Assistive Listening Devices

Some people affected by hearing loss have difficulty functioning normally with everyday tasks. Hearing instruments alone might not always be the answer. For example, people may be unable to hear an alarm clock, telephone, smoke detector or the cry of a baby. Assistive listening devices (ALDs) are available to reduce the difficulty associated with these situations.

Examples of ALDs include:

• Telephone amplifiers
• Alerting devices that trigger a light or a loud sound to signal when the doorbell rings, for example
• TTY (Test Telephone Yoke) enables someone who is deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired to place calls and receive calls from hearing people
• smoke detectors