Assistive Listening Devices

[amylucinda]

I'm wondering if anyone can give me info re: devices that can be used with a hearing aid telecoil? My daughter has a very ineffective FM system to use with her hearing aids, so we're not even going to bring it.

That leaves us with the telecoil in her hearing aid. We've never used the telecoil ability with anything, and are wondering how it's used at Disney. Is there additional equipment we need to have, or is their system set up to transmit to her telecoils?

Thanks in advance.

Amy

 

[Talking Hands]

Check your private messages

 

[eeyore45]

Hi Amy,

I'm sure Talking Hands has given you all the info you need, she's a wonderful resource!

Just thought I'd chime in with my experience, my ds is now 19, and is hard of hearing, he also had problems w/ his FM, he's scheduled for new hearing aides any day now!!

I'm sure Talking hands has told you the maps at the park, and the sites that have the links to the Assistive Listening Devices. Just know they can be heavy! We 'reserved' both options at each park, and I highlighted in different colors which attraction used which device. I do remember in MGM the Backlot tour was completely different on the device compared to what the CM was saying... again, due to hard of hearing, it wasnt too big of an issue, and I mentioned it when I turned in the device!

We also took advantage of reflective captioning, we use closed captioning at home all the time, so this was great, but in AK, its tough to be a bug, make sure you're not sitting too close, when the theatre is 'fogged' up, you can see the reflection!! again, I think our kids are just grateful for anything...

Here's one useful link here at the Dis>>

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/disabhearing.htm

Here's a pic of the Assitive Listening Device >>
http://allearsnet.com/pl/listen.htm

and of the hand held device>>
http://allearsnet.com/pl/handheld.htm

From the links from the front page ...
http://allearsnet.com/pl/special.htm

 

[Talking Hands]

Actually I referred her to Mark at Disney as I do nt have T-coils on my aids and know nothing about that. Mark does know.

 

[eeyore45]

See, Talking Hands, you still are a wonderful resource!!

I posted the info because I notice how many were viewing, and thought maybe the links will help someone...

 

[Val]

How old is your daughter? If she is young, be careful with the FM on some of the "louder" rides such as Ellen's universe of energy. My DD7 was scared to death last year on this ride- unfortunately, since she was newly diagnosed with hearing loss this was her first experience with the devices. Scared the holy bejabbers out of her when the dinosaur roared- guess she could REALLY hear it- and it took quite a bit of coaxing for her to try the FM unit again. Thank goodness we were familiar with most of the rides and knew what to expect, so we made better choices the rest of our stay.

We also had some trouble at Epcot on our first day with CM's knowing what the FM units were and how they worked. Had to return to the front of the park twice to get a working unit. Took three CM's and a manager to figure out how to get the batteries in.

Generally, my DD liked the FM units. Many rides don't have them, though, and she was too young to read and not yet fluent in sign. STill, she had a much better experience when she could actually understand what was being said.

At the princess breakfast, I cued the princesses as they came by that my daughter had trouble hearing. The behavior change in the princesses was incredible- brought tears to my eyes. They got down to Lyssa's level, made eye contact, and spoke to her face so she could lip read. It wasn't so much that they spent extra time, but that they made sure she could see them. And they listened to her- even though she is hard to understand. While my DD loved the princesses because they are princesses, I loved the CM's because they made my daughter's trip! What a wonderful place WDW is!

 

[amylucinda]

Thanks for all the info!

My dd is amost 4, with a moderate-severe loss, and has been wearing HAs for over 2 years now. We have nice Phonak Claros, but we were hoping to get the new Savias. The sound quality is SO much better. And our Phonak Microlink FM has been lousy since day 1....lots of static, fading, etc. We (and Phonak) have never been able to figure it out. Unfortunately, the Army insurance program won't pay for "deluxe" hearing aids (of course, 'new' equates to 'deluxe'), so we are going to have to come up with the $8k for new aids and boots.

Did you actually use your FM system, and plug your transmitter into their audio system? Do they broadcast FM signals?

(I will ask the Disney reference - thanks!!--, but thought I'd get some more input here, too.)

As she is getting older and can tell us things more clearly, we are realizing that she doesn't hear as well as we thought. We know what her audiogram says and how poor a substitute HAs are for regular hearing, but even so, we just didn't catch it. She has some amazing coping strategies, and while we knew to expect that, somehow we didn't realize how much she is just "coping" and not actually hearing. That was an eye-opening, and very depressing, realization.

We do what we call "survival sign", as she made it clear early on that she wanted to be very verbal (VERY VERY VERBAL !!!).

 

[eeyore45]

ahhh Bless you and your DD!!

My ds was diagnosed at 4 also! When he went to Disney he had parents (um, yeah that would be me!!) that werent so informed! We also have the Phonaks on order, but no insurance for us! Lots to learn about aides!

As for the Assitive Listening Device, I'm thinking a lot may be just overload for your dd, visually Disney and the attractions will be stimulating, and nothing wrong with that! YOU know your dd best. The hand held captioning and reflective captioning is a lot of reading, since the one device is heavy (and relatively new so a 'hold' fee of $100 is taken, but they return it when you return the device) but any way, that's just my opinion. YOU get to decide what's best for you!!

I'll send you a PM with our experiences with aides!

 

[Val]

We have the phonak Aeros and my DD really likes them. Has princess pink covers with princess blue ear molds! She was 6 when diagnosed- fooled lots of audiologists and teachers and me for several years. had lots and lots of speech issues, trouble paying attention, couldn't learn to rhyme- all the signs, but she would "pass" her hearing tests. When they turned her around and AWAY from the window (so she couldn't see the audi pushing the buttons!) she failed miserably. Lyssa also is a fairly decent lip reader- so she really learned to compensate. Hearing aids truly help, though. They are a God send. I am not sure I will ever forgive myself for missing her hearing loss for so long. At least she doesn't seem to hate me (yet!).

The FM devices sometimes didn't work too well with her HAs, but she then she would take the HAs out and used the headphones. At times that was too loud and not clear (except for that dinosaur roar), but generally one strategy or the other worked. In quieter areas, like shows (I remember maybe Presidents in MK, but I am forgetting which show was best) the FM system really worked well. At home now we are working on using the captioning, as Lyssa is becoming a good reader, so that may be our strategy next visit. Our general strategy was to sit up front, us the FM when possible and let her have fun.

Interestingly, since she was an "old time" visitor, I think she probably had expectations about the shows. Sometimes she would say that the show was different- not the way she remembered it- I wonder if it didn't "sound" different to her. Regardless, she is a die hard Disney princess herself. We will be going to Hilton Head this year, taking a year off from the parks. Can't wait to see B'Lou Crab and Shadow!

 

[quiteblonde]

Here's one useful link here at the Dis>>

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/disabhearing.htm

Here's a pic of the Assitive Listening Device >>
http://allearsnet.com/pl/listen.htm

and of the hand held device>>
http://allearsnet.com/pl/handheld.htm

From the links from the front page ...
http://allearsnet.com/pl/special.htm

eeyore45, thanks for posting these links. My brother is hearing impaired and I had no idea all this is available at WDW....this is great information for our October trip.

 

[amylucinda]

The following is the text of a message I sent to the person in charge of hearing impaired/deaf services at Disney. Suffice it to say that our use of Disney's ALD systems (the listening ones, not the captioning ones...remember, our daughter is only 4 and not reading that well yet!!) was an unmitigated disaster. Guest Relations CMs at both AK and Epcot told us that the ALD systems rarely work. We tried again today at Epcot, with 2 other systems, neither of which worked. Again, I asked who could help if they didn't work. "No one can help." When I returned the devices and asked what I could do to get them working, I was told, "I'm sorry they didn't work. Next!"

----------------------------------------------------

We're down to our last 2 days, and are not having much luck at all with these devices. On Wednesday, we tried 2 bodypack sets at 2 different places at MGM Studios. We never got the induction loop working at either Sci Fi, or Beauty and the Beast. At BB, a cast member named Lacie was kind enough to lend us their in-house sennheiser earset (no induction loop).

At Lion King, we tried 2 completely different set-ups. One was the
sennheiser with an induction loop, and the other was a body pack with a
headset. The sennheiser used without the induction loop and the
bodypack/headset both had exactly the same static/feedback, and were entirely useless. One of them also was picking up some kind of radio
transmission...can't remember which one now. One cast member told us the noise was due to cell phone interference. The sennheiser with the induction
loop also didn't work. No one at Lion King could help us beyond
apologizing for things not working. I had asked if I could test ahead of time,
and was told the theater was tested and there was no need for me to
test. I was also told things would be loud enough for my daughter to
hear. Yes, the music is loud, but the speaking parts aren't, and so she
misses most of what happens.

No one knows anything about these systems, or how to test to be sure if
they work. Only Lacie at BatB took me to talk with the engineers to at
least try to test in the few minutes before the show. And Chad at MGM
offered to bring a 3rd set to me. Unfortunately, there is apparently
no one with any experience available to help beyond that. While very
nice and pleasant, no one ever offered to pursue a solution other than to
keep trying systems. I could spend my whole day trying systems all
over the parks, but that's not what I had planned to do this week.

Any help you could offer in our last days would be most welcome. If
there's nothing that you can do, then I would urge you to re-evaluate the
services you offer to hearing-impaired folks who depend on ALDS (and
who don't sign) and your method of delivery. While lots of attempts to
help were made, there was little understanding of the need for such
devices and not much pursuit of a solution. A smile and an apology don't
fix everything.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[amylucinda]

Not as nice as last year. Even though I told all 4 (there were 6 princesses last year) that she was hearing impaired, only 1 got down on her level to talk to her, and even then didn't speak up. (They were all speaking in very quiet, breathy princessy voices.)

I was very surprised as the interaction this year was entirely different than last year. Last year there were more princesses, they spent more time, and they paid attention to my 5 year old son...even planting several big princess lipstick kisses. This year, it was a quick greeting to the table, quick sign of the book, and a quick picture, and off. If they spent more than 45 seconds each, I'd be surprised. Definitely not as nice as last year.

I hate being a complainer, but I have been frustrated this whole trip with the lack of understanding from the very folks who should be trained for this type of interaction. Frankly, we had better interaction with the "regular" CMs - cleaning staff, seaters at shows, etc. - in regards to communicating with my DD. You'd think the characters and the guest relations folks would have more training and more understanding, but our experience was completely opposite. The "folks on the street" were the best at getting down to her level and trying again, being patient while I "translated" for them. We even started have CMs sign her "grap" book!

 

[Talking Hands]

I was lucky the day I used ALD which Mark had been encouraging me to try. I have pain issues and cannot use any headsets except one type so I brought my headset. The first pack didn't work so Mark went and got a second one making sure it did work. It was awesome for the music but the speech was harder to hear because of the background music.This issue is why I prefer interpreters and sign language for shows and captioning for rides. Fortunately I am fully able to use both. There are just times when an interpreter is necessary because ALDs don't cut it. FYI there are also oral interpreters that can work with people who do not sign.

 

[amylucinda]

Hmmm... I'm not familiar with oral interpreters. Can you explain how that works? I do what I consider "translating" for my daughter, when I repeat something for her clearly and so she can see my face. Unfortunately, I find that very difficult to do during rides, and I'm sure it would be horribly distracting for those around us.


Amy

 

[noritake1]

Hi I hane 5 disney kids 4 girls and1 boy. dd are hearing impared they are 4 and 18 months diagnosed at birth through oae testings. they wear gaia hearing aids from otocon, we love them! they aslo both have phonac fm system. we have been before with the 4 year old when she was 2 I was pregnant with the other one. should we bring our own fm? thanks in advance Jill

 

[Talking Hands]

Hmmm... I'm not familiar with oral interpreters. Can you explain how that works? I do what I consider "translating" for my daughter, when I repeat something for her clearly and so she can see my face. Unfortunately, I find that very difficult to do during rides, and I'm sure it would be horribly distracting for those around us.
Amy

An oral interpreter will repeat the information so the hard of hearing person can see it and substitute words of the same meaning that are more easily readable. The also use natural gestures but not sign language to make the message clear. They do not voice it but mouth it so it is not disturbing to others. Unfortunately with the lighting in some of the rides this isn't possible but it is in the classroom and in a lecture situation. Things will be better as your daughter learns to read as captioning will be available to her. Remember by speech reading she is getting only 25-35% of the message. Scary stat!

 

[amylucinda]

Thanks! Yeah... I knew the stat on speechreading. She does fairly well with her hearing aids, but with all the background noise at Disney, she needs all the help she can get. Poor thing was constantly saying, "What?" and looking up at us, trying to see our faces.

We're already working on the reading, in preparation for captioning! She's not even 4 yet, but can read the first 5 Dick and Jane stories!!!! Totally amazed us the first time she did it. She continues to add words, which thrills us, because, while at the moment she's only sight-reading, we can begin to build on the concept of certain letters sounding a certain way when they look a certain way in a word. (Of course, with all the lovely limitations of English, like /f/s that are spelled gh or f or ff or......ARRGHHHH!). We were worried that she would be behind in gaining reading skills, because of the difficulties of matching up sounds and letters, but that doesn't seem to be the case. She's ahead of where her older brother was at the same age, and even seems to be getting a grasp on the concept of seeing a letter in a word (mainly in the initial position) and have it represent a specific sound, which I find amazing.

Thanks for all the input. Hopefully Disney can work out the ALDs, as there will certainly be more children in the future coming to Disney needing that support, now that more children being identified via the Universal Newborn Hearing screening.

Amy

 

[Talking Hands]

amulucinda has your daughter used ALDs at the movies yet. I found that I had the same problem with them as with the ones at Disney. Entire sound track is amplified so the background noise still overpowers the speech. Wish they could come up with one the applifies the speech portion more than the music and other background noise.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

Personally, as a CM that works in attractions, I've never actually seen one of the assistive listening receivers, and I would be pretty clueless as to diagnosing a problem with one of them. It's most likely NOT the case that the CMs were being deliberately un-helpful, it's more likely that they honestly had no idea how to fix whatever problem you were having with the device. If it had been me, I certainly would have made every effort to try and help, but even my best efforts probably wouldn't actually be very helpful.

 

[Talking Hands]

That's why I said I was lucky the day I used the ALD. First one didn't work but I was not sure if it was or not. Sometimes it is hard to tell. I mentioned it the Mark when I Saw him and he took it back and exchanged it to one that did. Even some of the CM at Guest Services seem clueless about ALDs and how they work and even if they are in working order. I wonder if they have a way to check them before handing it out.