Hearing Loop

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Bring Back Music into Your Life

May is Better Hearing and Speech month and HLAA-SLC is celebrating with an event called Bring Music Back into Your Life on Saturday May 19th from 4-8 PM. This event is made possible with a combined effort from HLAA-SLC, Loop Utah and the Division of Services to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Bring Back Music jpg

In addition to the groups listed above we couldn’t do it without participation from some of our favorite local companies who support hearing loss: CaptionCall, Vibe Music Events, Listen Tech, CapTel, Cochlear America, CostCo Hearing Aids of Sandy UT, Hale Centre Theatre, Relay Utah and the U of U Student Academy of Audiology.

Hearing Loop We Support Url Rev A

We have a lot of activities planned and much of it in the Loop! Our presentations will be in the hearing loop, we will be playing movies in the hearing loop and there’s the accessible dance floor by Vibe Music Events which is itself looped. To experience great sound, make sure your hearing aid and cochlear implants have the telecoil program turned on. What’s a telecoil? (Sometimes called t-coil.) Visit this website,then make an appointment with your audiologist to ask him/her if your hearing aids (cochlear implants have them) have a t-coil because you want to experience hearing loops. Other accommodations include CART (real time captioning) and ASL interpreters so everyone can enjoy the event.

And there’s a lot to enjoy. Make sure you try the accessible dance platform by Vibe in the gym with various genres of music. Finger foods will be available along with devices that have a t-coil so hearing people can see the difference a hearing loops makes too.

gael

We will also have a living room loop set up in the lounge playing Gael Hannan’s Unheard Voices and there will be musical movies playing theater style in the lecture hall which has a hearing loop. Loop products and information will be set up in the conference room along with information, find out how easy it is to install a living room loop or have on installed. Bluetooth information will be available here too because we love both technologies.

Peter McDonald, hearing instrument specialist will be giving a presentation at 5:00 on the hearing aid music program, streaming and apps that can help.  Have you heard of the speech banana? “The “Speech Banana” is a useful visual tool for describing where the sounds used in everyday human speech occur on an audiogram.” Hearing aids are programmed with the sounds of speech in mind but that doesn’t work for music. Learn how another program on your hearing devices can increase your enjoyment of music with Peter.

Maclain 2

At 6:00 experience Maclain Drake’s energy and enthusiasm for music and how he didn’t let hearing loss keep him from it. He takes on acting too. He will talk about the challenges with music and how he works through it all. His passion for making music accessible to all runs deep.  Maclain has had a hearing loss all his life and wears two hearing aids.

 

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Maclain as a young Han Solo.

The best part of this is getting to hang out with your hearing loss tribe. Nothing beats being with others who know what you are going through and how best to to talk to you. Meet others in the community with hearing loss and make new friends, find mentors and learn how it’s possible to live better with hearing loss. Register now here: https://jobs.utah.gov/usor/dhh/events/northern.html

 

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The Music Man April 21st at the Hale Centre Theatre

HLAA-SLC and Loop Utah are joining together for a special event in April. Instead of HLAA-SLC’s regular meeting on April 21st, we will meet at the new Hale Centre Theatre (HCT) in Sandy at 11 AM in the Hospitality room for a pre-show reception. The show starts at 12:30 PM.

Loop Utah Music Man

HCT has looped both of their theatres entirely which is a real treat for those who wear cochlear implants or hearing aids. If you wear either one, make sure your telecoil program is turned on before going to the event. Hearing loops send up a magnet signal to the telecoil (also called a t-coil) which is in 80% of hearing aids and all cochlear implants. That means there’s no devices to pick up and return, it’s as easy as pushing a button on the hearing aid for fantastic sound quality. Listening through the t-coil is like having personalized speakers because each device is programmed specifically to the individual’s hearing loss. It takes away the distance gap hearing aids alone cannot deal with (hearing aids are only good in a 4-6 foot range when used alone). Many users say they hear better through a hearing loop than any other assistive listening system.

Tickets are $30 each, please RSVP by March 17th to hearinglossutah@gmail.com.  Tickets must be paid in advance to HLAA-SLC, also by March 17th.  You can stop by the Sanderson Center and drop off cash or checks to Chelle, the HLAA-SLC treasurer.  Please make checks payable to HLAA-SLC.

*Season tickets holders may book/exchange tickets for this performance bu contacting the HCT box office at 801-984-9000. 

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Don’t Be Left Out of the Loop, a Success

Juliette Sterkens, AuD

Juliette Sterkens, AuD

On Friday May 2 and Saturday May 3, HLAA sent us their national Loop Advocate Juliette Sterkens, AuD,  to keep us in the Loop!  Our HLAA chapter and  the Sanderson Center  helped Loop Utah pull off a big, two day event for May’s Better Speech and Hearing Month which we called Don’t Be Left Out of the Loop.  Both day’s meetings were held at the Sanderson Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the looped classroom to show off the looping difference.

Friday morning’s session was set up for Salt Lake area audiologists and the afternoon session was for facility managers and architects.  We made a great connection with the Sundance Festival organization that afternoon.

Friday morning crowd

 

Hard of Hearing Assistant, Jodi, tried the loop for the first time and was amazed at the difference.  She shared her enthusiasm with the audiologist attendees.

Jodi

Marilyn and Jodi

Marilyn and Jodi give their thumbs up.

Saturday was set up for those of us who wear hearing aids and wanted to learn more about them and the t-coil.  We had 50 people show up that day, 50 interested consumers.  Juliette spent a lot of time talking about hearing aids, their advantages and disadvantages, what they can and can’t do alone.  She talked about all the things our audiologists should be doing but many aren’t.  She answered questions from frustrated users and her honesty was refreshing.

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Then she went on to talk about the loop and how hearing loops benefit us and our hearing aids.  How they work and how we can help advocate for them ourselves.

hearing loop

During lunch, she gave an interview for Channel 4 News which aired Saturday night: http://www.good4utah.com/story/d/story/new-technology-for-the-hard-of-hearing/23029/t6ooMGsBs0umXrh9KXMY9g  (Be sure to leave a comment at the website supporting the loop or hearing loss in the news.)

A silent auction was offered each afternoon to help Loop Utah raise funds.  There were a lot of fun items to bid on, here are a few of them pictured:

theater tickets

paragliding

headphones

There were gorgeous pictures, quilted blankets, ski tickets for next season, a home loop provided by Listen Tech, tickets for the Sundance Festival, a giant cookie basket, gift certificates for services and much, much more.  Friendly competition pursued with fun for everyone.

Kristen with her girl scout cookie basket

 

The event was a success and brought many people together which became a reunion of sorts.  Thank you to everyone who came and helped to make it such a success.

Loop Utah hopes to put on an event every year during Better Speech and Hearing Month.

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HLAA Event/Meeting on May 3 from 9-1:30

May 3 HLAA Meeting is two weeks earlier than normal. To celebrate May’s Better Speech and Hearing Month, we teamed up with Loop Utah and the Sanderson Center to hold a two day event called, “Don’t Be Left Out of the Loop!” On May 3, 2014 the National HLAA office is sending us their Loop Advocate, Dr. Juliette Sterkens to talk about the necessity of hearing loops, the advantages and how to advocate for them ourselves. Here’s our schedule:

8:30-9:00 light breakfast

9:00-11:00 Dr. Juliette Sterkens

11:00-11:15 break

11:15-12:00 the Loop Challenge

12:00-1:00 Lunch for all attendees

1:00-1:30 Home Loops presentation

Feeling Loopy? Come join us. Send your RSVP to chellegeorge@utah.gov. We hope to see you there.

May 3 flyer

 

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Meeting Saturday January 18th

“Hearing loops will do for hearing instruments what WIFI does for laptops.” Dr. David Meyers

hearing loop

Our next meeting is Saturday, January 18, 2014 from 9am-11am. Our topic will be hearing loops and it will be held in the newly looped room in the Sanderson Center, classroom B/C. Your hearing aid is specifically programmed with for your hearing loss and switching to T-coil (the telephone switch) will deliver clear sound right to your hearing aids. If you’ve never experienced the technology, now is your chance to discover the difference.

My personal hearing loop experience is it gives me almost normal hearing again in group situations. Gone is the background noise and distance which interferes so much with in my typical hearing aid program. Normally I rely on CART (real time captioning) to get me through meetings but with the loop, CART is backup. I can look down to write and still hear the words being said. In the Sanderson Center set up, we have microphones set up on the tables which means I also hear all the comments as well. That does not happen without the loop for me.

Our meeting will cover ADA compliance which changed in 2010, talk about hearing loop standards and the difference between a loop and other assistive listening devices. Come find out why this technology is so awesome and why we need to build awareness of the loop in Utah. Find out about the little steps we each can take to get venues looped so we can get out there and start being social again.

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Hearing Loop in the News

Loop Utah was interviewed in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Want to learn a little more about loops?

Want to know what the difference is to a hearing aid user? (Our very own Kristel Scoresby was interviewed.)

Then check out this article….

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/57001349-79/loop-hearing-system-technology.html.csp

Be sure to read the comments and add one of your own to let people know that hearing loss accommodations are needed.  The more we keep hearing loss in the news the better we reach out to others, hearing and hard of hearing.

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Looping News for Salt Lake

Loop

 

Great news! Classroom B/C is now looped for our listening pleasure.  If you have a t-coil in your hearing aids, come experience this incredible technology at our next HLAA chapter meeting on November 16th.

I tried a loop system for the first time a few years ago at the HLAA Convention in Rhode Island.  I could not believe how well I heard with the loop.  I didn’t think I could ever hear that well again.  I’m so very happy to have this available to use at the Sanderson Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and I’m excited to share it with you.  (If you’re not sure if you have t-coil, you’re audiologist can help you.  Most hearing aids have them but the program might need to be turned on.)

Loop Utah is Getting the Word Out

Last Thursday, Loop Utah met in the Salt Lake County Government Center giving two presentations on Loop Technology to area architects, technology managers and facility managers.

county meeting

county meeting 1

Cory Schaeffer led two presentations, giving an overview of assistive listening devices available for public venues, legislative compliance and talked about what hearing loss is like, giving visual and auditory examples.  An auditory sample of what a New York subway booth sounded like to a hearing user normally and the huge difference it makes through a loop system.  Here’s the link to see for yourself: Hearing Loop Demo on YouTube.

The presentation concluded with how the loop works, what are the considerations for venues, best practices for hearing loops and the estimated cost of hearing loop systems.  A question and answer session followed along with letting people try the loop themselves with a receiver.  People took note and the information was well received.