It’s always fun to try out a new entertainment venue. But it can be challenging, especially if you need hearing help for the performance. I checked the theater’s website and saw that assisted listening devices would be available. Great!
Or maybe not so great. While the best practice is to call ahead to understand the available hearing assistance options and to ensure that the theater is prepared for your arrival, I decided to experiment. This is a venue I am hoping to frequent more in the future. I wanted to see what would happen if I just showed up cold, creating a baseline experience from which to grow.
The result wasn’t good—I hadn’t expected it to be. But their intentions were. And so, the education process begins.
Where are the Hearing Devices?
My experience started with a bang when I asked the ticket taker where I could find the assistive listening devices. “We don’t have those,” she said. “You do,” I replied, “it says so on the website.” She just shrugged.
I asked a different usher. This time I was luckier. “Oh yes, we have those. Where are they? No one has asked for these in a while.”
She ran off to search. Luckily we had arrived early since we knew it might take a while to get set up. We watched her run up the stairs and come back down empty-handed. Then up the stairs again. And back down. She headed to a hidden closet on a side wall of the lobby and emerged with something in her hand. “Found them,” she smiled.
Our usher friend changed the batteries. “These haven’t been used in forever,” she laughed as she handed one over with an earpiece. “Give it a try and let me know how it works.”
“Just one earpiece?” I asked. “Yup, that’s all we have.”
Is the System Turned On?
To the usher’s credit, she stopped by after a few minutes to see how I was doing, which was not well since no sound was audible through the device. She ran off and returned. “The system hadn’t been turned on, but now it is. This hasn’t been used in a while.”
Still, no luck. She left and returned once again. “Try channel C2. I thought they said G2.” (Welcome to my world, I thought!) We switched the channel, and the system worked! The show was about to begin.
One Ear Headset Not Workable
Despite all the set-up time, the device proved useless. Yes, sound was coming through the earpiece, but it was not synched with the sound I heard from my other ear. There was no way my brain was going to tackle the mismatch. The assistive listening device was making it harder to hear rather than easier. I set it aside and did my best to follow the dialogue without it.
After the show, I provided feedback to the helpful usher and let her know that I was returning the following week for another event. She promised to pass on the information.
Take Two Was Better, But Not Yet the Charm
We returned to the venue the following week for another try. This time the ushers knew about the devices and took me directly to a kiosk where the devices were ready and charged. Check! The assistive listening system was turned on and the correct channel was programmed into the device. Check!
But the “headset” still had only one earpiece making the device unusable. Luckily I brought my noise-cancelling headphones and the plug worked with the device. I heard every word loudly and clearly.
Hearing Access is Often a Multi-Step Process
It shouldn’t be, but in my experience, hearing access is often a multi-step process. My third visit to the venue was similar to the second, except the manager was now looking into purchasing headsets with two earpieces. She even had me look at some online with her.
Work remains, but the venue seems open to change. I gave them my contact details and look forward to more conversations with them. The more they understand, the better the communication access will be—not only for advocates like me who come prepared—but for everyone.
Readers, do you educate venues about assistive listening?
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No mention is made of neck loops. The law (ADA) requires them to be available for “hearing aid compatibility,” recognizing that many of us cannot place headphones over our hearing aids and CI processors.
Thanks for bringing that up, Jerry. I will ask them about that next time.
Shari,
Can you write a little about how you use your headset and how you used the noise cancelling headphones? I have severe to profound hearing loss and headsets haven’t been enough for me (besides the fact that I have to remove my aids to use them) BUT I haven’t tried one in a while, maybe they are louder now. For movies I always use a CC device. But you probably were in a live theater.
Regards,
Dorothy Miller
Thank you for your question. This trick might not work for everyone. I wear in-the-ear hearing aids, so I can fit the headphones over them. Some large headphones might fit over behind-the-ear devices, but you would have to try them on to see if they work for you.
Dorothy’s comment suggests that some people may not understand the value of neck loops, which venues are required to make available along with headphones for people with over-the-ear hearing aids and CIs. Wearing the neck loop transmits the sound wirelessly from receiver to the telecoils in our HAs and CIs, assuming, of course, that the HAs and CIs have t-coils and the t-coil program is set up by audiologists. When an assistive listening system is functioning properly, the sound heard and processed through HAs and CIs is equal in quality to listening inside a room equipped with a hearing loop system.
Thanks for sharing this information.
You were brave, Shari, to test the readiness of the venue to provide accommodation. Sometimes even when I’ve called ahead to make sure everything is working and turned on, the venue still isn’t prepared. This has happened to me several times, but most ironically at an off-Broadway play where the topic was deafness.
I would like to add that ALDs are only as good as the sound source in the theater. Performers must individually miked for me to hear them. If there are just one or two microphones hanging from the ceiling, the sound bounces all around the stage before it reaches the mics and then my hearing aids. As my hearing loss has progressed, I find I must have open or closed captions for theater performances. Thankfully several theaters in my area now offer at least one captioned performance of a play or movie.
That is very true. Garbage in, garbage out. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and what works for you.
Great title “Good intentions won’t let me hear” Sadly your experience is parallel to two studies published in 2024 and many of us around the country.
Excellent points left by others: required neckloops, the need for individual mics, and the need captions
I educate site/facilities with a 2-page handout:
“Promoting Your Assistive Listening System, with Checklist”
https://www.hearingloop.org/uploads/tools/Promoting%20Your%20Assistive%20Listening%20System%20with%20Checklist.pdf
This is a terrific resource! Thank you for sharing it! I will share with the venue as well.