Free phones help hearing-, speech-impaired

Special to The Sahuarita Sun

Having a hearing loss or speech impairment is no longer a barrier to using a telephone.

Telephones designed to allow deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech impairments are free through the Arizona Telecommunications Equipment Distribution Program with service provided by Arizona Relay Service.

At the monthly Adult Loss of Hearing Association meeting, Outreach Coordinator for Arizona Relay Service Lisa Furr, who is deaf, explained through American Sign Language interpreter Amy Drewek how telephone devices work depending on need. The audience had dual understanding of Furr’s communication through Drewek, whose voice the audience heard, and by reading immediate on-screen captioning.

Text Telephones (TTYs): Most often used by people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech impaired and who do not use their speaking voice to communicate on the phone. A keyboard conveys their part of the conversation; those words are revoiced by a Communications Assistant acting as a behind-the-scenes telephone operator. The caller uses the screen display to read what the other party is saying.

Captioned Telephone Service: Helpful to those with understandable speech and some degree of hearing loss.

Hearing Carry-Over: Effective for those who have difficulty speaking yet are able to hear on the phone. HCO users listen to the person on the other end and using special equipment type their responses to the communications assistant who speaks those responses to the other party.

Voice Relay: Effective for those who use a standard telephone to communicate with people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech impaired.

Furr said free telephone equipment is available from AzTEDP to Arizona residents who provide medical evidence of a hearing loss or speech impairment. The closest site is the Community Outreach Program for the Deaf, 268 W. Adams in Tucson; 520-770-8544. An application packet is available from AzTEDP by calling 1-866-223-3412. For further information contact the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at info@acdhh.state.az.us.

The next Adult Loss of Hearing Association meeting is April 6 at 10 a.m. at La Posada’s recreation building. The speaker will be Larry Roberts, owner of Giraffe Hearing in Green Valley who will talk about avoiding hearing loss and what to do once it is diagnosed.

Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer in Green Valley. Contact her at ellen2414@cox.net.