full of questions today-phones

[Guest guest]

Jill, I haven't even had a chance to read your last post to me yet, and here I

am asking another.

Bobby started out with one hearing aid when the speech teacher told me, after

looking at his audiogram, that he had a unilateral loss. So he got one hearing

aid. Silly me, to trust a speach teacher, turns out that when a teacher of the

deaf got a look at the same audiogram, she said he would benefit from a hearing

aid in the other ear. (And this was the same SLT that called all the shots at

the last IEP meeting. Oh, I am so glad to be out of that school and with a

whole new crew of people who readily admit they know nothing about hearing

loss.)

Anyway, he has two aids now. Simple question...he doesn't like to answer the

phone anymore (not too much of a problem, he's only six and no one understands

what he is saying anyway...) but still, I want him to feel included. What do

you guys do about phones? Keep it simple, I am terrible at technology, the

whole conversation you guys had about blue tooth technology lost me big time,

how do I get somethign simple so that he can comfortably talk on the phone

again. Does he have to have the FM boot? (He isn't crazy about them because

they are heavy and bulky.)

Signed, Trish, the technological dwarf, but who is being forced into this world

whether I like it or not!

[Guest guest]

Hi Trish - my boys both wore two hearing aids until their hearing

changed in the last couple of years. They now have one hearing aid and

one cochlear implant. Bobby may well have a programming option in his

hearing aids called a telecoil (it's the T setting on the hearing aid).

If it's not programmed in, ask your audiologist to program it for him.

It works great for my boys. They set the hearing aid to " T " and then

can talk on the phone. We have found there's a 'sweet' spot - so

holding it over his ear may not be that spot (for my boys it's kind of

behind their ears). We've also found that some phones work better with

the T coil than others. Definitely the cordless phones work best and

our older 900 mhz seems to work better than the 2.4 or 5.8 ghz digital

phones - why, dunno!

Does this help?

Barbara

Trish Whitehouse wrote:

> Jill, I haven't even had a chance to read your last post to me yet, and here I

am asking another.

>

> Bobby started out with one hearing aid when the speech teacher told me, after

looking at his audiogram, that he had a unilateral loss. So he got one hearing

aid. Silly me, to trust a speach teacher, turns out that when a teacher of the

deaf got a look at the same audiogram, she said he would benefit from a hearing

aid in the other ear. (And this was the same SLT that called all the shots at

the last IEP meeting. Oh, I am so glad to be out of that school and with a

whole new crew of people who readily admit they know nothing about hearing

loss.)

>

> Anyway, he has two aids now. Simple question...he doesn't like to answer the

phone anymore (not too much of a problem, he's only six and no one understands

what he is saying anyway...) but still, I want him to feel included. What do

you guys do about phones? Keep it simple, I am terrible at technology, the

whole conversation you guys had about blue tooth technology lost me big time,

how do I get somethign simple so that he can comfortably talk on the phone

again. Does he have to have the FM boot? (He isn't crazy about them because

they are heavy and bulky.)

>

> Signed, Trish, the technological dwarf, but who is being forced into this

world whether I like it or not!

>

>

[Guest guest]

My son is 11yo, but doesn't use the phone at all unless he really has to.

He does have digital hearing aids with a t-coil, and we have purchased t-coil

compatible phones. He knows how to turn on the t-coil, but generally prefers to

just perch the phone receiver on top of the microphone on his hearing aid.

His big issue is speech, though--if you don't know him well, it's very hard to

understand him on the phone. That's okay for grandparents, etc., but it makes it

hard for others.

I figure that once he becomes *really* interested in using a telephone, he

will figure out how it works best for him. (His grandmother/my MIL also wears

HA's, and she prefers to take out one hearing aid and turn up the volume on the

receiver.)

A couple of weeks ago, his Boy Scout patrol leader called to give him

information about the family picnic/first meeting. Since we do try to let our

son be as independent as possible, I let him handle the call. When he hung up,

he admitted that he hadn't really heard any of the details, so I had to call

back to find out when and where the picnic was being held. Thank goodness for

caller ID...

Funny note: Our 15yo daughter (with normal hearing) has a cell phone, and like

a typical teenager, she is usually on at least one phone at any given time when

she's home--or she's texting a friend with her cell phone. A few months ago, our

son announced that he wants his own cell phone, too. I told him that when he

actually starts *using* a phone, we might consider getting him one.

Kiminy

Trish Whitehouse chester2001@...> wrote:

Simple question...he doesn't like to answer the phone anymore (not too much of

a problem, he's only six and no one understands what he is saying anyway...) but

still, I want him to feel included. What do you guys do about phones?

---------------------------------

Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out.

[Guest guest]

hmmm...I am not allowed to adjust anything on my son's hearing aid. they did

everything on the computer, and locked it in, and I can't do anything. I can't

even turn it off and on...I have to turn it off by opening the battery door.

This was so that the volume didn't get changed accidentally (or on purpose) by

Bobby, or so it wouldn't get turned off accidentally. So this is an

audiologist question?

I hate now knowing everything

Trish (But that's why you guys are here

Re: full of questions today-phones

Hi Trish - my boys both wore two hearing aids until their hearing

changed in the last couple of years. They now have one hearing aid and

one cochlear implant. Bobby may well have a programming option in his

hearing aids called a telecoil (it's the T setting on the hearing aid).

If it's not programmed in, ask your audiologist to program it for him.

It works great for my boys. They set the hearing aid to " T " and then

can talk on the phone. We have found there's a 'sweet' spot - so

holding it over his ear may not be that spot (for my boys it's kind of

behind their ears). We've also found that some phones work better with

the T coil than others. Definitely the cordless phones work best and

our older 900 mhz seems to work better than the 2.4 or 5.8 ghz digital

phones - why, dunno!

Does this help?

Barbara

Trish Whitehouse wrote:

> Jill, I haven't even had a chance to read your last post to me yet, and here

I am asking another.

>

> Bobby started out with one hearing aid when the speech teacher told me,

after looking at his audiogram, that he had a unilateral loss. So he got one

hearing aid. Silly me, to trust a speach teacher, turns out that when a teacher

of the deaf got a look at the same audiogram, she said he would benefit from a

hearing aid in the other ear. (And this was the same SLT that called all the

shots at the last IEP meeting. Oh, I am so glad to be out of that school and

with a whole new crew of people who readily admit they know nothing about

hearing loss.)

>

> Anyway, he has two aids now. Simple question...he doesn't like to answer the

phone anymore (not too much of a problem, he's only six and no one understands

what he is saying anyway...) but still, I want him to feel included. What do you

guys do about phones? Keep it simple, I am terrible at technology, the whole

conversation you guys had about blue tooth technology lost me big time, how do I

get somethign simple so that he can comfortably talk on the phone again. Does he

have to have the FM boot? (He isn't crazy about them because they are heavy and

bulky.)

>

> Signed, Trish, the technological dwarf, but who is being forced into this

world whether I like it or not!

>

>

[Guest guest]

Trish,

Talk to the audiologist about your concerns.

A six-year-old can definitely change the volume accidentally, and even turn

off the aid completely, which is why they are often locked like your son's are.

However, there is also a lot to be said for letting the child determine the most

comfortable setting, and make adjustments as needed.

If there is a volume dial on the aids, you may be able to just get a cover

that can be taken off if you need to adjust the volume yourself, for some

reason. Some aids have switches that not only turn on and off the aids, but also

allow for other settings, like the t-coil. Our son's aids have on-off switches,

with a button that allows for three different settings when the aids are turned

on--normal, front (for when there is a lot of background noise), and t-coil (for

use with telephones or other t-coil devices, like FM systems)--and the

audiologist can program those settings if necessary.

Our son has had hearing aids since he was an infant, but when he was about 18

months old, he went through a phase when he was constantly taking them out to

play with them. Rather than force the issue (by constantly putting them back in

or scolding him), we chose to just take the hearing aid away for an hour or so

if he took it out himself, but we wouldn't turn up the TV volume or anything

else. It didn't take long for him to figure out that he should leave the aids in

place if he wanted to hear things. From that point on, there were no issues with

him taking out the hearing aids or turning them off.

When he was about 6 or 7, we took off the volume dial covers. There were times

when he wanted to turn down the volume (all the better to zone out!) and other

times when he needed to increase the volume (like when the batteries were

starting to die, and he didn't have spares). Again, he figured out what works

best for him, and he uses the hearing aids well enough that we haven't see any

need to use FM systems at all.

Kiminy

Trish Whitehouse chester2001@...> wrote:

hmmm...I am not allowed to adjust anything on my son's hearing aid. they did

everything on the computer, and locked it in, and I can't do anything. I can't

even turn it off and on...I have to turn it off by opening the battery door.

This was so that the volume didn't get changed accidentally (or on purpose) by

Bobby, or so it wouldn't get turned off accidentally. So this is an audiologist

question?

I hate now knowing everything

Trish (But that's why you guys are here

Re: full of questions today-phones

Hi Trish - my boys both wore two hearing aids until their hearing

changed in the last couple of years. They now have one hearing aid and

one cochlear implant. Bobby may well have a programming option in his

hearing aids called a telecoil (it's the T setting on the hearing aid).

If it's not programmed in, ask your audiologist to program it for him.

It works great for my boys. They set the hearing aid to " T " and then

can talk on the phone. We have found there's a 'sweet' spot - so

holding it over his ear may not be that spot (for my boys it's kind of

behind their ears). We've also found that some phones work better with

the T coil than others. Definitely the cordless phones work best and

our older 900 mhz seems to work better than the 2.4 or 5.8 ghz digital

phones - why, dunno!

Does this help?

Barbara

Trish Whitehouse wrote:

> Jill, I haven't even had a chance to read your last post to me yet, and here I

am asking another.

>

> Bobby started out with one hearing aid when the speech teacher told me, after

looking at his audiogram, that he had a unilateral loss. So he got one hearing

aid. Silly me, to trust a speach teacher, turns out that when a teacher of the

deaf got a look at the same audiogram, she said he would benefit from a hearing

aid in the other ear. (And this was the same SLT that called all the shots at

the last IEP meeting. Oh, I am so glad to be out of that school and with a whole

new crew of people who readily admit they know nothing about hearing loss.)

>

> Anyway, he has two aids now. Simple question...he doesn't like to answer the

phone anymore (not too much of a problem, he's only six and no one understands

what he is saying anyway...) but still, I want him to feel included. What do you

guys do about phones? Keep it simple, I am terrible at technology, the whole

conversation you guys had about blue tooth technology lost me big time, how do I

get somethign simple so that he can comfortably talk on the phone again. Does he

have to have the FM boot? (He isn't crazy about them because they are heavy and

bulky.)

>

> Signed, Trish, the technological dwarf, but who is being forced into this

world whether I like it or not!

>

>

[Guest guest]

Sometimes holding the phone to the ear can cause feedback. You don't really

NEED a telecoil to use the phone but it really depends on the phone. Make sure

it is a hearing aid compatible phone. And it is great if it has a volume

control. Also little kids do well with the speakerphone. Maggie can't hear

very well on her cell so she uses the speakerphone on it most of the time.

[Guest guest]

Kiminy, he might be a good person to try a phone for texting more than talking

on it. Maggie texts alot and we are going to have to change our plan because

she ran up a bill last month from texting - it's not in our plan. TMobile has a

device called a " SideKick " that is great for texting. But Maggie does it on a

regular flip phone by motorola.

[Guest guest]

Elias's hearing aids are set up the same way. We can't adjust anything. In

fact, if

the FM system boots are on, we can't even turn the stupid things off my

opening the battery cover!

Bonnie

>

> hmmm...I am not allowed to adjust anything on my son's hearing aid. they

> did everything on the computer, and locked it in, and I can't do anything. I

> can't even turn it off and on...I have to turn it off by opening the battery

> door. This was so that the volume didn't get changed accidentally (or on

> purpose) by Bobby, or so it wouldn't get turned off accidentally. So this is

> an audiologist question?

>

> I hate now knowing everything

>

> Trish (But that's why you guys are here

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

My daughter (15yo, normal hearing) uses text on her cell phone at least as much

as she talks on it. (Which reminds me--I need to call to bump up the number of

messages she has each month...) She has deaf friends that she texts regularly,

but even her hearing friends sometimes prefer to text if they are in a place

where talking wouldn't be a good idea. She wants a Sidekick SO badly!, but it's

not in our budget right now. She also wants me to get a TTY system that she can

use at home.

Our son types on a keyboard at 5-8 wpm--his handwriting and spelling are so

abysmal that he's supposed to type practically all of his school work, but he

hates to type, and refuses to even use e-mail or IM. *IF* he showed any interest

in typing or texting, I would support it fully.

Kiminy

pcknott@... wrote:

Kiminy, he might be a good person to try a phone for texting more than talking

on it. Maggie texts alot and we are going to have to change our plan because she

ran up a bill last month from texting - it's not in our plan. TMobile has a

device called a " SideKick " that is great for texting. But Maggie does it on a

regular flip phone by motorola.

---------------------------------

How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates.

[Guest guest]

That is how digitals usually are. Maggie's have always been that way except for

occasional loaners when her aids are getting fixed. The new ones (Sebotek) have

a button you push to change programs, the old digitals only had one program and

no volume, no on/off. We had on/off switch on our FM boots.

[Guest guest]

That is how digitals usually are. Maggie's have always been that way except for

occasional loaners when her aids are getting fixed. The new ones (Sebotek) have

a button you push to change programs, the old digitals only had one program and

no volume, no on/off. We had on/off switch on our FM boots.

[Guest guest]

That is how digitals usually are. Maggie's have always been that way except for

occasional loaners when her aids are getting fixed. The new ones (Sebotek) have

a button you push to change programs, the old digitals only had one program and

no volume, no on/off. We had on/off switch on our FM boots.

[Guest guest]

We actually practiced using the phone with our boys. We started small -

like calling a business to ask them when they closed or ordering pizza -

and then built up. And we'd start with " safe " people (like

grandparents, etc.). The boys are pretty comfy on the phone now

although they both prefer email or IM...

Kim Weiss wrote:

> My son is 11yo, but doesn't use the phone at all unless he really has to.

>

> He does have digital hearing aids with a t-coil, and we have purchased

t-coil compatible phones. He knows how to turn on the t-coil, but generally

prefers to just perch the phone receiver on top of the microphone on his hearing

aid.

>

> His big issue is speech, though--if you don't know him well, it's very hard

to understand him on the phone. That's okay for grandparents, etc., but it makes

it hard for others.

>

> I figure that once he becomes *really* interested in using a telephone, he

will figure out how it works best for him. (His grandmother/my MIL also wears

HA's, and she prefers to take out one hearing aid and turn up the volume on the

receiver.)

>

> A couple of weeks ago, his Boy Scout patrol leader called to give him

information about the family picnic/first meeting. Since we do try to let our

son be as independent as possible, I let him handle the call. When he hung up,

he admitted that he hadn't really heard any of the details, so I had to call

back to find out when and where the picnic was being held. Thank goodness for

caller ID...

>

> Funny note: Our 15yo daughter (with normal hearing) has a cell phone, and

like a typical teenager, she is usually on at least one phone at any given time

when she's home--or she's texting a friend with her cell phone. A few months

ago, our son announced that he wants his own cell phone, too. I told him that

when he actually starts *using* a phone, we might consider getting him one.

>

> Kiminy

>

> Trish Whitehouse chester2001@...> wrote:

> Simple question...he doesn't like to answer the phone anymore (not too much

of a problem, he's only six and no one understands what he is saying anyway...)

but still, I want him to feel included. What do you guys do about phones?

>

> ---------------------------------

> Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out.

>

>

[Guest guest]

One of my son's audiologists taught him that in a pinch, he could use

the speaker option for the phone which would double his imput. This was

a better option when he was little and not so concerned that others

couldn't hear his conversations. The good thing for me was that I could

hear detailed messages and didn't have to call people back for

information.

Re: full of questions today-phones

My son is 11yo, but doesn't use the phone at all unless he

really has to.

He does have digital hearing aids with a t-coil, and we have purchased

t-coil compatible phones. He knows how to turn on the t-coil, but

generally prefers to just perch the phone receiver on top of the

microphone on his hearing aid.

His big issue is speech, though--if you don't know him well, it's very

hard to understand him on the phone. That's okay for grandparents,

etc., but it makes it hard for others.

I figure that once he becomes *really* interested in using a

telephone, he will figure out how it works best for him. (His

grandmother/my MIL also wears HA's, and she prefers to take out one

hearing aid and turn up the volume on the receiver.)

A couple of weeks ago, his Boy Scout patrol leader called to give him

information about the family picnic/first meeting. Since we do try to

let our son be as independent as possible, I let him handle the call.

When he hung up, he admitted that he hadn't really heard any of the

details, so I had to call back to find out when and where the picnic

was being held. Thank goodness for caller ID...

Funny note: Our 15yo daughter (with normal hearing) has a cell phone,

and like a typical teenager, she is usually on at least one phone at

any given time when she's home--or she's texting a friend with her cell

phone. A few months ago, our son announced that he wants his own cell

phone, too. I told him that when he actually starts *using* a phone, we

might consider getting him one.

Kiminy

Trish Whitehouse chester2001@...> wrote:

Simple question...he doesn't like to answer the phone anymore (not too

much of a problem, he's only six and no one understands what he is

saying anyway...) but still, I want him to feel included. What do you

guys do about phones?

---------------------------------

Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out.

[Guest guest]

>> One of my son's audiologists taught him that in a pinch, he could use

the speaker option for the phone <<

JD will often do this too. He uses a Sidekick (and Loves it) and he'll often

use the speakerphone on that. He actually hears best on my cell phone -

rather than any of the house phones. It's a Samsung and you can adjust the

volume on that while you're speaking.

-Kay

Kay

kay@...

The Listen-Up Web

http://www.listen-up.org

[Guest guest]

Forgot to mention, one of the reasons he loves his Sidekick is that when he

doesn't understand something, he calls the person back on his phone using

Relay.

-Kay

Kay

kay@...

The Listen-Up Web

http://www.listen-up.org

[Guest guest]

But don't these guys get a lot of feedback when they put the cell phpne to

their ears?

Trish

>> One of my son's audiologists taught him that in a pinch, he could use

the speaker option for the phone <<

JD will often do this too. He uses a Sidekick (and Loves it) and he'll often

use the speakerphone on that. He actually hears best on my cell phone -

rather than any of the house phones. It's a Samsung and you can adjust the

volume on that while you're speaking.

-Kay

Kay

kay@...

The Listen-Up Web

http://www.listen-up.org

[Guest guest]

Triah, Cell phones don't have to be hearing aid compatible, that is why many

squeal when near a hearing aid. Many companies do offer hearing aid compatible

phones, but you really have to try them out. Maggie uses a rather expensive

Motorola model that she can hear pretty well on, though she often uses the

speaker phone. She also has the volume cranked all the way up. Her phone is

NOT one of the ones that is certified HA compatible.

[Guest guest]

Hi Trish - no - if the hearing aid is set to T you don't get feedback...

Trish Whitehouse wrote:

> But don't these guys get a lot of feedback when they put the cell phpne to

> their ears?

>

> Trish

>

>

>

>>> One of my son's audiologists taught him that in a pinch, he could use

>>>

> the speaker option for the phone <<

>

> JD will often do this too. He uses a Sidekick (and Loves it) and he'll often

> use the speakerphone on that. He actually hears best on my cell phone -

> rather than any of the house phones. It's a Samsung and you can adjust the

> volume on that while you're speaking.

>

> -Kay

>

> Kay

> kay@...

> The Listen-Up Web

> http://www.listen-up.org

>

>

>

>

>

> All messages posted to this list are private and confidential. Each post is

the intellectual property of the author and therefore subject to copyright

restrictions.

>

[Guest guest]

Oh - I just read 's post also. At least with the cell phones we

have (very basic Motorola and an equally basic Nokia), both boys can

talk on the cell phones and it doesn't give feedback. We actually had

them try the phones out in the store to see which was best.

Barbara Mellert wrote:

> Hi Trish - no - if the hearing aid is set to T you don't get feedback...

>

> Trish Whitehouse wrote:

>

>> But don't these guys get a lot of feedback when they put the cell phpne to

>> their ears?

>>

>> Trish

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>>> One of my son's audiologists taught him that in a pinch, he could use

>>>>

>>>>

>> the speaker option for the phone <<

>>

>> JD will often do this too. He uses a Sidekick (and Loves it) and he'll often

>> use the speakerphone on that. He actually hears best on my cell phone -

>> rather than any of the house phones. It's a Samsung and you can adjust the

>> volume on that while you're speaking.

>>

>> -Kay

>>

>> Kay

>> kay@...

>> The Listen-Up Web

>> http://www.listen-up.org

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> All messages posted to this list are private and confidential. Each post is

the intellectual property of the author and therefore subject to copyright

restrictions.

>>

[Guest guest]

Trish,

With the speaker option on, the phone isn't near their hearing aids.

Re: Re: full of questions today-phones

But don't these guys get a lot of feedback when they put the

cell phpne to

their ears?

Trish

>> One of my son's audiologists taught him that in a pinch, he could

use

the speaker option for the phone <<

JD will often do this too. He uses a Sidekick (and Loves it) and he'll

often

use the speakerphone on that. He actually hears best on my cell phone -

rather than any of the house phones. It's a Samsung and you can adjust

the

volume on that while you're speaking.

-Kay

Kay

kay@...

The Listen-Up Web

http://www.listen-up.org

________________________________________________________________________

Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email

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[Guest guest]

> But don't these guys get a lot of feedback when they put the cell phpne to

their ears?<

JD has an implant and uses a hearing aid. It doesn't seem to cause a problem

either way (he does on occasion put the cell phone up to the hearing aid if

he needs to have the implant remapped). I think JD sor of holds it t an

angle or something because it doesn't seem to cause feedback. Of course, his

hearing aid is a programmable so the audiologist he saw at s Hopkins may

have some setting on that she set.

-Kay

Kay

kay@...

The Listen-Up Web

http://www.listen-up.org

[Guest guest]

>> We actually had them try the phones out in the store to see which was

>> best.<<

That's what we did as well. I wouldn't think doing otherwise. I can tell

when it's one that works for him because he'll get this big grin on his

face.

-Kay

Kay

kay@...

The Listen-Up Web

http://www.listen-up.org