Introduction
Many people have hearing or speech-related problems; according to the World Health Organization, approximately 5% of adults have some form of hearing loss, and about 4-6% of adults between the ages of 15 and 65 years have some type of speech impairment. These impairments can cause a lot of challenges in everyday life that people with these disadvantages often blame themselves for. Help is available for these individuals through various assistive devices which are designed to help them overcome their difficulties with hearing and not just compensate for them.
Over a lifetime, hearing and speech disorders can cause a significant disruption to quality of life. They may make it difficult for you to communicate with others or understand what others are saying. You may struggle with family relationships, your social life, your work life, your education, and more.
Fortunately there are many assistive devices available that can help you to compensate for these impairments and get back some of that quality of life. In this post we will go over some of these devices that can help you get back some control in your day-to-day lives.
What’s The Difference Between Hearing And Speech Disorders?
Hearing is typically related to the ears while speech is typically related to the brain or vocal cords. However, these two can be correlated. If a person hasn’t been able to hear clearly from a young age then they may never learn proper speech patterns.
If your speech is held back by a hearing impairment you may end up having to learn sign language as your primary method of communication. Another option you have is an assistive device that will help you hear and allow you to speak properly so people can actually understand what you’re saying.
If your hearing is impaired and contributed to the lack of development of speech therapy then other methods such as visual simulators or communication boards can be used to help bridge that gap.
Assistive Devices For People With Hearing Or Speech Disorders
1. Hearing Aids
Hearing aids can make a staggering difference in someone’s hearing. They can be used to help people with mild to extreme hearing impairments. People who use these devices have been shown to have higher satisfaction levels and improvement in their quality of life. This is because they are able to better understand what is being said and have improved conversation skills.
2. Cochlear Implants
Cochlear implants can be particularly impactful for people who are hard of hearing or deaf. They consist of a device that is implanted in the skull that acts as an ear, while an external piece acts as the ear drum and speaker. It works by sending electrical signals directly into the brain with the goal of restoring natural hearing.
3. Door Bells
Along with speech, people with hearing impairments will have trouble hearing doorbells or other sounds that are not loud enough. One solution for this would be to install a louder doorbell. If there is already a doorbell present then you could purchase a wireless doorbell that you wouldn’t need to plug-in. This will make the sound come from a different direction, which can make it easier for the person with hearing loss to locate the direction of the sound.
4. Visual Alarms Or Lights
People who have sleeping issues may have trouble waking up in time when they are at work or school. A visual alarm clock can be especially helpful in this situation. It works by requiring you to do something in order to stop the alarm from going off. For example, you can set the alarm to go off two minutes before it actually needs to go off. Then you will have two whole minutes to hit a certain button or flip a switch in order to stop the alarm from going off. This will help ensure that you don’t sleep through it and wake up exactly on time.
5. Communication Boards And Apps
If a hearing impairment is holding back your speech then a communication board can be extremely helpful for communicating with others. One example is The Non-Verbal System, which covers topics like Going To School and At The Market .
6. Captioning
This may sound like a very high tech solution, but captioning is actually a fairly simple approach to helping someone understand what you’re saying. It involves using text boxes to communicate between the speaker and the listener. This may be more helpful for situations where people have specific communication difficulties. For example, when you are deaf or hard of hearing, it’s easier to understand something if it has been written down in a form of text instead of just having the person speak it out loud.
7. Facial Expressions
Others will understand facial expressions better if they are able to watch them being expressed on your face with a facial expression device. This can help you interact more effectively with others, communicate better with them, and even learn new expressions.
8. Personal Alarms
If you have trouble staying safe, or you work in a dangerous environment, then you may benefit from a personal alarm. They typically function by going off when they come in contact with some sort of pressure such as when they are physically held or hit against something. You would use this to get someone’s attention and summon help from them in an emergency.
9. Smart Watches With Connected Apps
This resource is particularly helpful for people that work in a noisy environment and want to be able to hear more clearly over the noise around them.
Conclusion
There are many different devices that can help you compensate for hearing or speech deficits. If you think you may have a hearing or speech impairment, try asking your doctor to check your ears. Also researching some of the assistive devices available on Amazon can help with the decision-making process. You can do this by searching through the Hearing & Speech Assistance Devices category.
As you can see, there are many different ways of helping a person who has hearing or speech disorders to live an enjoyable and productive life. It is important to consider these options so that you can get back some of the quality of life that you may have lost due to your hearing impairment.