Acoustics and technology: a hard of hearing perspective

The CHHA survey about hard of hearing youth found that access is a major difficulty. In asking young hard of hearing persons about their experiences in everyday life, the survey found that about half had difficulty, watching television, over half cited difficulties using the phone, and most cited difficulties hearing in small groups, in restaurants and public places. The survey found that technical and environmental supports are not widely used in all settings. While use of FM or infrared hearing systems in the schools is quite good, with 50 percent of youth using such systems, in a public place the usage of such systems dropped to eight percent. However, 40 percent of survey respondents said they would welcome the use of such systems. This substantiates the claim that many more hard of hearing persons would use technical equipment if provided. In fact, there is much technological knowledge available today but it has yet to be put into widespread use. There is a gap in the application of the technology, some of it due to a lack of information and some of it due to uncertainty about the unknown and concern over costs. This must be changed so that there is a greater application of existing technology