[Access] [sound] Hearing aids and the service

[uuRuth Ross]

Katherine,

Thank you soooo much for writing this!  I was astonished and  
bewildered by that announcement.  I have inserted other comments in  
your email below at the ###s (pound signs):

On Mar 05, 2008 , at 09:08, Katherine wrote:

> On Sunday, there was an announcement at church for anyone wearing  
> hearing aids to not have them all the way turned up as they would  
> interfere with the sound system and cause feedback.
>
> I am an Audiologist and I feel concerned about this request, as I  
> don't believe hearing aids have anything to do with the sound  
> system feeding back.  I have never heard of this before.

### I absolutely agree with you.  I HAVE mentioned to ushers in the  
past that if they hear someone's hearing aid screeching that they try  
to locate it and make the wearer aware--but it's certainly not a  
feedback problem.

### Rachel, who was doing sound second service last Sunday (March 2),  
left me a note:  "A member asked about a feedback problem [which I  
could not hear] that he has noticed before during moments of no  
noise.  I told him to call you (Ruth) with ideas of how to stop it.   
It's a very high frequency that is mostly heard by the young.  Some  
other person confirmed hearing it."

I [Ruth] can say that during the first service I also heard a (high- 
frequency?) sound, but my experience is that the room often has this  
sound.  I have heard it when I have been in the room with no  
equipment plugged in or turned on, and with no lights or furnace on.   
I believe it must have something to do with the shape of the room and  
perhaps all the hard surfaces.  I have been aware of it's occasional  
appearance for several years.  It goes away after a few minutes.
>
> I would like to make a suggestion to assist people in learning to  
> use their hearing aids with our sound system.  I would like to  
> offer to set-up a table during coffee time after the services on  
> some Sunday and offer to look at people's hearing aids, assist them  
> in discovering if they have compatible technology with our sound  
> system, and demonstrate our assistive devices to them.  I can also  
> assess the status of their hearing aids' condition as a plus.

### This is a generous and wonderful offer.  I hope we can do this!   
I will help however I can.
>
> I am interested in the sound system on several levels.  I believe I  
> may be able to help in reducing the feedback that happens in the  
> system without having to lose so much gain (volume).  I have a  
> theory that I'd like to experiment with a bit, if we can work with  
> Ruth from sound.

### I'm very interested in working with you and in hearing your  
theory.  My experience in the past year is that we don't have  
"feedback."  One exception is the following:  I don't remember  
exactly when, but on several (maybe two to four)  occasions there WAS  
feedback--really awful feedback--after the gong (bowl) was struck.   
At some point when I was preparing for the sound training I  
discovered that the speaker settings on the amplifier had both been  
turned WAY high.  I returned them to their usual settings and I  
personally have not heard anything that I could call "feedback" since  
then.

I repeat, I'm very interested in working with you on this situation/ 
question/....

Ruth

copies to:  Rachel Cummings, Jake Walsh, Anna Sontag

>
> Any input on this?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Katherine Swem
>
>
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> Access at uueugene.org
> http://www.uueugene.org
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