Listening Device for the Hard of Hearing

I have an elderly neighbor who has difficulty with his hearing aids. It's
fairly common at his age. I think he and others would profit greatly if he
had a listening device he could hang around others, so that he could hear
them speak. RShk sold one a few years ago, and I've even seen one person
wearing one. Are there others? It was somewhat bigger than a matchbox, maybe
like an Ipod.
--
W. eWatson

(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

Web Page: <www.speckledwithstars.net/>

 

See these:

http://www.heartlandamerica.com/bro...7847-57E3-4B8E-9860-C41F5DA44B22&storefront=1

 

It shows zero found. I see turbo ear, but that's like a hearing aid. The
device I saw was a box that hung around the person's ear, and had an ear
piece that went to his ear. The benefit is that it's not so easy to lose and
the volume could be adjusted easily.

--
W. eWatson

(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

Web Page: <www.speckledwithstars.net/>

 

Huh?

The problem may be that the hearing aid(s) aren't configured for the
person. Nobody loses their hearing at the same rate or the same
frequency loss as anyone else. A proper hearing aid allows for
configuration for the specific person's hearing.

Cheap off the shelf "hearing aids" are mere amplifiers, and all
a mere amplifier will do is amplify the sounds, which won't deal
with lousy high frequency response (by the time it's loud enough
up there, a straight amplifier will supply way too loud low frequency
sounds), or the loss of dynamic range in the ear.

An external box, which is what hearing aids looked like back before
transistors made for small units, is still a hearing aid. The only
advantage is if it does pack more circuitry in there, but chances
are very good that it's just a cheap amplifier.

The one thing that may help is to get the signal pickup closer to
the sound source, so one doesn't have to turn up the volume control
to hear someone across the room; the problem then is that it also
amplifies every sound, and the ratio is the same. A directional
microphone, or one placed closer to the person speaking, will
get a better signal without picking up the junk. Some/many hearing
aids have external inputs, though I'm not sure there is a standard,
to allow for external microphones. That's always a better choice
since it incorporates the hearing aid's frequency shaping and any
AGC that was configured for the specific user.

The same when watching tv. Bringing the signal direct from the
tv set via a headphone extension or even a microphone placed close
to the tv set's speaker, will get the user closer to that sound
source without having to turn up the volume and hear the
frogs outside as loud as the desired sound. If the current
hearing aids have external microphone jacks, then that's the
way to go.

Many/most hearing aids, at least real prescription ones, have
an induction loop inside, to allow the aids to be used with
telephones. So that's another way of coupling a signal into
the hearing aid, a microphone feeding a small amplifier that
feeds an inductive coupler placed next to the hearing aid(s).
Again, that includes the frequency shaping of the hearing
aid in the signal chain, unlike an amplifier feeding headphones.

So the person should be checking to make sure the hearing
aid(s) are still useful to them and properly adjusted. The
hearing aid store is bound to have useful accessories, including
pre-made inductive loops to get sound into the hearing aids (assuming
they have the "telephone pickups").

There may be a local store that sells products for those with
hearing loss, be it a standalone store or one that generally
supplies items to the handicapped. There may also be organizations
that help those with hearing loss, that may offer such items
on a cost basis or point to local resources.

Michael

 

Stuff we don't tend to think about.
We certainly didn't think about it when we were young and stupid
and went to rock concerts without earplugs.

I went looking for spectral plots
http://google.com/images?q=hearing-loss+graph
and found dramatic data about guys who use percussive tools all day:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noise/pubs/images/hearingloss.jpg

 

Been traveling for four days. I've found a walkie-talky very effective with
him. I don't need my end to listen to him, but do need it to talk to him.
However, casual visitors that see him just don't see it that wait. Instead
they fall into the habit, along with him, of shouting to make themselves
heard. If I could find the box I initially described in my original post, I
think it would be better than the walkie-talky arrangement. No fuss, and no
muss about getting it into his ear. He would just hang it from him neck onto
his chest. Hard to lose and no need for the other person to have a receiver.

When one reaches 80+ years, his case, then hearing aids are a continual
problem. The very elderly get very careless and forgetful. On top of that,
his case, fingers don't work well, so getting the aid in place is difficult.
He has very expensive aids. In my view, for him, they are worthless.

--
W. eWatson

(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

Web Page: <www.speckledwithstars.net/>

 

There is an app for the APple iPhone/Ipod Touch that amplifies sound -
handy gadget for hearing what the kids are up to, or just helping those
who have trouble hearing

David