Loop New Mexico is the award winning initiative of the Albuquerque Chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America.  It's purpose is to raise awareness and availability of hearing loops throughout the state so that hard of hearing New Mexicans and visitors can participate more fully in all aspects of life in the Land of Enchantment wherever it is necessary to hear in order to participate.

WHAT IS A HEARING LOOP?
WHAT IS A TELECOIL?

A telecoil is a small copper coil of wire that can be found in over 70% of all hearing aids currently available and in all cochlear implants.  When
turned on it receives an electromagnetic signal from a hearing loop           and sends it through the digital circuitry of the hearing device 
where is becomes sound.  This process, in effect, places the
mouth of the speaker using the microphone right next to the                 user's ears, providing dramatically improved clarity and intelligibility.
This symbol identifies a looped facility
     BENEFITS OF HEARING LOOPS OVER OTHER SYSTEMS
If they use the combination Mic/Telecoil setting on their hearing aids they can                                                still hear and talk with others while connected to the loop - something that's
difficult to do when wearing a headset - or they can go strictly to the telecoil                                             setting (turning off the hearing aid microphones) and thus eliminate most                                         background noise and reverberation.

The headset or ear buds loaned with an FM or IR ALS are really just miniature loudspeakers placed over or in your ears.  They cannot customize sound to match your audiogram whereas digital hearing aids and CIs are miniature computers that customize the sound so that those frequencies you don't hear well get more amplification thus making words clearer and easier to identify.  This is particularly
 important for those with a higher frequency hearing loss which makes it difficult to hear consonants.


                       WHERE WILL I FIND HEARING LOOPS IN USE?

The majority of hearing loops are currently to be found in places of worship and you 
can find a list of know New Mexico looped churches such as Las Placitas Presbyterian  
Church shown here by using this link.

Other examples are the
Albuquerque City Council
chamber or the Albuquerque
Little Theatre,

There are over 100 venues
of various types throughout 
the state that feature hearing loop technology of some sort in their public address system and the list is growing longer every month.

NATIONAL PRESENCE OF LOOPS

Hearing loops can now be found in churches nationwide and in such diverse locations as New York City subway information booths and Broadway theatres.  A growing number of airports and other transportation hubs are installing the technology as are supermarket and drug store chains.  

Some small, independent movie theaters like this one in California have looped each of the auditoriums while large chains like Cinemark are now loaning neck loops and receivers
to patrons in place of headsets when they have telecoil equipped hearing aids.

Transportation hubs like this Intermodal
Station in Milwaukee have installed
hearing loop technology at various
locations throughout the complex
while Amtrak information booths and
ticket counters have been looped in New York's Grand Central and 
Penn stations and at Union Station in Washington, DC.

   The Richard Rogers Theatre on New York's Great White Way
    is just one of hundreds of performing arts hall around the
the       country that has installed a hearing loop system in the facility
    and the 14,000 seat Breslin
    Center at  Michigan State
    University has all 14,000 of
    those seats looped so that
    the hard  of hearing can hear 
above the roar of the crowd.

There are several web sites that contain lists of known loop installations throughout the country.  Among them are those of Loop America  and this Assistive Device Locator.

As you can see,  America is taking notice of the movement to Get in the Hearing Loop.
WHY ARE ASSISTIVE LISTENING SYSTEMS NECESSARY?
The higher the frequency of a sound the less strength that sound has thus shortening the distance it can travel and still be heard  This is particularly problematic to the hard of hearing, most of whom have a higher frequency hearing loss.  The effective range of hearing aid microphones is only about six feet and once sound is coming from a distance greater than that those microphones will have difficulty picking it up.

The loudspeakers of most public address systems are not set to provide extra amplification to higher frequencies and users would find that sound unpleasant,  but that's the added amplification the hard of hearing need if they are to be able to understand the sounds they are hearing as words. 

No matter how high the volume on the loudspeakers is set, hard of hearing listeners will still have difficulty hearing the higher frequency sounds as they will be "covered" by the louder, stronger, lower frequency sounds and they will thus have difficulty understanding the words being broadcast.  An assistive listening system places the sound right at the user's ear via earphones, ear buds or the telecoils in hearing aids thus compensating for the weaker high frequency sounds to some degree.
Let's loop America
Website Designed by Stephen Frazier © 2016 at Homestead™ 
Loop New Mexico is proud 
     to support
  A program of the Hearing
  Loss Association of America
A hearing loop is a type of assistive listening system used to transmit sound to the hard of hearing. Such systems are now required in most public venues that feature a public address system. 

In its simplest form a hearing loop is an insulated wire loop that surrounds a seating area. The loop is connected to an amplifier and microphone and it transmits 
a silent electromagnetic signal to telecoil equipped hearing aids or cochlear implants that those devices turn into sound  

Users without telecoil equipped hearing aids or CIs are provided with a receiver that contains a telecoil and a headset or ear buds to hear the proceedings.
A hearing loop assistive listening system (ALS) allows those with telecoil equipped hearing aids and CIs to access the system with the simple touch of a button - no need to borrow a receiver and headset and then return it after the event.  There's no chance that their hearing aids might be damaged or lost when removed to don the headset.
CONSUMER SURVEYS

The Committee for Communication Access in New Mexico (CCAnm) on which Loop New Mexico is represented, has conducted two surveys dealing with hearing loss issues and technology.  To review the surveys, click on the link  following the name of the survey below:



                           Assistive Listening System User Survey ................


                           
                           Telecoil Counseling Survey ......................................


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