Phone for my deaf mother???

crafty_carrot

Hallo,

does anyone have any advice on where/what to buy phone wise for my deaf mother?

she does use a hearing aid, but is increasingly not able to
(a) hear the phone, and (b) not hear the person or conversation if she is actually on the phone! It means she is becoming increasingly isolated.

any advice would be appreciated!
crafty carrot

clemmatis

BT sells and rents textphones, they aren't cheap but could be invaluable. There's a faq here

http://www.ricability.org.uk/consumer_reports/at_home/buying_a_textphone/what_are_textphones/

sunnyone

crafty_carrot wrote: »

Hallo,

does anyone have any advice on where/what to buy phone wise for my deaf mother?

she does use a hearing aid, but is increasingly not able to
(a) hear the phone, and (b) not hear the person or conversation if she is actually on the phone! It means she is becoming increasingly isolated.

any advice would be appreciated!
crafty carrot

it depends on her level of hearing loss, binatone speak easy phones are relitively cheap and work with wireless digital hearing aids well.

Savvy_Sue

could be worth asking for a referral to the local sensory impairment team: they should be able to help her find what will meet her needs. also her audiology clinic may advise: esp if she hasn't had her hearing tested within the last year. it could be that her hearing's worse all round and change of aids would help.

see also this thread

Errata

crafty_carrot wrote: »

Hallo,

does anyone have any advice on where/what to buy phone wise for my deaf mother?

she does use a hearing aid, but is increasingly not able to
(a) hear the phone, and (b) not hear the person or conversation if she is actually on the phone! It means she is becoming increasingly isolated.

any advice would be appreciated!
crafty carrot

Some hearing aid wearers collect a load of wax in their ears which reduces their ability to hear. It's something that's worth having checked out by a GP.

Redleela

My husband's grandmother is deaf and struggled with the phone. She manages quite well with the BT big button phone - she puts it on speakerphone and has the volume turned up. Here's the BT link or try John Lewis. You can always return it if it doesn't work for your Mum.

http://www.shop.bt.com/products/bt-big-button-100-telephone-4DC2.html?&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=BT%20Big%20Button%20Phones&utm_term=bt%20big%20button%20phone+Broad

I just bought a big button mobile for her that is hearing aid compatible - the Doro PhoneEasy 338: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doro-338GSM-Easy-Mobile-Phone/dp/B002A9JIG6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291588887&sr=8-1

If you shop around you can get it for around £85 SIM free. Or there is a cheaper Binatone model: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Binatone-Big-Button-GSM-Mobile/dp/B001NMUGUI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1291588988&sr=1-1

Not very money saving but maybe viable for incoming calls if you have a mobile with inclusive minutes.

Hear-Hear

If she's not even hearing the phone ringing, then you are likely to be looking at severe or profound hearing loss. As Savvy_Sue says, time to get in touch with the people at your local sensory impairment unit. In the meantime, you might want to start lowering your mother's expectations about how well she can use a conventional phone, even with an amplifier, in the future.

mikjayfay

Textphone and Typetalk relay are good i use them.