HLAA Exhibits #6
2008 Hearing Loss Association of America Conference - Reno,
NV
By Cheryl Heppner, 6/23/08
Audient
The Audient Alliance for Accessible
Hearing Care is a nationwide, nonprofit program that assists people
who can't afford hearing aids. It's affiliated with
the Northwest Lions Foundation for Sight & Hearing. This
program helps provide hearing aids at a greatly reduced
cost through the support of hearing care professionals
and suppliers who care enough to offer their services.
To qualify in 48 states and DC,
a family of 1 must earn less than $24,500 per year. The limit for a family
of two is $33,000; family of three, $41,500; and it's an
additional $8,500 for each person added to the family after
that. Limits are higher for Hawaii and higher still
for Alaska.
To apply, call the toll free number, 1-877-283-4368
to reach a program services representative who will answer
your questions and can send you an application. You can
also email your request to info@audientalliance.org.
Audient's application form will
need to be returned with a verification of your income
- a copy of either last year's tax forms or your Social
Security beneficiary letter. Information
sent will be kept confidential. A determination of
your qualification will be made as soon as this information
is received by Audient. If accepted by the program, you'll
be contacted by Audient to arrange a referral to a participating
hearing health care professional near you.
Your total cost for a hearing
aid is significantly reduced because hearing health care providers agree to
discount their services, and suppliers such as Oticon,
Phonak, Siemens, Widex, Westone and Precision Laboratories
also offer discounts. Current costs are approximately
$875 to $1,400 for one hearing aid and related care, or
$1,500 to $2,400 for two hearing aids and related care
when ordered at the same time. You'll receive digital
hearing aids with a manufacturer's warranty, quality care
from a licensed hearing health professional (exam billed
separately), 30-day trial period and three follow-up visits
during the first year.
HLAA, Deafness Research Foundation, Sertoma Foundation,
Alexander Graham Bell Association, Virginia Merrill Bloedel
Hearing Research Center, Oticon and Siemens are among the
partners in the Alliance.
Alternative Communication Services
(ACS) provides
high quality captioning of audio through Communication
Access Realtime Translation (CART), remote CART, captioning
of media and text interpreting through C-Print and TypeWell. Clients
include educational classes, businesses, conventions,
and news broadcasters. Services can be provided
in both English and Spanish. ACS also offers sign
language services for education and convention planning
customers.
The company, which is based in
Lombard, IL, is headed by Philip A. Hyssong, a management
partner with 20 years of experience. Prior to the launch
of ACS, Phil was Executive Director of a media company
specializing in Christian media that focused on the needs
of people who were deaf or hard of hearing as well and
led a CART and captioning company to a high level of
service. He is a Certified Manager of Reporting Services
by the National Court Reporters Association and has completed
the TypeWell training program.
The other managing partner, Mike
Cano, is a realtime writer who is known for volunteering his talents for
a number of support groups focused on the needs of individuals
with hearing loss in addition to his work for paying clients. Mike
has earned several high-level certifications from the National
Court Reporters Association that include RMR, CRR, CBC,
and CCP. If you want to know more about this alphabet
soup, see the explanations at:
This digital cordless phone is
loaded with features, but one thing that's really unique
is its "Vibrasound" bone
conduction earpiece that uses vibrations to transmit sound. For you
tech geeks, the phone has 2.4 GHz frequency-hopping
spread spectrum FHSS technology. There's an all-digital
answering system with memo record and 50-station phone
book and dialer. The recording capacity is 15 minutes.
The KX-TG2388B also has a speakerphone
and caller ID. An extra charger and shoulder rest attachment
are included. Two
helpful features for people with visual impairments
are the talking caller ID, phone book and keypad. I
also liked that it is Energy Star qualified.
Scoring major points for ingenuity
is Panasonic's "Link-to-cell" device,
the KX-TH1211. You can see a video -- with captions
-- about this device at:
It allows you answer both cell phone and landline
phones with the same cordless handset. It's meant to be
helpful even for unstable cell phone calls inside your
house. Place the cell phone where reception is good, and
calls to the cell phone will be transferred to your landline
phone wherever you are using it inside the house. It works via
Bluetooth technology. While you're having the
calls transferred to your landline phone, your cell
phone is being charged, assuming it's resting in the
compact base and plugged into an electrical outlet.
There are numerous other cool features, though
some may have limited use for individuals with hearing
loss. A digital speaker phone for hands-free conversations.
An intercom function that lets people talk to each
other on different handsets. A voice alert when your battery
power is running low, verbal announcements of a caller's
name each time a call is received, verbal information of
alarms, call blocking to reject calls from phone numbers
you register in advance and more.
