Floyd Wesley
Brosman
Copyright 2002
I bought my first aid way back in 1972. It was so bad I could not wear it more than a few minutes a day. It was badly fitted to my ear canal and not at all suitable to my weird type of hearing loss which is good at the bass end and fantastic at the top end with a 65 decibel loss in the middle--smack dab where the conversation takes place. In spite of great progress in the design and fitting of hearing aids since 1972, many of the same problems exist for the hearing aid buyer. Okay, they now fit my ear better (if I go back for retrofits) and they cover my loss pattern far better. But as a rule the industry tends to have a few shortcomings even yet. Users are often not encouraged to come back for adjustments if the aid fits badly and they are certainly not listened to by the industry leaders responsible for design and manufacture of aids. The result is that most hearing aids stay in a dresser drawer and most hearing impaired people do not choose to consider wearing an aid at all.
I have purchased aids in America most of the time, but I have also bought aids in Europe. There is a difference in many aspects of the way in which the consumer of these products are treated in these two locations. American aid mamufacturers seem to follow a policy that states, "We know what is best for you. Trust us." As a consequence, the US hearing aid is usually much smaller than that found in Europe--even when made by the same company. The reason is that smaller, nearly invsible aids are a marketing ploy here. What does this mean to the consumer? We get an inferior product with fewer useful features. For those of us with older, less adroit hands, it also means having an aid that is next to impossible to manipulate when hands-on procedures are needed.
Let's look at what I get for my hearing aid dollar in Europe: A larger aid, more easily adjusted, and most important--it has a usable telecoil. Don't tell me you have a telecoil on your American aid, because you probably do not. If it is like the average US aid it has a fraction of the power in the telecoil that I expect from an aid bought in Europe. In fact, most European aids come equipped with this powerful accessory due to the standardization of assistive listening devices abroad. While we struggle with a myriad of choices in assistive devices, they rely on telecoils. This allows for a certain amount of cooperation across national boarders. It is rare that I find a theatre or large public building that is not wired for telecoil with the universal sign on the entry door. Heathrow Airport, the Calais Ferry Terminal, or a performance of a London play; all come in loud and clear for me through my telecoil, while the "normal" folks have to strain to hear.
My American audiologists tell me that the telecoil cannot be
fitted to the aids they sell because of restrictions imposed by
the size of the aid. Then they tell me that all of this is due
to customer demand, hinting that I am somehow at least partially
to blame. Yet this is one customer who demands a better hearing
aid--size be damned. While our aid designers are going off in
search of some holy grail in the form of a rice kernel-sized hearing
aid, I have a few requests to make of them:
Like I said, I've been a hearing aid buyer and user for three decades and I am ever grateful for the progress the industry has made, but can't we see some improvement on these points? Telecoils need to be regarded as standard equipment on all aids--beginning yesterday. Aids need to work for people who do not work in sweat-free environments. I tell this to every audiologist who moans that only 20% of the hearing impaired use aids. Most of these potential customers can't use an aid that can't be worn at work--where they sweat. Many aid buyers buy just one aid and no more. Does anyone in the industry think it might be worthwhile to contact these non-users to find out what their problems are?
And last but not least, why are Americans so grossly rude to the hearing impaired person? I have never encountered this rudeness abroad, yet here I have to restrain myself from doing great physical damage to those who show such a rude attitude to my handicap. Do they feel it is fair game to trip a blind person? Will they find ways to hamper the progress of a wheelchair user? Nope, but they will exhibit extreme vexation at being asked to repeat a mumbled statement for those of us who might not hear it the first time around. And why should it be necessary to threaten to put a violent end to a blaring radio just to get it turned down where we can hear what is being said to us in a place of business? These things bother me but not the folks who sell me aids. In America it is the fault of the hearing impaired person if things don't go right. I'd like to see that attitude changed. In the meantime, I am off to Europe again, just to lower my frustration level. I might even buy a real hearing aid while I am over there.
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