T-Coils: Not Just for Telephones Anymore

Most hearing-aid wearers know what the T-Coil, or "telephone setting" is. It's normally a button on the side or a hearing aid, or sometimes an automatic mode that the aid goes into when it's next to a telephone receiver. It picks up the telephone signal and then your hearing aid amplifies it.

Well, T-coils are not just for telephones. When you attend a meeting of the Hearing Loss Association of Williamsburg at the Downtown Library, you can turn on your T-coil and hear everything that is said into the microphone. As a new member of the HLA-W said, "This is the first time in years that I've been in a meeting where I can hear everything!"

And it's not only the Library. Several churches in the area have loop systems. Williamsburg Drug Company has one for facilitating private consultations between the pharmacist and hard-of-hearing customers. Some systems require a neckloop for good reception of the audio signal, others work at the touch of a (T-coil) button.

That's why it's very, very important for people to get hearing aids that have T-coils. Some of the tiny, "open-fit" (no ear mold) aids, and those that fit completely in your ear canal, are too small to accommodate T-coils. Hopefully, miniaturization will fix this problem in the foreseeable future. But in the meantime, make sure you, and others who ask your advice, insist on aids with T-coils!

Don't miss out!