Standing just inside the doors of his waiting room, local
audiologist Jerry Owens holds a slim microphone in his hand and
speaks to a visitor several rooms away.
"This is a wonderful benefit for anyone with a hearing loss," he
said. "I can't think of anything better in the last 25 years."
His microphone is connected to a small transmitter and
amplification system housed in a cupboard in the back of his office.
The system isn't audible to most people, but for those who wear
hearing aids and are switched into his system, it's like he's
talking directly into their ear.
His office, along with several area churches, other businesses
and homes, is "looped," a special system made to help the hearing
impaired and the focus of a major initiative in the Holland/Zeeland
area.
The system, an induction looped system, amplifies sound through a
special switch on a hearing aid, wires and a new amplifier, said
Hope College professor David Myers, the head of the program.
A church or other institution that wants to become looped
installs the new amplification system and runs a thin wire around
the seating area. It then posts a sign alerting hard-of-hearing
people that looping is available.
To use the system, a person has to have a hearing aid equipped
with a receiver called a telecoil, Myers said. The user just
switches it to the T-coil setting and then listens.
It's been popular in the area so far.
"It's going swimmingly," Myers said. "We're pleased at the
response. I think this community is doing itself proud. There are
three dozen (systems) already installed, ordered or well along in
the process.
"By the end of the year, most of the major churches in Holland
will be looped."
Owens has seen the results on the faces of his patients.
"It makes everybody smile," he said.
The other response Owens gets from patients is questions about
how they can loop their house or church.
That's where Dick McKinley, owner of Premovation Audio, comes in.
His company, trained by the England company that manufacturers
the system, offers free price quotes before installing the system.
"The goal is to make it (the sound) very even across the
facility," McKinley said.
He's put systems in Central Park Reformed Church, Evergreen
Commons, Second Reformed Church in Zeeland, First Reformed in
Holland and Pillar Christian Reformed Church.
Hope Church activated its system over the weekend.
The system has been drawing rave reviews, McKinley said.
"(We've) seen people crying just sitting there (listening)," he
said.
It takes about two weeks for the system to be installed and
McKinley's company to train the sound board operators.
The system costs about $1,100 for a system that covers 5,400
square feet, plus installation costs. The addition of the T-coil to
a new hearing aid costs about $40, Owens said.
The Holland/Zeeland Community Foundation is offering grants to
help non-profit organizations cover the costs, Myers said.
Lakeshore Hearing Center will sponsor a free lunch and seminar on
the topic on April 24 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Holiday
Inn and Conference Center, Owens said.
