Unit 11 - HAT & CI

Hearing Assistive Technology (HAT)

  • Refers to technology, devices, programs, and services that can be used by HOH/Deaf individuals to help live independently

Three categories of HAT

  • Listening technology

    • ex: FM system, amplified telephone

  • Alerting technology

    • ex: house lighting rewires, vibrating bed alarms, strobe light fire alarm

  • Telecommunication technology

    • ex: TTY, Text pager, tv’s w/ captioning chips installed (or really literally anything with captions)

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Listening Technology

  1. Can be thought of as “binoculars” for the ears; they help make sounds louder and/or clearer, if implemented correctly.

  2. Consists of two categories:

    1. Assistive listening devices (moreso case-by-case basis use)

    2. Assistive listening systems (moreso in use for repeated use/encounters over time or with multiple people at once)

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Assistive Listening Devices: catch, carry, and couple sound

  • catch: catch sound as clearly/directly as possible (using a microphone/audio feed)

  • carry: carry sound to a receiver using some kind of transmission (infrared light waves, radio waves, induction, wire)

  • couple: couple receiver to hearing device/ear (via neckloop, headphones, earbuds, etc.)

Common ALD’s

  • Hearing aids (many fuckin kinds)

    • behind the ear

    • in the ear

    • canal hearing aids

    • body worn hearing aids (not prevalent today, but present Deaf adults can remember using them)

    • COST: $300 - $5k

  • Portable amplifiers

    • allows user to place a microphone near the source of sound, then transmit that sound to headphones, earbuds, neckloop, or directly to a hearing aid

      • Pocket Talker

      • SounDirector

      • SoundWizard

    • COST: $180 - $250

  • Cochlear implants

    • controversial!!!!

    • If effective, can give the user a useful understanding of environmental sounds around them and speech.

    • Using a magnetic implant under skin/in your head (invasive surgery required), it directly stimulates the nerves in the cochlea with electrical impulses.

      • post-implantation therapy required

      • surgical risks

        • No MRIs

        • Infection

        • Sometimes ineffective due to anatomy, residual hearing, technical complications, and/or the user dislikes it (highly individual)

        • also metallic sounding

Assistive Listening System

: largeR-scale devices comprised of multiple components. Sometimes permanent installations that can be used as needed by Deaf/HOH as needed. Typically requires speaker/presenter to speak into a microphone. Also requires Deaf/HOH user to have technology (coupler) that is compatible to the ALS. (ex: special headset, CI, or hearing aid)

Three kinds of ALS

  • infrared system (transmits via infrared light)

  • FM system (transmits via radio waves)

  • inductive/audio loop system (transmits via magnetic)

Alerting Technology: indicate the presence of environmental noise that can alert Deaf to said noise (ie. doorbell, baby crying, text/phone call, alarms, security, etc).

Three (main) ways to alert:

  1. amplified sound

  2. flashing lights

  3. vibration

Telecommunication

  • Film

    • can use amplified sound

    • can also you Open Captioning or closed captioning

    • MOVIE THEATERS - theaters nor film companies are required to caption their movies (I actually think this may have changed), but per the ADA, they are required to have accommodations available. Hence, Mo-Pix

      • Rear Window captioning/individual captioning (Mo-Pix)

        • can be placed in a cup holder

        • can also be worn in the form of clunky glasses

        • often batteries are worn out/dead, captions lag, captions are incorrect, resulting in missing the part of the movie

  • Televisions

    • can use amplification

    • can also use OC or CC

      • Jan. 1, 2006, all “English” TV programs must provide captioning.

        • Shows under 10 minutes, airing from 2am to 6 am, or petitioned to be exempt from “undue burden” can be exempt from this rule

  • Telephone

    • two components: knowing the phone is ringing and understanding the message, either via amplification or reading text

    • Options include:

      • Amplified telephones (louder than 50 dB)

      • Portable amplifiers/ amplified headsets (do not fit on modern cells, not really in use today)

      • Cap-tel (Captioned Telephone)

        • used by late-deafened adults, ie people that use speech but not hearing. similar to VCO, they voice and an interpreter relays text of the person on the other end of the line

      • TTY (TDD)

        • can be used by Deaf to type and read conversation on the “phone”. Could be used to call other TTYs or to call a relay center

        • also older

      • Videophone

        • Similar to a TTY, but instead a certified interpreter interprets via a videophone.

Pros & Cons of CIs

Pros

  • effective immediately for adults

  • children improve at a slower pace

  • some are able to make phone calls, although not all are able to use the telephone

  • some can hear speech without lip-reading

Cons

  • surgical risks

    • infection

    • general anesthesia

    • injury to facial nerve

    • disturbance to taste (also a face nerve problem ig)

  • meningitis

  • cerebrospinal fluid leakage

  • perilymph fluid leakage (fluid from cochlea/inner ear)

  • vertigo

  • reparative granuloma

  • may hear sounds differently

  • accessibility to equipment over user’s lifetime

  • expensive

  • no guarantee they will understand language well

  • implant may fail and need to be removed

  • cannot get an MRI

  • dependent on batteries

  • destroys residual hearing

  • cannot get external components wet

Parts of a Cochlear Implant

  1. Speech processor: sits on/in ear, houses a microphone, which captures speech/environmental sounds

  2. Transmitter: sounds captured from the speech processor are sent to the transmitter. Transmitter is magnetized to the back of the head, to the receiver under the skin.

  3. Receiver: Receives transmission from transmitter and passes along to the stimulator

  4. Stimulator: travels to the inner ear and transmits sounds to the auditory nerve.