Hearing Loss

Lesson 3: Assistive Devices

Computers and Hearing Ear Dogs

Computers

When it comes to hearing loss, computers are a great tool to level the communication field. The Internet particularly, has made it easy for deafened people to communicate with others on an equal basis.

Not only is there email, but if you want the feel of real time chatting, there are several "instant message" programs you can choose from. It's almost like talking on the phone, but it’s text, not voice.

A benefit to that is if you do miss a word, you can go back and see what was typed. Most message programs allow you to save the conversation if you need to and you can scroll back to read what was said before. The following are the most popular instant messaging programs and only require an Internet connection.

• AOL’s Instant Message:
  http://www.aim.com/
• Microsoft Messenger (for non XP users):
  http://messenger.microsoft.com/default.a...
• Windows Messenger (for XP users):
  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/windo...
• ICQ:
  http://web.icq.com/
• Yahoo Messenger:
  http://messenger.yahoo.com/

Remember that to use these programs, the person you want to talk to has to have the same one. In other words, you can’t talk to someone on AOL’s Instant Messenger through Windows Messenger.

There are a few third party chat programs that can allow chatting between the different programs, but they’re not endorsed by AOL, Microsoft or Yahoo. You use those at your own risk.

Read the directions when you download and install them and make sure your computer has an up to date antivirus program running that includes them in its scans.

Hearing Ear Dogs

Many dogs can be trained to alert hearing impaired people to common, important sounds. They're taught a variety of ways to communicate with their person. There is more demand than dogs, so the wait can be very long for a specifically trained hearing ear dog.

Hearing Ear dogs have the same access to public places as other service dogs. They can go to restaurants and other public places with their deaf or hard of hearing owners. If you get one, find out all the details so you know what you need to do to properly identify your dog as a service dog.

Hearing ear dogs don’t necessarily have to be big. In fact, many people feel they shouldn’t be too big because they sometimes have to jump on their person to alert them. Intelligent, calm, even tempered dogs are the best candidates no matter what their size.

As you can imagine, training hearing ear dogs is expensive. It takes a long time to train them for service and again, there is more demand than available dogs. However, there are organizations that will provide dogs to needy people.

The Lions Foundation in Canada offers service dogs for free to needy families. There is a lot of useful information on their web site.

In the United States, please see: http://www.deltasociety.org/

If you already have a pet dog, there are some trainers who will work with you to teach them a few basics to help you. BUT the dog has to have the right temperament and intelligence. Not every dog is suited to assistive training.

To get more information about hearing ear dogs, visit Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. They have a lengthy list of organizations, both local and national, for both the U.S. and Canada.

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