Even after all these years as the parent of a HOH kid, I still make mistakes. We got Jonathan a cell phone a week or so ago for him to have when he's riding the bus (city, not school) and out mountain biking. Well, DH and I went and picked out a phone looking for simple features, etc. But did we consider the user's ears?? Of course not.
He called me Monday while riding the bus (it was running late). I could hear him fine, but he could barely hear me. That was when I started thinking about the HA/phone thing. I did some research and discovered there are codes on phones (on the box) that tell what sort of HAC (hearing aid compatability) it has. His old phone was M3 - OK w/HAs.
Well, we were inside the 15 day limit for returning a new phone, so we went back to the store to find one with telecoil ability. Now he has a M4/T4 phone and can hear it on the t-coil setting of the phone. (Kudos to AllTel for not fussing at all about the exchange, but they don't get full marks because they were pretty clueless about HAC. They went off to search for a T4 and found one, so that was our option.)
It appears that the phone always generates the t-coil signal, but if anyone knows otherwise, please clue me in. He says he's hearing it like w/his FM at school and can tell the difference when he switches the aid to "normal" mode.
In all the research I did yesterday, here is the best page:
Hearing Aid Compatibility.
In general, he's not keen on talking about his hearing loss or on shopping. However, when he got home from school yesterday and I told him there might be a chance to get a phone that would work with his HAs the way his FM does at school, he jumped at the chance.
So he likes his new phone. Of course, it also has video capabilities and a music player. :O And costs $40 more after all the rebates. Still, I think it was a worthwhile upgrade (and lesson for Mom and Dad).
cell phone follies
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