SpecialIssue

Hearing assistance technology (HAT) can optimize communication

By Linda M. Thibodeau
A common goal in providing services to a person with impaired hearing is to improve communication. But, how often do we consider every possible device and/or technique that could optimize our patients communication? For example, simply fitting a pair of hearing aids will typically improve communication. However, a persons ability to communicate may not be optimized until the hearing aids are combined with a multimicrophone FM transmitter and receiver. Said another way, why would you want to invest your money in an option that provides only a 15% return, when you could have a 60% return? It is that percentage difference that is addressed in this special issue of The Hearing Journal, specifically the difference between improving patients hearing and optimizing their communication. Although assistive listening devices (ALDs) have been available for more than 30 years, we have many more options available today that can open new doors. And, as Mark Ross so clearly illustrates in his personal account, these new options can make a world of difference. HAT IS MORE THAN ALDs The connotations of terminology are important to consider in this context. Given that we are striving to optimize communication, the term hearing assistance technology (HAT) is actually more inclusive than assistive listening devices (ALDs). While devices that help us listen to acoustic stimuli are important, the technology we are addressing in this issue includes much more than that. Indeed, HAT includes a broad array of devices that may facilitate reception of auditory information, whether by means of amplification, vibrotactile stimulation, or a visual display. Hopefully, this broad array of devices implied by the acronym HAT will serve as a reminder to consider all options that may facilitate communication.
November 2004 Vol. 57 No. 11

HAT is often thought of as lying outside the realm of hearing aid dispensing. However, as the technology has advanced, there are many issues related to HAT that need to be considered with patients for whom hearing aids or cochlear implants are recommended. For example, the options to optimize communication for cochlear implant wearers through HAT have increased considerably, as Angela Wieker and Linn Tearney point out. Among the significant advances for hearing aid wearers is the emergence of FM technology that can be conveniently interfaced with amplification. John Nelson and colleagues report on this topic. In their article, Theresa Chisolm and colleagues address candidacy for HAT, setting goals, and measuring outcomes that will facilitate delivery of service. Ideally, this technology should be available for patients to see and learn about through a demonstration center. Donna Wayner provides a model for incorporating such a center into a clinical practice. In the concluding article in this special issue, a new assessment tool, the TELEGRAM, is proposed. Its purpose is to enable clinicians to efficiently incorporate these considerations into their daily practice. Just as the original telegram was a quick and simple means of conveying information in the past, so too should HAT be a basic component of service delivery in todays communication world.
Linda M. Thibodeau, PhD, Guest Editor of this special issue of The Hearing Journal, is Associate Professor of Audiology at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she has been on the faculty since 1996. Previously she was on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin for a decade. Dr. Thibodeau, who received her PhD from the University of Minnesota, is one of the nations leading authorities on hearing assistance technology. She co-chairs the ANSI Working Group S3/WG81 that is developing standards for hearing assistance technology, and has written and spoken extensively on HAT. She is an Audiological Consultant to school districts in the Dallas area and to several manufacturers of hearing care products. She is currently Editor in Chief of Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology Publications and has served on the editorial boards of Seminars in Hearing, American Journal of Audiology, and Language, Speech, Hearing Services in the Schools.

Heading assistance technology

The Hearing Journal

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