Town Hall adds new system for hearing-impaired residents

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Country Club of Lakewood Ranch resident Richard Williams lost his hearing suddenly in the late 1990s.

As supervisor for Community Development District 6, and now as its representative to the Inter-District Authority Board, Williams knows how difficult it can be to hear during public meetings.

But thanks to a donation by Williams, in combination with a 50/50 grant by the Hearing Loss Association of Sarasota, hearing-impaired residents now will be able to hear more clearly while attending events at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall.

Members of the Hearing Loss Association on March 24 christened a new hearing loop system installed recently at the facility.

“The Town Hall is a community center with many functions, presentations and meetings,” Williams said. “One-third of seniors have hearing loss, and many seniors use the facility. Any person with a hearing aid will immediately hear any sound from a microphone as a direct sound, with no secondary interference.
“It should bring more people out to presentations who could not hear and understand all the words,” he said. “The looping will encourage others with hearing loss to urge their churches and organizations to consider looping.

Town Hall Executive Director Eva Rey agreed.

“I don’t want to see any impediments to participating, whether it be (at) a club meeting or a government meeting,” she said. “(The hearing loop system) enhances our facility for users and hopefully raises public awareness about hearing loss.”

Jim Scott, owner of Complete Hearing Solutions, the company that installed the system at Town Hall, said with a hearing loop system, a wire is installed around the perimeter of the room and connects to a loop amplifier. The amplifier then connects to the audio system, such as the one in Town Hall.

“Any audio coming out of it will come out of their system,” Scott said. “Our amplifier sends alternating current into the wire, creating an electromagnetic field within the room. The magnetic component in the hearing aid receives the signal.”

Scott said the hearing loop system is the best of three assisted hearing-system options available. While other systems often require the use of external receivers such as headphones, the loop system works with the T-coil component within most hearing aids to provide sound to users.

“They are getting a nice, clear and concise sound,” Scott said. “For a person with hearing loss, background noise is (one of the biggest challenges to hearing well.”

Complete Hearing Solutions has installed or will be installing hearing loop systems, such as the one installed Town Hall, in more than 30 locations throughout Sarasota over the last year.

The hearing loop system installed at Town Hall cost about $3,500.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].