Resources - Hearing Loss LIVE!

ADA: The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) is an “equal opportunity” law for people with disabilities. It is one of America’s most comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in the mainstream of American life — to enjoy employment opportunities, to purchase goods and services, and to participate in State and local government programs and services.

ALD Locator: The ALD (Assistive Listening Device) Locator will tell you what assistive listening systems are available in cities around the United States.

ALDA: Association of Late-Deafened Adults mission is to support the empowerment of deafened people. Late-Deafened Adults are people who have lost the ability to understand speech with or without hearing aids after acquiring spoken language. Visit ALDA national organization to see if there is a chapter near you.

Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses (AMPHL): AMPHL is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has been serving thousands of Deaf and hard-of-hearing healthcare professionals and students worldwide since 1999. We provide support in the form of advocacy and mentorship.

Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI): According to Mayo Clinic, an auditory brainstem implant, originally developed for adults diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 2 — a rare genetic condition that causes tumors to grow on nerves, provides hearing to people with hearing loss who can’t benefit from a hearing aid or cochlear implant. This is most commonly due to a missing or very small hearing nerve or severely abnormal inner ear (cochlea). The auditory brainstem implant directly stimulates the hearing pathways in the brainstem, bypassing the inner ear and hearing nerve.

Auditory Processing Disorder: A disorder in which the brain and ears do not communicate effectively, making it difficult for someone to interpret the sounds that make up speech.

Aural Rehabilitation: Techniques focused on the reduction of hearing-loss-induced deficits of function, activity, participation, and quality of life through…
• sensory management to optimize auditory function.
• instruction in the use of technology and control of the listening environment.
• perceptual training to improve speech perception and communication.
• counseling to enhance participation, and deal both emotionally and practically with residual limitations.

Ava: Ava – A smartphone app that uses AI (artificial intelligence) to transcribe instantly what people say. Then, to improve quality, algorithms add punctuation, speakers, and vocabulary from your dictionary.

Ava gives you one free hour a month. Or you can pay for Ava Scribe, a professional-grade version that combines AI with professional human captioners (Scribes) to deliver higher quality captions.

Badger: Badger is a smart badge that captions when people talk. Built on the idea that captions are needed for the Hard of Hearing while in the hospitals while staff wear masks.

Better Connect Academy: The Better Connect Academy helps businesses bridge the gap with the Hard of Hearing community with equal communication access & effective communication per federal law. They offer a one hour online course. Visit the website for more information.

C-Print Captioning: Meaning-for-meaning (non-verbatim) Speech-to-text service provided by trained professionals who type spoken language/auditory information which displays as text on a screen, simultaneously read by the person who is hard of hearing or deafened. This service is provided through the use of a laptop computer and a specialized software called C-Print Pro.

CART: Communication Access Real-time Translation is the instant, verbatim translation of the spoken word into text using a stenotype machine, notebook computer and real-time software. Also known as Computer Aided Real-time Transcription.

CART Request Template: If you are unsure about how to request CART, use this template as a starting point and personalize for your own use.

CART Services by Julia Stepp, LLC: Julia provides remote CART/live captioning. Feel free to use our “contact us” page to learn more about the services Julia provides.

CCAC: Caption + Activism + Community. CCAC is an official all volunteer non-profit 501c3 organization. Mission: Advocacy for Inclusion of Quality Captioning Universally.

CMT: Charcot-Marie-Tooth is one of a group of disorders that cause damage to the peripheral nerves, the nerves that transmit information and signals from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. In the last ten years they have been able to find links with hearing loss to CMT.

CapTel: CapTel is a free voice-to-text captioned phone for home use.

CaptionCall: CaptionCall is a free voice-to-text captioned phone service. They offer landline and mobile services.

Captioning Service Provider: Global Alliance – Find a Captioning Service Provider

Closed Captions: Subtitles accessible through a decoder on your television, video screen, or other visual display.

Diglo: Diglo is an online catalogue with a large array of tools to help with hearing loss

Federal Communication Commission: FCC oversees and regulates communication by radio, television, wire, satellite, cable for all 50 state and the District of Columbia and all US territories.

Global Alliance of Speech-to-Text Captioning: Global Alliance is a non-profit corporation whose purpose it to be the leading professional authority on speech-to-text captioning, representing all captioners, consumers, and industry.

HLAA: Hearing Loss Association of America. Founded in 1979 by Howard E. “rocky” Stone, the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) is the nation’s leading organization representing consumers with hearing loss. Go to HLAA national website to locate your closest chapter.

Hands and Voices: Most organizations serving families with deaf and hard of hearing children rally around common interests that usually include a philosophy of communication that is promoted by that group. Hands & Voices does not promote specific communication choices or methodologies, but we have information about them and can direct families or professionals to other fine support organizations for specific information like the Alexander Graham Bell Association or The American Society for Deaf Children, just to name a few. Our rallying points are areas of interest that are common to all people, but especially parents, connected by the interests of the Deaf or Hard of Hearing…

Haptic Technology: Technologies that a user experiences through their sense of touch.

Hearing Loop (living room loop): Chelle mentions her living room loop. It’s a coper wire that goes around the ceiling of her living room (most are along the floor but she didn’t have that option) which is attached to a driver that plugs into the back of her TV. The sound comes out the TV, is pushed through the copper wire which sends a magnetic signal to her hearing aid telecoil program. To hear the TV in her living room better, she goes into her telecoil program and has instant access to sound via her hearing aids…which are programmed to her specific hearing loss.

HoH: Hard of Hearing refers to people with hearing loss ranging from mild to severe, and sometimes profound. People who are HoH usually communicate through spoken language and can benefit from hearing aids, cochlear implants, and other assistive devices as well as lip/speech reading and captioning. The HoH gain communication access for live events through CART/Live Captioning.

Human-generated Captions Demo: Global Alliance – How human-generated captions are produced: Demo

Humelan Hearing: Humelan Hearing’s purpose is to provide people with the information and tools they need to navigate life with hearing loss while also working to make our environment more accessible and inclusive. Everything we do involves the three primary pillars: providing readable and reliable information, fostering supportive communities, and collaborating to create meaningful impact.
https://www.humelan.com/

Hyperacusis: A reduced tolerance to sound. People with hyperacusis often find ordinary noises too loud and often it causes discomfort or pain. Also called sound or noise sensitivity.

IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a law that makes available a free appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to those children.

IEP: Individualized Education Plan lays out the special education instruction, supports, and services an student needs to thrive in school. IEP’s are part of PreK-12 public education.

InnoCaption: InnoCaption is a free cell phone app with a choice of live captions or voice-to-text. Capable of desktop streaming.

JAN: Job Accommodation Network is a non-profit organization that specializes in ADA accommodations specific to each disability under ADA, including needs for those who are hard of hearing. Their services are free and they can consult with an employee or a business.

Julia Step CART Services, LLC: Looking for remote CART services? Julia has a CART business. Feel free to get in touch with her through our “contact us” page for information on CART services.

Listen Technologies: Listen Technologies is a Utah based company specializing in assistive listening devices for hearing loss for both companies looking to update their FM systems to individuals looking for home devices.

Listening Fatigue: A phenomenon that occurs after prolonged exposure to an auditory stimulus. Symptoms include tiredness, discomfort, pain, and loss of sensitivity. Listening fatigue is not a clinically recognized state, but is a term used by many professionals.

Live Transcribe & Sound Notification: Live Transcribe & Sound Notification is a speech to text app found at google play. It offer speech transcription and sound notification

Liza Sylvestre: Liza is a multimedia artist with a hearing loss. She creates installations that help make sensory loss more visible and thought out.

LoopBuds: LoopBuds are t-coil enabled earphones that allow you to receive the sound from a hearing loop with your smartphone, make phone calls, and listen to music.

Ménière’s Disease: An inner ear disorder that can affect both hearing and balance. It can cause episodes of vertigo, hearing loss, tinnitus, and the sensation of fullness in the ear.

National Court Reporter Association: N CRA is a resource to locate local and remote CART/captioning providers. As well as a listing of accredited programs for CART/Captioning and Court Reporting.

Neurofibromatosis, Type 2 (NF2): According to M ayo Clinic, neurofibromatoses are a group of genetic disorders that cause tumors to form on nerve tissue.These tumors can develop anywhere in the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord and nerves. There are three types of neurofibromatosis: neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1), neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2) and schwannomatosis. NF1 is usually diagnosed in childhood, while NF2 and schwannomatosis are usually diagnosed in early adulthood.

Neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2) is much less common than NF1. Signs and symptoms of NF2 usually result from the development of benign, slow-growing tumors in both ears (acoustic neuromas), which can cause hearing loss. Also known as vestibular schwannomas, these tumors grow on the nerve that carries sound and balance information from the inner ear to the brain.

Noise-Induced Hearing Loss: Hearing loss caused by exposure to harmful sounds, either very loud impulse sound(s) or repeated exposure to sounds over 90-decibel level over an extended period of time that damage the sensitive structures of the inner ear.

Open Captions: Subtitles that are always in view and cannot be turned off.

Otter: Otter is a speech to text app that can be used on your smart phone or your computer. There is 600 free minutes a month.

Personal Bill of Rights for the Hard of Hearing: Being Hard of Hearing (HoH) is not something we choose. Hearing loss chooses us. We have the right to communication access, inclusion, and social interaction.

With some help from Edmund Bourne’s Personal Bill of Rights—The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook—and the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities (NJC) Communication Bill of Rights, Hearing Loss LIVE! has compiled our own Personal Bill of Rights for the Hard of Hearing.

Presbycusis: Age-related hearing loss that gradually occurs because of changes in the inner ear in individuals as they grow older.

Recruitment: The growth of loudness for sounds in the frequency range of a person who has hearing loss. When the decibel level in this frequency range increases quickly, it causes discomfort.

SWC: SayWhatClub is an international nonprofit, tax-exempt organization run by volunteers with hearing loss. SWC offers peer-to-peer support to all people over the age of 18 with hearing loss and deafness. Family and friends of those with hearing loss are also welcome. Their online community provides a way for people with hearing loss to connect with each other via email listserv, private Facebook groups, and a public Facebook page. They host an annual convention to provide educational workshops and face-to-face interaction with their subscribers. Visit SayWhatClub today.

Section 504: Section 504 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education,

Sensorineural Hearing Loss: The most common type of hearing loss. It involves the inner ear and damage to the hearing nerve; generally, hair cells within the cochlea are damaged. The result of aging, exposure to loud noise, injury, disease, certain drugs or an inherited condition.

Soundprint: Soundprin t is great app to help you measure your surrounding noise levels. You can locate local restaraunts that have a quiet hearing loss friendly environment.

TRS (Telecommunications Relay Service): TRS allows persons with hearing or speech disabilities to place and receive telephone calls. TRS is available in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories for local and/or long distance calls.

Telecoil, T-Coil: A small copper wired coiled up in many hearing aids designed to pick up magnetic signals. Originally designed for phone use but expanded for use with hearing loops. Here’s a simple article from Healthy Hearing.

Tinnitus: Ringing, buzzing, high-pitched whistling, or many other sounds in one or both ears when no external sound is present. Tinnitus is a common problem and affects about 15% to 20% of the population. It is the number-one disability among Veterans. Tinnitus is usually caused by an underlying condition, such as hearing loss, an ear injury, or a problem with the circulatory system.

Tinnitus, How to Manage Your Tinnitus: A great workbook on how to manage tinnitus from the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, NCRAR, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

TypeWell Captioning: Live meaning-for-meaning (non-verbatim) transcription service for people with hearing loss, autism, auditory processing disorder, or other communication needs. Transcribers accurately convey the essential meaning of what is said in a clear, concise format using condensing strategies to restructure spoken communication and environmental sounds into clear, visually accessible text.

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