My Journey Through Assistive Technology: How Hearing Technology Changed My Life

By: Jessica Shea

Looking back at the history of hearing aids and other technology makes me so thankful for what is available to us now. Each new device solved a different challenge and helped me gain a little more independence along the way.  Not every piece of technology worked for me, but each one taught me something.

HEARING AIDS WITH REMOTE CONTROL

My second pair of hearing aids provided free of charge through the local Children’s Hospital came with a remote control. I could turn them off with nobody knowing 😊 That actually though wasn’t the best part….I could actually control how much I so I could focus on the person in front of meinstead of the background noise.  It was my first introduction to technology that could be personalized to my listening needs.  

HUGE HEAVY FM SYSTEM

Two years after my hearing loss diagnosis, I was finally starting to really explore the assistive technology available to me. My graduate school Social Work Practice professor had this fluctuating voice that went up and down; I wasn’t the only one that struggled to hear what he was saying. The school’s Office for Students with Disabilities gave me this huge box that I was never able to charge or figure out how I was going to get it up the hill to class every day. Even though it wasn’t practical, it opened my eyes to the fact that there were assistive technology options beyond hearing aids.

FM SYSTEM WITH LOOP

I remember always needing to determine who had the microphone near them as it was passed around the meeting. If it wasn’t near the speaker, it did me no good. It worked well, but only when everyone remembered to use the microphone.

TELEPHONE AMPLIFIERS

I would hook up an amplifier to my old work phone and all it really did was make the voice louder not so much clearer. That taught me an important lesson:  louder doesn’t always mean clearer.

FM SYSTEM WITHOUT LOOP

This was so much better as I had more control over what it would pick up and thanks to Bluetooth no loop around my neck. It allowed the sound to go directly to my hearing aids regardless of how far away the sound might be. It made meetings and presentations much easier. 

CAPTIONED PHONE

I loved having the captions on the screen though they were delayed by a few seconds. It was better than having to deal with the amplification. The only problem I had was with voicemails…by the time the captioning would start the voicemail would be close to completion. I ended up not using this and having the calls forwarded to my Sprint relay phone number to get the voicemail captions sent to my work email. It wasn’t perfect, but it showed me how valuable captions could be.

BLUETOOTH HEARING AIDS

I can now listen to music and stream calls straight to my hearing aids. I also now didn’t need to worry about the piece that connected the mold to the hearing aid at the back of my ear breaking or cracking. I replaced that piece so many times regardless of how hard I tried to take care of it. Sometimes it’s the small improvements that make the biggest difference. 

CAPTIONING GLASSES

I had the opportunity to try these out through my local assistive technology center. Wow…just wow….they connect to an app on your phone and you see what the person is saying in the color of your choice in front of you.  It had it’s drawbacks as the captions weren’t the same as what was coming up on the app regularly but loved the convenience of this technology. Being able to maintain eye contact while still seeing captions felt incredible.

So grateful to the individuals that have helped make this technology easier and more convenient to use as well as the people that I’ve had in my life that helped connect me to it….Children’s Mercy Hospital, vocational rehabilitation, assistive technology loan centers. It’s a team…if one piece of assistive technology doesn’t work, try something else.  There will be something out there that will work for you. Remember to speak up…use the resources available to you such as your local assistive technology loan centers…if you don’t know how to contact them reach out to your local Center for Independent Living. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.  Keep trying, keep asking questions, and use the resources available to you.  When I look back, I don’t just see the evolution of technology; I see the evolution of my own confidence and independence.