Hi, first post here. In desperate need of help and suggestions. Have been a HA user for 6 years or so. Current are outdated Unitron Insera T600 ITC. I started a new job working in coutrooms three weeks ago. Dreadful acoustics - large rooms, high ceilings, all blank walls. Within 10 minutes it was obvious my hearing with the aids just isn’t good enough.
Went straight to my audiologist in tears. I have tried a pair of Oticon Intents for a week and now a pair of Starkey Genesis. And wow - at home, out and about, what a difference. I had no idea i was missing so much. BUT, and a massive but, despite my audiologists optimism I am still struggling in the coutrooms.
Judge who is sitting behind and much higher than me, i have to concentrate so hard to hear. Those in front and to the side are hit and miss, especially when they speak quickly. Even someone face to face i couldn’t make a word out of their question to me. More tears.
Two courts have a loop system, but i haven’t been in these to see if they are the answer to my prayers.
So kind people, is there anything i can do before i throw in the towel. I do want to buy some more aids but the extra expense of add ons is simply not an option.
I have seen a couple of people mention the Alead LiveMic. This is cheap enough to try if it doesn’t work. Can anybody help on this.
1.Does it connect directly to my aids, or do i have to go through my phone?
Given the acoustics of the room appears to be the issue. Will I still get the same problems using a microphone.
Thanks in advance. A thoroughly fed up and demoralised 60 year old lady.
Your struggles are common ones. Even the very best aids cannot replace normal hearing. I have been wearing aids for 20 years and have to say aids are getting better but they can only help so much. I will also say that an audiologist can make or break how good aids are fitted, but the audiologist cannot hear what you hear so you have to be able to explain to your audiologist what you are experiencing. And the audiologist has to be patient and willing to listen and pay attention to what you tell him or her. Also it would really help to see your audiogram.
Thank you for the reply. I am coming to the conclusion that i will never be able to hear all I need to in the courtroom environment. It is very dispiriting. All the tweaks in the world are not going to give me ‘normal’ hearing. Hence asking about the microphone option. The ‘lecture theatre’ setting on the Oticon aids was actually worse than the general setting. It doesn’t help that the background heating/air con is overwhelming.
I don’t have a copy of my audiogram - not routinely given out in the UK maybe. But i do know it drops down from left to right - the far right being borderline moderate/severe.
My last hope really are the two coutrooms with the loop coil system, but not holding my breath.
I am an usher. So with the court clerk effectively ‘run’ the coutroom. A lot of what I need to be able to do is anticipating and acting on cues from the judge. With deficient hearing i simply can’t do it. Yes, my manager should be able to help and accommodate my disability but with the best will in the world, if i can’t hear well enough due to the acoustics then there is really nothing they can do. Whether they can move me elsewhere is as yet unknown.
Does the court room have a loop system that you could use the t-coils with, if so that can be a real help. I can not speak to external mics as a help, other than the fact I have the connect clip and at times i set it up and give it to my wife so i can hear her in a noisy restaurant. But I can’t see that hearing you in a court room.
If you depend on the judge’s instruction, maybe ifbthe judge is willing to wear the connect clip it could help, but the drawback is that you will not be able to always hear anyone else’s instructions.
I am not familiar with courtrooms, but would you say that your daily job is 50% communication and 50% administration (emails, printing, copying, etc…)?
For communication, I suppose you could link your hearing aids to the courtroom’s audio system, assuming:
1- Judge has a microphone enabled.
2- Both prosecution and defendants teams have microphones as well.
3- Witness stand has microphone too
You could in this circumstance use a TV connector linked to the courtroom’s audio system and get the audio directly to your HA, in lieu of the hearing loop.
Not sure if microphones are a legal requirements in the disability act, maybe @kevels55 can give us some info, but I assume nowadays most courtrooms have microphones and audio system installed!!!
Also, since you’ve tried Oticon Intent and Starkey Genesis AI, which one stands out to you?
Hi, the ushers role is pretty much all communication. There is very very little admin involved.
The judge and the barristers do have microphones - for the benefit of the jurys. I doubt very much that those could be linked to HA’s but i will ask the system.
There are a couple of hearing loop/headphone sets for HOH witnesses and defendants but this doesn’t feel like an acceptable option for me.
Thank you. That is really useful info. Will investigate.
I have been told one of the barristers uses a microphone on the judges bench.
The coutrooms are work in are pretty identical in layout to the second picture down.
Microphones are common nowadays, it is an investment for the judiciary system, but I suppose it should be mandatory as part of the disability act.
That means for you is getting a better hearing aids, in the meantime, if you could enquire about the audio system in the courtroom, that will give you a better idea.
Might want to find out if Access to Work will fund a Roger system for the bench. Also consider that there’ll be a new Phonak product out in August which will work with it and possibly full LE audio.
There are various options @DangerBun as @Um_bongo suggested, contact “Access To Work”… ATW, usually joint fund with your employer, in this case the court system, Roger systems are expensive! I believe the last time I was in court, as a witness, they had an FM system, approximately 15 years ago, technology has moved on! Since your aids aren’t Phonak, the same manufacturer as the Roger system, does your Starkey aids have telecoil? If so, then a Roger NeckLoop Type (03), would work in conjunction with, perhaps 2 or 3 Roger Table Mic 2’s linked together would work, around £3k for 2, but perhaps the best kit out there? Access To Work would talk you through the options, also speak to Human Resources of the Criminal Justice system, they will have had employees in a similar situation, with hearing disability issues, they probably have a designated officer, perhaps several, whom deals with this sort of thing, who can walk you through the various options, so don’t worry, you will get sorted, it will take a few months, but it will happen, the quicker you get the ball rolling, the sooner it will happen…Like any other employer, reasonable adjustments have to be made for any employee with a disability, a Roger system would be considered as such… Good Luck, Cheers Kev
@kevels55
Hi Kev. Thank you for your long and very useful reply. I had let HR know before i started the job about my hearing problem - it came up in the long health questionnaire that I had to fill out. HR approached me and asked about it but rather naively I replyed that it would not be an issue after carrying out jury service last year and having only minor problems. But of course being on a jury is a whole different experience to what goes on behind the scenes.
I have made my manager aware that I am having problems and they simply said to take as long as I need to get sorted. But it is of course not as simple as that. At the moment I cannot do the job without another usher alongside me. My confidence is shot at and am almost the point of giving up. But will go back to my manager and see what help can be offered. The sad thing is, is that is an ideal job for us oldies coming up to retirement, and that was my plan for the next six years. (Don’t get me started on my irritation that when I began working my expected retirement age was 60, not 67.)
