Experience with Hand Held Captioning Devices?

[lilladelilla]

This is my first post so please be kind! I am not sure if any of the posters on this board have a hearing loss. I am Hard of Hearing myself and was very excited to see how many rides offer captioning and other assistance. If anyone has used these devices (or requested Interpreters) I would be interested in knowing how well they worked, ease to use, ability of staff to set up the captioning, etc. Thanks!

 

[Talking Hands]

Check your private messages for the person to contact.
Handhelds are devices that work on certain rides and shows that are carried around with you. Kind of a box where you read the captions on it. The new ones have a preview button so you can preview the script prior to the ride if you want. Helps so you don't have to read and watch the wonder visuals at the same time. Some CMs will let you ride twice. (once to read and once to watch the visuals) I prefer interpreters but I am prejudice.
You also have reflective captioning and closed captioning available as well as interpreters depending on the venue and day.
More questions just ask.
BTW welcome to my world. I'm HH as well.

 

[lilladelilla]

Thanks for your response! I sent you a message back. I'm still trying to figure out what means of communication I want to do on each ride. DH is hearing but I think he's going to be jealous of the captioning systems.

 

[Talking Hands]

Actually in most cases you do not have a choice. If it has reflective captioning it usually doesn't have handheld captioning. So you will use what is available at that venue.

 

[lilladelilla]

Is the hand held device available at the rides that offer them or do I have to have it with me for the rides that offer it?

Also, how does the reflective captioning work?

Hope you don't mind me picking your brain. I'm also curious if all the hotels on the park have close captioning. DH and I only noticed it mentioned at one resort site.

 

[Talking Hands]

You get the handheld device at Guest Services at the front of the park you are at. You have to put down a $100 deposit which is returned at the end of the day when you return the device. (cannot take it between parks) You will have to have it with you to use it.
Reflective captioning is a plexiglass screen that you adjust to see the captioning which is beamed from behind you. You ask for it at each venue (show, theatre, etc) and the CM will bring it to you and set it up but you will need to adjust it to be comfortable for you. You look through the plexiglass and see the captioning and the show.
Captioning is on the tvs in the rooms on a limited basis. Not every channel is captioned unfortunately. Can be frustrating. You can also get a kit with a door knocker, alarm clock, tty, and visual alarm. As far as calling the front desk via tty forget it. It is easier to just go to the front desk and communicate with them directly. Or have your husband do all the communicating.
Buses now have captioned announcements so you know what is happening on the bus route.

 

[lilladelilla]

How easy to manipulate are the reflective viewers? There are some near here that always fall over and take a long time to position. One movie theater just got new ones that were a snap two second set up!

 

[Val]

My DD10 has moderate bilateral hearing loss. We used the reflective captioning and the handheld on our trip this last summer. She had no trouble with the reflective captioning- and didn't manage to knock it over! It was typically with the voices and was very accurate. She didn't like the handheld. Sometimes the script didn't match the voices- it was either ahead/behind or truncated. She could hear "well-enough" that she can get the pattern of the voice, so this bothered her. It probably wouldn't bother an adult- as adults could just brush it off and live with it. She HATES the head phone thingies. They don't work well (either t-coil or putting them over her hearing aids), and tend to make EVERYTHING louder- including dinosaur roars, etc. It was too hard for her to distinguish voice from background sound and the loud noises startled her (she is actually sensitive to loud sounds- probably because she hears little to nothing and then BANG!).

All in all, both Disney and Universal experiences were good for her. She got close seating in the live shows, although remember that the comedy club thingy in MK is actually live- so no captioning (we didn't realize it was "live" at the time).

We also went to Busch Gardens and they had little except sign interpreters. No reflective captioning, no handhelds, nothing! She was "too big" for the little kid rides (smallish height and age limits), but can't go on the "big" rides because she has mondini defects. She was a miserable camper, but her older sibs loved the place. We sent the teenagers and Dad back for a second day, but we went to MK instead (thank goodness for annual passes!). Her hearing is progressive, and she is learning sign, too, so that may be in her future. She was excited to "catch" the gist of some signed shows this year.


All in all, we have found our WDW and Universal experiences to be terrific.........probably better for an adult who more experienced reader and can tolerate the delays/summaries of the show rather than relying on verbatim transcripts. I say WDW does a pretty darn good job!

BTW, Talking Hands is the BEST resource on this board when it comes do dealing with hearing loss. What would we do without her?!?!

 

[Talking Hands]

BTW, Talking Hands is the BEST resource on this board when it comes do dealing with hearing loss. What would we do without her?!?!

Thank you but I owe it all to the interpreters and Mark. They have taught me well. Interpreters at Disney are great people as well as great interpreters.

 

[Talking Hands]

How easy to manipulate are the reflective viewers? There are some near here that always fall over and take a long time to position. One movie theater just got new ones that were a snap two second set up!

I find them easy most of the time. Only place I ever had a problem with them was Kennedy Space Center and they weren't prepared to deal with a hard of hearing person who also uses a wheelchair.

 

[SueM in MN]

All in all, both Disney and Universal experiences were good for her. She got close seating in the live shows, although remember that the comedy club thingy in MK is actually live- so no captioning (we didn't realize it was "live" at the time).

It's Monster's Inc, Laugh Floor ('cause I know someone will ask)
Turtle Talk at Epcot is a similar type of show with computer animated characters being performed live on a large screen.

BTW, Talking Hands is the BEST resource on this board when it comes do dealing with hearing loss. What would we do without her?!?!

She has been around since the beginning of this board and has always been very helpful with her advice.

 

[Talking Hands]

It's Monster's Inc, Laugh Floor ('cause I know someone will ask)
Turtle Talk at Epcot is a similar type of show with computer animated characters being performed live on a large screen.


She has been around since the beginning of this board and has always been very helpful with her advice.

FYI both are interpreted twice a week for the deaf and hard of hearing so check the schedule for time.

 

[SueM in MN]

FYI both are interpreted twice a week for the deaf and hard of hearing so check the schedule for time.

I thought they were interpreted, but didn't want to put out info that was not correct. I knew for sure that they were not captioned.

I wonder if anyone has looked at the possibility of creating 'real-time' reflective captioning (sort of like the live closed captioning that some TV live shows do).

 

[Talking Hands]

I thought they were interpreted, but didn't want to put out info that was not correct. I knew for sure that they were not captioned.

I wonder if anyone has looked at the possibility of creating 'real-time' reflective captioning (sort of like the live closed captioning that some TV live shows do).

Real time captioning is extremely expensive. You have to a real time captioner to do it. They are on the order of a court stenographer in price. Also must have the equipement, etc. Interpreting in this case is cheaper.

 

[SueM in MN]

Real time captioning is extremely expensive. You have to a real time captioner to do it. They are on the order of a court stenographer in price. Also must have the equipement, etc. Interpreting in this case is cheaper.

Yeah, I know that.
I read an article on court stenographers recently that made me think of it. The article talked about the shortage of court stenographers because they are no longer limited to court work - it said quite a few work as real time captioners (and can make quite a bit of money doing either one).
I wasn't thinking in terms of doing every show; more on a schedule like they do for the interpreting.
There are people who would benefit from the captioning who would not benefit from interpretation.

 

[lilladelilla]

Yeah, I know that.
I read an article on court stenographers recently that made me think of it. The article talked about the shortage of court stenographers because they are no longer limited to court work - it said quite a few work as real time captioners (and can make quite a bit of money doing either one).
I wasn't thinking in terms of doing every show; more on a schedule like they do for the interpreting.
There are people who would benefit from the captioning who would not benefit from interpretation.

That would be a good idea for people who don't know sign language, but it would be expensive. Maybe there is some way to suggest this to Disney, even if they use remote CART (The stenographer service) on a per-request only basis. It won't be perfect but it would help to fill in the gap for the shows that aren't scripted.

 

[SueM in MN]

That would be a good idea for people who don't know sign language, but it would be expensive. Maybe there is some way to suggest this to Disney, even if they use remote CART (The stenographer service) on a per-request only basis. It won't be perfect but it would help to fill in the gap for the shows that aren't scripted.

The other reason I thought of it was that when I was in Disneyland Paris, they had certain shows on their schedule that were performed in English, with the rest being in French.
Obviously much less expensive to do than the captioning (after all, all you need is CMs who speak both languages). But, at least it's an idea.