Thank you for welcoming comments on the Vessel Guidelines.
I write to applaud and second Janice Schacter's very thoughtful suggestions on behalf of the Hearing Access Program.
I was also delighted to see her supporting the form of assistive listening that people with hearing loss (who have experienced it) much prefer: hearing aid compatible assistive listening (via induction loops that broadcast a magnetic signal directly to hearing aids, with, for most users, no need for portable receivers, conspicuous headsets, or the checking out of any equipment).
As you perhaps know, loop systems can serve 100 percent of people (with portable receivers and headsets for the diminishing number of significantly hard of hearing people who do not have hearing aids with telecoils).
Also, because they are hearing aid compatible, the growing number of people who have hearing aids with both a telecoil and a telecoil + mic position will have the option of being able to hear the audience around them, or the person next to them, while simultaneously having their hearing aids serve as loudspeakers for the broadcast sound. Small wonder that this technology is becoming so widespread in the UK and elsewhere---including here in west Michigan, where we've learned that it is feasible in essentially all settings where assistive listening is desired.
For more information see the May, 2006 Hearing Journal:
* http://tinyurl.com/r4nrs is the cover story, by yours truly.
* http://tinyurl.com/r7f3p is Mark Ross’s explanation of the utility of telecoils for hearing aid compatible phones and assistive listening.
* http://tinyurl.com/z76pl is a brief first person account of California Bill Diles, who has now looped 600 of his patient’s homes and who provides evidence of dramatically increased client satisfaction not only with TV listening but also with their hearing aids.
With my thanks for your good work and for welcoming our feedback,
David Myers