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Why are assistive listening systems needed?
Why are hearing loops the preferred assistive listening system?
What hearing aids can receive loop broadcasts?

What do loop systems cost? Who sells and installs them?

What are common concerns and FAQs?

Do you have a sound demonstration?

Churches and cathedrals
Theaters, courts, and
auditoriums
Transient venues: Drive through stations,
ticket windows, etc.
Airports, train stations
Home TV rooms
Future venues: Offices, cars, phone enhancements

 

 

 

 
 


People with hearing loss can dream of a future when hearing aids might also serve as wireless loudspeakers, delivering clear, customized sound from inside their ears. They can dream of communities where worship places, auditoriums, business windows, and home TV rooms all broadcast their sound through these in-the-ear loudspeakers. Thanks to the refinement of "induction loop" systems--which magnetically transmit sound to hearing aids and cochlear implants with telecoils (T-coils)--that future can be now!

To experience hearing loop sound demonstrations and to see a child's reaction to a home TV room loop, click here.

For a recap of the exciting progress toward hearing loops in the U.S., see here.

 

"Hearing Loops for All"
3rd International Hearing Loops conference
October 2013 (PDF)
 
 

What are common concerns and FAQs about loop systems?
Click here.

What hearing aids have telecoils and can receive loop broadcasts?
Most hearing aids and all new cochlear implants now come with inexpensive telecoil sensors...more
Why are assistive listening systems needed?...more What do loop systems cost? And where can we order one?...more  

Why are hearing loops the preferred assistive listening system?
Unlike other assistive listening systems, loop systems broadcast to hearing aids...more

 Where are looped venues?
See here for an interactive national locator for specific hearing assistance technologies, including loops. See lists of looped facilities in West Michigan. See initiatives in Arizona, Baltimore (MD), Colorado, Florida (see also here), Illinois, New Mexico, New York City, Oregon, Rochester (NY), Sarasota (FL), Seattle (WA), Silicon Valley (CA), and Wisconsin.
What assistive listening does the Americans for Disabilities Act require? Click here.
Might Bluetooth be a more effective assistive listening technology?...more Is there a hearing loops discussion board? Yes, here.

Endorsements:

"The American Academy of Audiology, on behalf of audiologists, and the Hearing Loss Association of America on behalf of people with hearing loss announce a collaborative public education campaign 'Get in the Hearing Loop.'" ~Press release from Hearing Loss Association of America and American Academy of Audiology, 2010.

Britain's Royal National Institute for Deaf People (now Action for Hearing Loss) has noted that "Induction loops are vital to ensure accessibility for hearing aid wearers," and offers suggestions for installing and checking them.

See American Academy of Audiology information and brochures on hearing loops and telecoils, and a Hearing Loss Association of America telecoil brochure.
   
For more endorsements of hearing aid compatible assistive listening and user testimonials, see here, and view here.

Articles and Media:

Nontechnical information on hearing aid compatible assistive listening has been authored or produced by

  • The Washington Post (and here), the National Geographic (2012) (PDF), The New York Times (2011, front page), Scientific American (2010), the Chicago Tribune (2010 front page), the American Psychological Association's magazine (2011), NPR's Science Friday (2010), and All Things Considered (2011).
  • Hearingloop.org creator, David Myers, in the Association for Psychological Science Observer (2011), the Advance for Hearing Practice Management (2011), Hearing Review (2010), and Sound and Communications (2010), and in thirty other articles.
  • Eloquent first-person stories from musician Richard Einhorn, after experiencing a temporary Kennedy Center hearing loop, from Denise Portis, offering a first-person story, and from Chelle, describing her dramatic ear-opening experiences with hearing loops.
  • California audiologist Bill Diles, who describes how his installation of (now more than 1800) home TV room loops has benefitted his patients and his practice.
  • Sertoma, a national service organization which promotes hearing health through its 540 local clubs (much as Lions Clubs focus on vision), has launched a national campaign to introduce hearing loops to their communities (see here). To support this effort, they, in 2012, created three 2-minutes videos (here). 
  • American Academy of Audiology president, Dr. Patricia Kricos, on "Looping America," in the Academy's flagship magazine, Audiology Today (2010).
  • The hands-up, loop-using response of Hearing Loss Association of America 2012 conventional attendees (here).
  • Juliette Sterkens, the Hearing Loss Association of America's national hearing loop advocate, answers questions and offers her occasional reflections here. For her October, 2012, presentation to the Kentucky Hearing Loss Association, see here.