Help for Hearing Impairment

spugzbunny

hahaha! Thanks guys! I'll make a note to call them a few days before!

Savvy_Sue

Errata wrote: »

That brings back memories ! Something else to be aware of is that the mike(s) for the loop may not be sited in the best possible place and the room may also be totally unsuitable environment.
eg "Well, we've checked it and it's working" .... "Makes no difference if it's working or not, all the mike is picking up is the traffic noise on the road outside becuase it's sited on the flamin' window cill"

Reminds me of the battle I had at church: I kept saying nothing was coming through and got the "Well it should be working" response, I kept saying it sounded as if it was switched off but wasn't believed, I discovered you could get a headset to enable you to hear what was on the loop and was even shown that they already had such a headset but the battery had run out!

One fine morning I handed them a spare battery, and watched without much surprise as the tech chap listened, then got up and walked to a switch on the wall ... funnily enough it started working then! :mad:

amalis

About this "speech banana" thingy. I have exactly same problem and my Phonak Naida is not much help. In fact I have Phonak Naida Super Power, but after 3 month I can say that I dont benefit at all from it. My audiologist warned me that people with my type of hearign problems may prefer even to be without hearing aids because simple sounds alteration will not help. Phonak Naida is supposed to pick up the sound and transform it to Db I am able to hear, but I dont see that happening. They told its a way of trial and error. My audiologist said that there is something better available on the market now: smaller and more powerful, they were waiting for it all the summer and in August I have appointment for fitting.
Hope this will help me. I am already used to the idea of having HA,but I want some result!!
Now I was in tears after having to call my bank I could not recognise which security numbers they asked for and locked my account.

Savvy_Sue

With the bank, that's where Text Relay and a Screenphone could be REALLY useful. Or internet banking ... although one of my siblings tried to make me an online payment, and found that if they wanted to add me the bank wanted to phone to confirm! They can't hear on the phone at all, so I ended up with a cheque.

What kind of internet banking is THAT???

amalis

I try to avoid phone calls like a plague, but I am afraid that all my requests not to call me unless it is urgent and highly important are simply ignored by the bank. :mad:
Oh, does anyone have got an experience with any smartphone? I am thinking of getting one for me,but I am very concerned that the ringtone would not be loud enough. Can anyone suggest me the loudest smartphone? When I ask this question to a salesperson they just say that it is a very unusual question and they would not know.

Savvy_Sue

I don't know how loud it is, but have you had an assessment from Social Services for equipment which would help you? Because my mum doesn't hear the phone unless she's in the same room, and she has a thing to wear on her wrist which vibrates.

Also if you can hear your current phone, you can keep that one plugged in. There is a limit to how many phones you can have in total, although I'm reliably informed that it's less critical with phones which also plug into the mains (as the screenphone does). When the power for ringing is all supplied by the phone line, you can't plug too many in, but when the ringing power comes from the mains electric you can have more.

With the screen phone you can also have an 'answerphone' message which tells people to redial using the Text Relay prefix, and answerphone messages can be passed on as onscreen messages.

I would also make a complaint to the bank and instruct them not to phone you, end of, because it is not a means of communication you can currently use. After Dad died I made several phone calls on Mum's behalf and told various organisations not to phone her because she wouldn't be able to hear anything anyway! She gets very few calls these days.

summerof0763

hiya everyone,have received new h/aids today i have phonak nadia,mmm will post back in a few days when i have tried them out a wee bit more,as not sure what i think so far.

some of you may remember i put in a strong worded letter about my experience with ot,funnily enough not heard a peep from them,bit disappointed to be honest.

seaweed5254

Hello all ! My mother is not entitled to nhs and she is only staying here visiting me for 4 months. We've just been to Specsavers and had a free hearing test and the hearing aid they recommend is worth £1100 for manual or £1500 for automatic. It really is pricey but she has lost 50% of her hearing already. I do not know the model, but i was told that it would be Siemens. http://www.specsavers.co.uk/hearing/product-range/. It's either the sound comfort plus or the speech emphasis plus.

AM thinking of getting a 2nd opinion but i only know of boots. Can anybody suggest other cheaper options ? Thanks in advance

seaweed5254

Hello all ! My mother is not entitled to nhs and she is only staying here visiting me for 4 months. We've just been to Specsavers and had a free hearing test and the hearing aid they recommend is worth £1100 for manual or £1500 for automatic. It really is pricey but she has lost 50% of her hearing already. I do not know the model, but i was told that it would be Siemens. http://www.specsavers.co.uk/hearing/product-range/. It's either the sound comfort plus or the speech emphasis plus.

AM thinking of getting a 2nd opinion but i only know of boots. Can anybody suggest other cheaper options ? Thanks in advance


any recommendations please ??

Hear-Hear

The two models for which you have been quoted by Specsavers are somewhere in the middle of their range. If it's purely cost that concerns you, then you will see from the link that you posted that Specsavers can do entry-level models at £495.00 for a pair. Unlike Specsavers, Boots don't publish their price list online, but you will find that they too can offer 'budget' aids at around the same level. There really is nothing cheaper available, unless you look at the silly things like Super-Mini-Ear that you can find for £20.00 in the newspaper ads. These are NOT hearing aids.

You say that your Mother is only "visiting". Be aware that - even if the aids are Siemens hearing aids - the re-programming license for Specsavers and for Boots is UK only. Audiologists in her home country will not be able to carry out adjustments or reprogramming for her, and may not be able to help as regards certain types of repairs. If you need Siemens-branded products (so that aftercare etc is possible in her home country) then you can still get these from Specsavers and Boots but they are not on their 2-for-1 offers, and you should expect to pay double for the same specification systems with the worldwide programming licence.