Why are Assistive Listening Systems Needed?

Why Are Assistive Listening Systems Needed?

People with hearing loss have trouble understanding speech when there is background noise, reverberation, and they are more than six feet away from the sound source. Assistive listening systems improve auditory comprehension in three ways: they filter out background noise, override poor acoustics, and reduce the distance from the sound source.

1. Hearing aids help, but don’t cure hearing loss. Hearing aids improve SNR (signal-to-noise-ratio) by approximately 6 dB.  Assistive listening systems give up to 30 dB SNR. See research graph (this website)
2. People who don’t wear hearing aids need access to clear speech in public places.
3. People with hearing loss need sound clarity. It’s not just about loudness.
4. Room acoustics are problematic for people with hearing loss. 

Who uses assistive listening systems?

These systems are available for everyone! You don’t need to have “bad” hearing to use. People with mild to profound hearing loss, people on the autism spectrum, people who have low vision and need to know which voice to listen to, auditory processing needs, etc. Anyone who wishes to hear clearer with less background noise!