[salleh]

Every once in a while I hear hard of hearing people talking about "loop systems." What are loop systems? How can they help hard of hearing people hear better? Are they expensive? Where are they installed?

A hearing loop is a wire that circles a room and is connected to a sound system. The loop transmits the sound electromagnetically. The electromagnetic signal is then picked up by the telecoil in the hearing aid or cochlear implant.

To use a hearing loop, you flip on the t-switch on the hearing aid or cochlear implant to activate the telecoil. Usually, no additional receiver or equipment is needed. Using a telecoil and hearing loop together is seamless, cost-effective, unobtrusive, and you don't have to seek additional equipment. Hearing loops are also called audio-induction loops, audio loops, or loops. If your hearing aid doesn't have a telecoil, you will need a headset plugged into a loop receiver to achieve the same effect.

A small loop system for the TV at home would cost about $200. Publix is supporting equal access and improved communication for the hearing loss community here in The Villages. Shopping recently at the Publix Supermarket in Colony Plaza, I tried the newly installed hearing loop at the pharmacy windows and at the customer service counter. As a hearing impaired Villager and cochlear implant recipient it is often difficult for me to hear in many retail locations. I found that the counter loop systems at Publix will make it much easier for me and others with hearing loss to communicate with store associates.

The Villages Amenity Authority Committee meetings at the Ashley Wilkes Room in the Savannah Center are looped as well as the District's Supervisors' Board meetings on Laurel Blvd.

The three movie houses in The Villages recently installed similar systems at the ticket windows as well as closed captioning and assistive listening systems in each auditorium making the movies accessible to many hearing impaired who had given up going to the movies.