For a moment, imagine a student in a classroom. The instructor is speaking into a microphone, clipped to her lapel, that is connected to a small transmitter in her pocket. The hearing-impaired student sitting in the audience has a receiver with either headphones or some other device that will connect to his or her hearing aids. The ALD, then, will bring the sound coming through the microphone directly to the ear without amplifying the background noise, maintaining the quality and intensity of the speech.
This is a common scenario for ALD use. However, people often try to use ALDs without really understanding how they work or the role the various components play in every listening situation. Problems with any one of these components can cause a breakdown in the system that can easily result in a negative experience with the device for the user. Especially if the user is not familiar with ALDs, he or she may think there is nothing that can improve their hearing experience. This is usually not true, but many people do not know that for group or lecture situations, hearing aid technology is not ‘as good as it gets’. Let’s examine each of the components and see how they contribute to the listening experience.
