Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Soundfield systems/induction loops: easier listening

[Anne Geraghty (abgwalks]

Thank you Allison for bringing up this important topic!

A terrific relatively new resource about hearing loops and other assisted
listening systems can be found at the Center for Hearing Access at:
https://centerforhearingaccess.org

If you are able to travel to Eugene Oregon you can attend The Shedd
Institute's monthly "Sound Advice" session  and find out just how clear and
succinct listening with a hearing loop can be.  And for your friends who
don't have a telecoil, they can have a telecoil receiver that can give them
a sense of how it sounds.  Oregon webpage Sound Advice
<https://www.theshedd.org/divp/series.aspx?event=7059>

As you can see from our listserv discussion there are many opinions and
much controversy.  And, each person's hearing challenges are different.
What I've learned in my journey is that audiologists are not often helpful
in this bigger picture.  They are focused on addressing your immediate
needs for hearing aids but not necessarily on what is needed in the larger
community.

What I've gotten from this discussion is that in order for all our members
to participate fully we need to address this critical issue.  The hearing
loop would address our needs when sound is amplified and it is the clearest
system currently available.  The Auracast system isn't available yet.  The
other issue is the very flat hard surfaces that amplify all the
sounds/voices in the room to the detriment of people with hearing loss.
And this means sound dampening through wall and ceiling coverings, table
coverings and even carpet.  Has anyone hired someone to do an acoustic plan
for their common spaces?

What hasn't been mentioned much is that as many as half of people over 60
have some hearing loss.  Hearing loss is an invisible disability and, for
some reason, there is a great deal of shame about it.  Many people, maybe
most, would prefer to let it slide, not speak up, not speak to what their
needs are.  This is a problem too as we want to include all in our decision
making and our great conversations.

What this has led me to realize is that in my community, we need to
understand what exactly our hearing needs are.  Who is it that, like me, is
very hard of hearing?  Who is it that has moderate hearing loss?  Both
conditions hamper communication.  I plan to work with others to put
together a community survey and then speak to the community about what we
find.  I'll let you know what we find.

Anne Geraghty
Washington Commons
West Sacramento, California
abgwalks [at] gmail.com

On Wed, Mar 4, 2026 at 2:54 PM Linda Hobbet <coho [at] lindahobbet.com> wrote:

> It may not be ideal as comapred to in-aid sound, but maybe this is a
> matter of tuning the system better?
>
> Linda Hobbet
>
> On 3/4/2026 10:32 AM, Elizabeth Magill via Cohousing-L wrote:
> > The difficulty is that many sound systems are painful to people. It is
> > easy to have too much gain and sharpness to the sound.
> > And we rarely use the model of presenter and listeners--
>
> VillageHearthCohousing.com
> 706-202-7178
> coho [at] lindahobbet.com
>
> "When you plant a seed of love, it is you that blooms.”
>                                                     Ma Jaya
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://L.cohousing.org/info
>
>
>
>