deaf & hard of hearing assistive technology

Deaf & Hearing Awareness Training

Deaf & Hard of Hearing

Assistive Technology


Welcome

Your presenter today is:– Julianne Gillen, Community Resource Officer

[email protected]

Please switch off all mobile phones


DeafHear.ie

• DeafHear.ie is a voluntary non-profit organisation and is registered charity

• We have 12 Resource Centres throughout the country

• Outreach clinics in a number of different locations.


Support Network

DeafHear.ie Services


Under the Umbrella of DeafHear.ie

• Irish Hard of Hearing Association

• Irish Tinnitus Association

• Irish Society for Mental Health & Deafness


Statistics

• 14% of population have a hearing loss*• Of that 14%:

– 1% is culturally deaf– 5% require amplification– 4% can not use amplification– 4% may not be aware of their hearing loss

*NDA official figure, DeafHear 17%


Talking Numbers

Wheelchair Users 1%

Vision Impairment 1.4%

Deaf or Hard of Hearing 14%


How We Hear


Conductive Hearing Loss

• This is when sound cannot be conducted (pass through) the outer and middle ear.

The causes include: • collection of fluid in the middle ear ('glue

ear' in children)• damage to the eardrum by infection or

trauma• blockage of the outer ear (by wax)• middle ear infections


Sensorineural Hearing Loss

This happens when the tiny hair cells in the cochlea are damaged and so do not convert sound into electrical impulses.

The causes include:• age related hearing loss (a natural part of the

aging process)• acoustic trauma (such as a loud noise) to the

hair cells• viral infections of the inner ear (measles,

mumps, chickenpox)


Rustling leaves

Library

Ocean

Conversation

Telephone

Truck

Lawn mower

ChainSaw

Personalstereo (max)

Jet aircraft(100m)

Rockband Pain

threshold

0.25 0.5 1 2 4 8

0

20

30

40

60

80

100

120

Frequency and Intensity of familiar sounds

Frequency (Kilohertz)

So

un

d p

ress

ure

leve

l (d

BA

)

Hearing damage


Normal

Mild

Moderate

Severe

Profound

Different Levels of Hearing Loss

Frequency (Hz)

He

ari

ng

leve

l (d

B)

125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

Mild - Dave Browne (32) - secondary school teacher


Speech Audiogram

Frequency (Hz)

He

ari

ng

leve

l (d

B)

125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

Mild - Dave Browne (32) - secondary school teacher


Normal

Mild

Moderate

Severe

Profound

Different Levels of Hearing Loss

Frequency (Hz)

He

ari

ng

leve

l (d

B)

125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

Profoundly deaf - Carol Casey (28) - civil servant


Speech Audiogram

Frequency (Hz)

He

ari

ng

leve

l (d

B)

125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

Profoundly deaf - Carol Casey (28) - civil servant


What is a Hearing Aid

In The Ear (ITE)

Half Shell

CanalBehind The Ear


Behind the Ear

Behind the Ear (BTE) hearing aid and attached earmould


In the Ear (ITE) Hearing Aid


Cochlear Implant


Hearing Aid Batteries


Aids & Appliances

• Make it shake

• Make it flash

• Make it loud


Telecoil or ‘T’ Switch

Telecoil switch on ITE Telecoil on the Behind The Ear


Loop System


Portable Loop Systems


Counter Loop


Using the loop with Telephone


Assistive Telephone Equipment


When a Phone Rings…


When the doorbell goes…


When the baby cries at night….


When the Fire Alarm activates…


Bellman System


Silent Alert System


TV/Audio listening devices


Personal Listening Devices


Tinnitus Assistive Technology

• Tinnitus Pillow

• Tinnitus Pillow Speaker

• Tinnitus Alarm Clock

• Tinnitus CD’s

• Sounds and Aroma Tinnitus Relaxer

• Naturcare Tinnitus Masker

• Sound Oasis Tinnitus Relaxer


Guidelines

• Getting Deaf/hard of hearing person’s attention• Topic of discussion • Face the person• Maintain eye contact• Speak slowly and clearly• Facial expression • Mouth free of obstruction• Avoid standing in front of a light source• Level of noise in the room


Any Questions?

Thank you for listening!

deaf & hard of hearing assistive technology

Documents