from the microphone.

An induction loop system is different from FM in

that there are no receivers. You have your transmitter

with a lapel mic for the speaker, but everyone in the room

who has the telecoil already has their own built-in

receiver right into their hearing aid.

The only other people who would need access would

be someone who does not have a telecoil in their hearing

aid, and they'd still need their own receiver with

headphones.

If you compare an induction loop system to an FM

system, there's one thing that is the same.

And if you'll go to the next slide, it talks about

that. I'm not going to read this next slide all the way

through. I wanted it in here so anyone could look back

over it.

But the main benefit of an induction system over

the FM system is that you don't need additional receivers

for each individual person because they're all using their

own hearing aid. You're getting the benefit of a better

speech signal because you're using that microphone.


But the induction loop receiver has the same

problem that an FM system has, and that is the sound coming

through the system is only as good as the placement of the

microphone of the speaker.

So you can't loop a room and hear everyone in the

room talking unless you have a pass-around microphone. So

you can sit anywhere, but you're not going to hear more

sounds from more speakers unless you use that pass-around

mic. And I just wanted to try and make that a little

clearer for people.

This is a photo of the Microloop system. That's

just a carrying case and an amplifier. And that loop of

wire, you plug one end of it into the back of that box,

loop around the room, and plug the other end back in. So

it's a closed-loop system.

And you can use a lapel microphone that comes with

it, or you can get a system that includes a Lavalier

microphone and FM system that plugs into or connects to the

box.

This is just one of many that are available now

since there are more and more installers and dealers and

manufacturers of induction loops for large areas or meeting

or classroom areas.

Now, what's interesting is there are some other

loop technologies available for very specific situations.


So again, all you have to do is use (audio skipped) . . .

and maybe four people -- has to be a smaller area, but it

will pick up everyone, and you'll be able to hear a little

more clearly. So it's inconspicuous.

The one in the center, the portable loop, would sit

on a countertop. And on the front of it is a microphone,

and on the back of it is the induction loop so that you can

hear. So that sits on bank counters and on hotel counters.

You can also use the same system to loop your room

and connect the transmitter to your television so that

you'll sit -- you'll have to sit on that chair pad. That's

one option. And when you sit there, you're able to hear

everything coming through the TV because your room is

looped.

You can go ahead.

Let's move on from FM systems and loop systems to

talk about some of the newer alerting devices.

And I want to start with -- let's start at the

bottom left with Sonic Alert. Everyone's, I think,

familiar with this system.

There's really nothing new with the Sonic Alert

devices right now, but it is what I call an integrated

system in that the clock -- you have your alarm clock, but

it has a built-in receiver to pick up sounds from other

areas of the home, for the telephone and the doorbell or


the baby cry. So that's one that we're all familiar with.

If you go up on the left to Silent Call, they have

a newer receiver now. And this sits bedside and has a bed

shaker so it will alert you to all sounds for any of the

transmitters that you have for doorbell and phone. And

they even have a smoke detector. We'll talk a little bit

more about that. But they have one now. They have an

integrated system.

If you look in catalogs, you'll likely see the

Bellman and Symfon Visit system. And that's another

integrated system. It works very similar to Silent Call;

just looks a little more modern. I think it's a Swedish

design.

And the fourth integrated system is the Alertmaster

system where you have the base that has the clock and then

all of the transmitters so that you can be notified of the

phone and the door.

Simplicity line, if you look in a catalog, they

don't have a clock. So I don't include them as an

integrated system.

So if you can go ahead to the next slide.

If you haven't seen already, when I said

Alertmaster, this is what you're used to seeing. It's been

around forever. And they've just discontinued these models

and gone to the newer system.


So I wanted you to see the old one. This is what

we're talking about if you're familiar with the Alertmaster

system.

But if you can go ahead and move to the next slide,

we're going to look at the new Alertmaster system.

It works the same way. And what you're looking at

in the upper left is the base system that would sit

bedside. And the remote receiver is the unit on the right.

Now, this is for home use. You can also use it for

work if you were to use just that remote receiver on the

right with a telephone and doorbell transmitter so that you

could be alerted at work if you wanted a lamp or the light

to go off.

Alertmaster system -- we'll stay on here for just a

minute -- they have a body-worn receiver so that, during

the day, if you cannot see a lamp flashing or that small

light at the top, you can wear a belt-worn receiver. And

there are two versions. One will vibrate and light up at

the top. This is the old Ameriphone AMPX for personal

receiver.

Both systems, the old and the new, will work

together. So if you have an old system, it's going to

continue to work. And if you buy anything new, it will

work with your old system.

But they also have a receiver for someone who is


deaf-blind, their AMPXB. And what it has across it is

four -- or it has on the side four indicators to tell you

if it's the phone, door, fire, or sound. And it will

vibrate once, and when you press those buttons, it will

vibrate the second time to let you know which sound has

occurred.

So this is one integrated system that does have an

option for people who are deaf-blind and need a personal

receiver so that they can know what sounds are going on

during the day.

If we can move to the next slide.

Silent Call system on all of the white units. This

is something you've seen. It's been around for a very long

time. It has a base receiver that will show a lighted icon

for phone, door, and fire.

This is their original system, and it operates on

the 318 frequency. You really don't need to know that.

But at that frequency you only get about a hundred-foot

range in the house.

They have a new system out -- and if we can switch

slides -- the newer version is called the Signature Series.

And most of the components in the Signature Series are

black. It operates on a different frequency, at the 418

frequency, and that gives you up to a 2,000-foot range.

So this system now is excellent for larger homes,


multiple floors, in an office where you need extra

distance.

And the benefit of the Silent Call systems over any

of the other is that they have a smoke detector with a

built-in transmitter. So you install your smoke detector

like you do any other, and when it activates, it gives off

an audible alarm, but it also sends a signal to the

receiver to wake you with vibration.

And this unit can monitor up to three smoke

detectors. So at all times they are talking to each other,

and they'll tell you if a battery's running low or there's

a broken connection. So it's a visual to let you know that

you've got full access for fire protection.

And if we go ahead to the next slide.

The Silent Call system also has body-worn

receivers. That new Signature Series has a watch you can

wear, and that watch is attached to the battery charger.

You don't wear the whole thing. It's still an awfully

large watch, that will vibrate, and an icon will show to

let you know which sound has occurred. So it gives you

something to wear if you don't -- if that's what you prefer

over lights flashing or strobe lights going off.

On the left is the original Good Vibrations

belt-worn receiver, and that works with the original Silent

Call system.


I don't have the picture, but they also have a

second receiver that's called VibraCall. So instead of the

lighted icons, there's buttons across the top. If the

phone rings, you'll press the buttons across the top. And

when you've hit the telephone, it will vibrate a second

time. So it will let you know fire, phone, door, and

sound.

So they also have, and have had for a very long

time, that VibraCall system for people who are deaf-blind.

And this is the only unit that has smoke detector alerting

them at night. So at night you plug it into a charger

unit, and you'll get nighttime alerting with a bed shaker.

Moving on to some audible alerting products instead

of flashing strobe lights or lamps flashing.

Here are some products that many people who are

hard of hearing prefer to have. And one is a phone

signaller so that, if you don't have a phone in the back of

the house but you need a ringer so that you're notified,

you can plug this phone signaller into any wall jack, a

telephone wall jack.

We do a lot of work with the middle item, which is

an adjustable doorbell chime. So the doorbell button goes

out front, and the chime receiver can plug in anywhere near

where you sit.

And you can get additional receivers. So if you


need one with a strobe light, you can use Trine or NuTone.

If you prefer just the doorbell chime, that Carlon that's

shown on there is a really popular model. We use that a

lot for people who need doorbell alerting and do not

want -- they have maybe a moderate to severe hearing loss,

and during the day that's all they want to use.

I wanted to show the picture on the right. It's a

cell phone signaller -- well, it's a telephone signaller,

but it also has a strap across the back, and you can put

your cell phone attached to the back of that unit and put

it on vibrate. If your cell phone goes off, there's a bed

shaker that can shake you awake, and now there's also an

audible alarm.

So many people who are just using cell phones for

their phones may not hear it, may not feel the vibration,

or have a hard time trying to figure out how to wear it or

hold it. This allows for you to be awakened with a basic

bed shaker.

We talk about smoke detectors for at home. I

wanted to just show this slide to let you know that now we

have a longer distance that we can use for a building fire

alarm. This is great for someone who's deaf or hard of

hearing in an office system that may not be able to hear

the smoke detector.

And there is a transmitter that plugs or connects


to an existing building alarm. It's a fire alarm

transmitter. They recommend it be installed by a fire

alarm company.

And it connects just with dry-connect wires to one

of the existing alarms so that, if the building alarm goes

off, it can send a signal to either that watch receiver or

a strobe receiver in the office. And it's up to 2,000

feet. So we've got a better, longer distance fire alarm

system now. And you can just disconnect that and move that

if you need to if someone moves offices or dorms.

Okay. We're going to move on to some of the phone

options that we have at work. And you may be familiar with

the Ameriphone AJ-40. I think your distribution program in

Georgia has a different option. But that was the one

that's the loudest that we've had for a long time.

The newer one, the Serene Innovations that's shown

on the right, has 45 decibel gain. So it's an inline

amplifier that has more gain than the Ameriphone product

that we found that's been very useful for work phones.

Again, they're under $40, but this is probably one

of the biggest things that we sell and you've probably

used.

The cost of both of these are around $40 --

answering the question from the public chat.

Let's move ahead because -- oh, fire alarms. Okay.


The smoke detectors run about $120 for a home. At

work that fire alarm transmitter that goes into the

building alarm is about $75. And then the receiver, it

depends on whether you get the watch receiver or the clock

receiver or any of the other receivers that will work.

Does that answer it enough, Martha and Becky?

Okay. Okay.

I'll move ahead to headsets. This is an issue that

a lot of people face that they may have been able to use

their headset at work until they got their new hearing

aids, or they're just starting to struggle more.

And the Plantronics amplifier, the Vista amplifier

is one that's used often in between the handset and the

base of an office phone to use a standard Plantronics

headset similar to the one shown in the center there that

gives binaural listening. And it plugs into that

amplifier.

The Plantronics amplifier has about 20 decibel

gain. So that's good for a mild to moderate hearing loss

and may be all you need if you are wearing hearing aids.

But the unit on the right from Serene Innovations,

the second model is the UA-50, and it operates the same

way, and you can use that same Plantronics headset into the

UA-50, and you can get up to 50 decibel gain. So it's a

better amplifier for someone who's not wearing hearing


aids.

That headset, the cable that you see in the center,

would be different. What you'd use for Plantronics may be

different than what you use for Serene Innovations. But it

does -- I wanted to show you the two options for a headset

for the amplifiers. And this is someone who does not have

telecoils in their hearing aids.

If you have telecoils in your hearing aids, then

these have to be manual telecoils. Many of the new hearing

aids come with automatic telecoils so that, if you put the

handset of your phone up to your ear, it activates, and you

can hear through the hearing aid.

But if you want binaural listening so that you can

listen with both ears at the same time and you have manual

telecoils, you can use either of these headsets on the left

or the right.

One's the Clear Sounds neck loop, and so it simply

goes over your head, over your neck, and there's a

microphone built into that larger piece that you see, that

oblong piece or oval piece. So you can be hands-free and

use that neck loop for office phones.

Or you can use the HATIS director, which is on the

right, and that's a headset that has either one or two ear

pieces that look like silhouettes that shadow your hearing

aid and provide a nice, clean signal.


So these are two of the options that we use for

telecoil users at work.

We can move ahead.

One of the things that's happening now with a lot

of people is they're getting Bluetooth interfaces for their

hearing aids. And we're going to talk about that in just a

second. But in order to use that Bluetooth portion to

access their hearing aids, they usually are used with cell

phones.

This is an inline amplifier, the Plantronics

Voyager. And the photo on the right shows you how it's

plugged in just like any other inline amplifier. And it's

creating a Bluetooth signal for you to use.

And I'm showing the Bluetooth neck loop. So you

can be listening hands-free if you have telecoils in your

hearing aids, and you can use this base to access a work

phone.

Let's move on.

There are laptops now that have built-in Bluetooth,

and you don't need an additional adapter. But if you have

a laptop that doesn't have Bluetooth, that dongle or that

adapter on the left plugs into your USB port and creates a

Bluetooth signal so that you can use either that neck loop

that's on the right, a Bluetooth neck loop, or one of the

interfaces to hearing aids that we're going to talk about.


So Bluetooth is becoming more and more popular.

And the amplifier I showed you before is one way to get to

a work phone. And this is an adapter that will get to a

laptop to create the Bluetooth signal on devices that are

not typically Bluetooth.

The next slide, I'm not going to go through this.

We're going to talk about it more on the very next slide.

I left this in here because I wanted you to have it as a

reference to talk about the digital streaming devices or

the streamers.

So if we go to the next slide, as I talk about it,

it will make more sense than reading this.

There are several hearing aids now that have what

they call a streamer. And the woman in this picture is

wearing that around her neck. It kind of looks like a neck

loop.

And you have to wear your streamer because it has a

very short distance. And you'll see that by the green

arrow that's circling her. That's where the signal is

being sent from that unit that's on her.

And that's basically a Bluetooth receiver. So it's

going to connect to anything that has a Bluetooth signal.

And she's holding a cell phone. So when you look at the

blue line, that indicates that your cell phone has to be

within up to 30 feet of your streamer, and then your


streamer has to be around your neck, which is kind of like

a neck loop, to get the sound direct to the hearing aid.

It's not using telecoils like any of the other neck

loops. It's using a digital signal directly into the

hearing aids. And you'll see many audiologists

recommending this device for anyone who has to use a cell

phone or use the phone often. It's a fantastic device, but

it's available only through the audiologist, so you won't

see it anywhere in a main catalog.

If you go to the next slide, there are three

manufacturers right now, more all the time. Phonak has a

unit called the iCon that goes around your neck. The

Oticon has a streamer that goes around your neck, and it's

that white device on the left. And Siemens Hearing Aids

have what they call the TEK Connect, the T-E-K Connect.

And these are all three Bluetooth receivers picking

up the Bluetooth signal and wirelessly sending it to the

hearing aid, similar to how the telecoil currently works,

but it's not using the telecoil.

I think many counselors are seeing this more and

more often as a device that's recommended from

audiologists.

We're just about done. I'm about to wrap up here.

But if we go to the next slide, one of the benefits

of this streamer is that you can use it for home use. TVs


don't have a Bluetooth adapter that will send a Bluetooth

signal, but Oticon and I believe Phonak has come out with a

TV link on the right that connects to the audio output

jacks of your TV, and it sends the audio signal direct to

your streamer into your hearing aids.

And they also have a phone signaller or adapter on

the right -- on the left, on your left, that plugs in at

the wall of your home phone and at any phone that's not a

digital phone and work; and if the phone rings, it sends

that Bluetooth signal direct again to your streamer.

So you're going to see this more often. They do

not call these assistive-listening devices. They call them

gateway devices or streaming devices. They don't call them

ALDs. But that's basically what they are, and they're

accessing a new platform.

And each of these systems and I talked about, the

three hearing aid companies, they are all proprietary. You

can't use the Oticon's connect line that we're looking at

with a Phonak system. So you'd have to still use what they

have, but they're coming out with more all the time. I

thought you'd like to know about those.

We can go to my last slide.

My goal today was to give you some of the newer

stuff. But if you want some additional resources, we have

an ALD newsletter that goes out once a month. Quick read,


two pages. Kind of keeps you up-to-date.

And you can go out there onto the Beyond Hearing

Aids website into the voc rehab section and sign up for

that newsletter. You can follow the links into there.

If you want to look at some product videos or

research products, you can go to the online store. And

when you're looking at products, we have some product

videos now -- I think we have 34, 35 product videos, and

we're adding more all the time -- as a way for you to do

some research.

If you wanted more in-depth technical training,

there's a new online program that I have started. And you

can find out information about that at the ALDtraining.com

website. And you'll look at the menus on the left at the

top, and you'll see some of the sample articles. So you

can get to some of that.

You can also sign up for free to the ALD tip of the

week. And that's just another way; it's just a quick tip

to let you know how to use something, how we do something

different. So you can get to that through the ALD training

website as well.

And I want to thank you, Becky, for referring the

book, "On The Job With Hearing Loss." I didn't even put

that on here.

The main thing about the "On The Job With Hearing


Loss" book is in the front. The first half of the book is

very basic information on understanding hearing loss,

untreated hearing loss in the workplace. And the last half

of the book is actually talking about occupations and

allowing you to look at some accommodations and using case

studies to see what's available for different occupations.

That's the end of my presentation. And I think

what I'll do is I'll leave it up here for just a second.

If anyone has any questions, I can start answering those.

And then I can hand it back to Becky and Martha.

Okay. I'm not seeing any. So I want to thank you

for my half for listening in. And I'm going to turn it

back over now. I'm going to go offline and let Martha or

Becky pick back up again.

MARTHA RUST: Thank you so much, Becky and Becky.

I learned so much during this PowerPoint presentation that

I hope everyone else did too.

I saw that there was one question: Where do we get

the PowerPoint?

You will be able to get the PowerPoint and the

transcript on our website, Tools For Life website,

www.gatfl.org. And you'll find it under "Trainings and

Webinars." So give us a couple of days so we can get the

transcript, and we'll have that up for you in no time.

Thank you all again. If you have any questions,


please feel free to go ahead and type them into the public

chat. And I'm going to release the mic, too, for just a

couple more seconds.

Yes. Hi, Ann Marie.

"Where do you go to get the CRC credits?"

What you're going to do, you're going to shoot Liz

Persaud an e-mail with your name and your contact

information. And her e-mail address is liz@gatfl.org. And

we'll write that in that public-chat-box area in just a

minute.

On your screen right now this is where we need

y'all's help to evaluate our performance. We get a lot of

ideas for future webinars, too, from our SurveyMonkey site.

So please take a minute right after the webinar and

go to this website. And we totally need your feedback on

this. Or if you have ideas for future webinars, please let

us know, and we'll see what we can do to get that up too.

I don't see any questions coming up. So again, I

just want to thank you so much for joining us this

afternoon on this great webinar.

And this is just our contact information at Tools

For Life. You can contact myself or Liz. There's our

e-mail addresses. And if you have any questions, please

get ahold of us. And thank you so much for coming.