My recent experiences with assistive technology at the movies and the theater have been disappointing. Unfortunately, I am not alone. Assistive technologies for people with hearing loss are often unavailable, and even when they are, many times they do not work as they should. Improvements are needed, but without data, venues are often resistant to Continue reading
Technology
Greater Awareness Creates Better Access
My yoga practice often translates directly to my life with hearing loss—especially when it is challenging. In a recent yoga class, as the teacher provided different modification options for a difficult pose she said, “When you have greater awareness, you have more options.” And something clicked. Whether it is yoga or hearing loss (or anything Continue reading
Why is Hearing Loss Access so Hard?
Have you seen the Barbie movie yet? I went with some friends last week, and while we loved the movie, we missed a number of the jokes. Sadly, both of the theater’s closed captioning devices failed in the middle of the show. One of them died almost immediately so a friend who had already seen Continue reading
New Prime Video Tool for Hard-to-Hear Movie Dialogue
Do you love action movies but find it hard to follow the dialogue because of all the background noise? My solution is usually a combination of captions and noise-cancelling headphones. The noise-cancelling headphones block the gunfire and car chases while the captions provide the dialogue. I even do this at at movie theaters, despite the Continue reading
When Hearing Accessibility Fails
“Let me see your ticket,” the usher demanded at a popular Broadway theater. We (my husband and I and our two friends) were waiting in line so I could pick up an assistive listening device for the show. “This device won’t work at your seat. You’d be better off using your hearing aids” the cranky Continue reading
