Deaf & Hard of Hearing Assistive Technology

Welcome Your presenter today is: Julianne Gillen, Community Resource Officer Julianne.gillen@deafhear.ie Please switch off all mobile phones

DeafHear.ie DeafHear.ie is a voluntary non-profit organisation and is registered charity We have 12 Resource Centres throughout the country Outreach clinics in a number of different locations.

Support Network DeafHear.ie Services This is an overview on the services provided by DeafHear.ie. Touch on each one individually, but keep questions until the end of the session. At all times, remind people of our contact information, should they require anything further.

Under the Umbrella of DeafHear.ie Irish Hard of Hearing Association Irish Tinnitus Association Irish Society for Mental Health & Deafness

Statistics 14% of population have a hearing loss* Of that 14%: 1% is culturally deaf 5% require amplification 4% can not use amplification 4% may not be aware of their hearing loss *NDA official figure, DeafHear 17%

Talking Numbers Wheelchair Users 1% Vision Impairment 1.4% Deaf or Hard of Hearing 14%

How We Hear The ear receives sounds from the environment and transmits them to the brain. The ear consists of three parts. The outer ear (1) is those parts of the ear that are visible on the sides of your head plus the canals that enter into your head. These canals lead to the eardrum (2) , which is attached to three small bones, the 'ossicles' (3) , that amplify and conduct sound to the inner ear. The area that contains these small bones is called the 'middle ear'. The inner ear consists of an organ called the 'cochlea' (4), which is shaped like a snail shell. The cochlea contains tiny cells called 'hair cells' (which vibrate when a sound is conducted to them by the eardrum and ossicles of the middle ear). The movement of the hair cells transmits electrical impulses down the auditory nerve (5) to the brain. That is when you 'hear' the sound. How sound travels through the ear Sound vibrations are picked up by the outer ear  These sound vibrations move down into the ear through the ear canal The sound vibrations make the parts of the outer and middle ear vibrate as they pass through (the ear drum & ossicles) In the inner ear (cochlea) the vibrations are changed into nerve signals The nerve signals are sent to the brain along the auditory nerve When the brain receives these signals we hear the sound(s)

Conductive Hearing Loss This is when sound cannot be conducted (pass through) the outer and middle ear. The causes include: collection of fluid in the middle ear ('glue ear' in children) damage to the eardrum by infection or trauma blockage of the outer ear (by wax) middle ear infections

Sensorineural Hearing Loss This happens when the tiny hair cells in the cochlea are damaged and so do not convert sound into electrical impulses. The causes include: age related hearing loss (a natural part of the aging process) acoustic trauma (such as a loud noise) to the hair cells viral infections of the inner ear (measles, mumps, chickenpox)

Frequency and Intensity of familiar sounds Frequency (Kilohertz) Rustling leaves Library Ocean Conversation Telephone Truck Lawn mower Chain Saw Personal stereo (max) Jet aircraft (100m) Rock band Pain threshold 0.25 0.5 1 2 4 8 20 30 40 60 80 100 120 Sound pressure level (dBA) Hearing damage This chart outlines the different frequencies in intensities of familiar sounds and is a good way to illustrate the practicalities of a hearing loss. Refer back to this when using the individual audiograms later. Also highlight the level at which sounds can cause damage to hearing especially loud music and the use of personal stereos. Refer to legislation and recent media reports *Emma Mc Auley’s interviews* if possible.

Normal Mild Moderate Severe Profound Different Levels of Hearing Loss Mild - Dave Browne (32) - secondary school teacher Normal Mild Moderate Severe Profound We use examples of a mild hearing loss and of a profound hearing loss to compare the difficulties of both. Use the audiograms and speech bananas to illustrate the individual difficulties of both for communication, in speech and environmental sounds.

Mild - Dave Browne (32) - secondary school teacher Speech Audiogram Mild - Dave Browne (32) - secondary school teacher

Normal Mild Moderate Severe Profound Different Levels of Hearing Loss Profoundly deaf - Carol Casey (28) - civil servant Normal Mild Moderate Severe Profound

Profoundly deaf - Carol Casey (28) - civil servant Speech Audiogram Profoundly deaf - Carol Casey (28) - civil servant

What is a Hearing Aid Half Shell In The Ear (ITE) Canal Behind The Ear A hearing aid is similar to a miniature public address system. They include a: Microphone-Picks up the sound. Amplifier-Increases the loudness of the sound. Receiver-Reproduces the sound and transmits it into your ear. Battery-The power supply of the hearing aid. Different types of hearing aids are made to accommodate different types of hearing loss. Custom hearing aids are not appropriate for some severe forms of hearing loss, as they may not have enough volume to help the individual.

Behind the Ear (BTE) hearing aid and attached earmould

In the Ear (ITE) Hearing Aid

Cochlear Implant

Hearing Aid Batteries

Aids & Appliances Make it shake Make it flash Make it loud

Telecoil or ‘T’ Switch Telecoil on the Behind The Ear Telecoil switch on ITE The telecoil switch/button on an in-the-ear hearing aid is often located near the top.On behind-the-ear hearing aids, the telecoil switch is usually located in the centre of the on and off switch.

Loop System

Portable Loop Systems

Counter Loop

Using the loop with Telephone Hold the telephone receiver close to our ear - without touching the hearing aid. If your hearing aid “whistles,” tilt the telephone receiver away from the ear until the whistling stops. Experiment with the position of the telephone to find your hearing aid’s “hot spot”. With any style hearing aid, it may be necessary to: Increase the volume control of the hearing aid Be sure you are holding the telephone at the angle pictured above Turn the volume back down before changing your hearing aid back to “on”

Assistive Telephone Equipment

When a Phone Rings…

When the doorbell goes…

When the baby cries at night….

When the Fire Alarm activates…

Bellman System

Silent Alert System

TV/Audio listening devices

Personal Listening Devices

Digisystem Video Clip

Tinnitus Assistive Technology Tinnitus Pillow Tinnitus Pillow Speaker Tinnitus Alarm Clock Tinnitus CD’s Sounds and Aroma Tinnitus Relaxer Naturcare Tinnitus Masker Sound Oasis Tinnitus Relaxer

Guidelines Getting Deaf/hard of hearing person’s attention Topic of discussion Face the person Maintain eye contact Speak slowly and clearly Facial expression Mouth free of obstruction Avoid standing in front of a light source Level of noise in the room

Thank you for listening! Any Questions? Thank you for listening!