Installation Products Guide

3.The hearing impaired

Statistics say that 20% of the population have a hearing impairment of some sort. Therefore it would not be surprising to find that you have members of your congregation who do not yet realise that their hearing is failing them. In a church situation they may well feel that the preachers are not as clear as they once were, when it is in fact their own hearing that has deteriorated as a natural by-product of ageing. At this stage they do not normally want, or need a hearing aid, but need instead a simple speech reinforcement system.

If you have a number of hearing aid users, or are looking to extend your church outreach into this section of your local community, then an induction loop system is invaluable. It allows anyone who uses a hearing aid with a T position switch to have the audio fed straight into their ear without any distracting noises. Induction loop facilities are required to be fitted to all public buildings by 2004 as part of the disability discrimination act.

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