Assistive Listening Devices
At Advanced Audiology Care, we offer wireless and Bluetooth accessories and assistive listening devices to make listening easier for you.
Assistive listening devices are usually prescribed for people who need help with hearing loss or a voice, speech, or language disorder. These devices specifically help people hear and express themselves more clearly, and consequently, they are communicating better in every aspect of their daily lives.
With today’s technology, more and more devices are becoming available to help people with these disorders, allowing them to communicate better and participate more fully in their daily lives. This is all due to the advancements in digital and wireless technology. Some of these devices include:
- Phone and TV Accessories
- FM Systems
- Alerting Devices
- Caption Phones
- Remote Microphone
While hearing aids are meant to amplify conversational speech, some individuals may still experience difficulty hearing in the presence of significant background noise, at a distance, or in special circumstances. These difficulties can occur daily, such as when listening to a television playing from across the room, while speaking on the telephone, or while attending a lecture in a large hall. Assistive listening devices make sounds more accessible in those situations.
Types of Assistive Listening Devices
There are three main types of assistive listening devices, and all serve very specific needs:
- Assistive listening devices (ALDs). ALDs amplify sounds and hone in on what the individual wants to hear while blocking out background noises. ALDs can be used with or without a hearing aid or cochlear implant.
- Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) Devices. AAC devices synthesize speech from text using a simple picture board or a computer program. These devices help people with communication disorders to express themselves.
- Alerting Devices. These devices emit a loud sound or blinking light to get someone’s attention. They can easily be connected to a doorbell, telephone, or alarm.
ALDs for Specific Settings
While ALDs are all designed to improve sound transmission for people with hearing loss, there are several different types available for different settings. For larger facilities, such as theaters, churches, classrooms, and airports, ALDs include hearing loop systems, frequency-modulated (FM) systems, and infrared systems. For more personal settings, there are ALDs that are explicitly designed for those one-on-one conversations. No matter what type of ALD is used, it can be used with or without a hearing aid or cochlear implant.
Need More Information
For more information on ALDs that include hearing loop systems, FM systems, infrared systems, and personal amplifiers, check out this link to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). NIDCD is a great resource to get additional information on assistive devices.
Assistive Listening Device Consultation at Advanced Audiology Care
If you would like a personal consultant to discuss assistive listening devices and how they may help meet your specific needs, please call Advanced Audiology Care at (848) 231-6637. For your convenience, you may also request an appointment online.
