Newspaper Page Text
Devices can compensate for lack of hearing
By Lillian Wan
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
I have received some interest
ing comments and questions
about my article on hearing im
pairment entitled “The Sound of
Silence” (February 8, 1996 issue,
page 10). Several people com
mented that they found that it is
difficult to lip-read speech (They
had tried my suggestion of turn
ing down the volume on the TV
and then trying to follow the
speech of the characters.) Now
they understand why I have dif
ficulty understanding speech at
times with my less-than-normal
Hearing and less than perfect lip
reading skills. I was also asked
how I can cope without many of
the sounds, with or without my
hearing aids, that people with
normal hearing depend on.
Thankfully, there are devices
available that can compensate
for a lack of hearing:
. *How do I wake up if I can’t
hear an alarm clock? I cannot
comfortably wear my hearing
aids while I sleep if only for the
fear of crushing them by sleep
ing on top of them. Until a few
vears ago, I did not have the
answer to that question myself.
I'have had to depend on my own
Life insurance: A matter of policy
Most people recognize that life
insurance is a necessary safe
guard for their families. Howev
er, they often don’t realize that
notall policies are created equal.
“The Georgia Society of CPAs
says that whether you're shop
ping for life insurance for the
first time or assessing your cur
rent coverage, it’s important to
review a policy’s costs, terms,
conditions and limitations to de
termine whether it can meet your
current and future financial
rieeds. Here is a rundown of the
main types of life insurance and
what they can and can’t offer.
"Under a term life insurance
policy, you pay an annual premi
um to insure your life for a fixed
period and the benefit is paid at
your death. This type of policy is
typically the least expensive be
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inner clock to wake me up. Asll
grew older, that was not a de
pendable method for making sure
that I woke up and arrived at
work on time. I was told about a
special alarm clock that could
vibrate my pillow or my bed and
also flash a light for an alarm.
Since my eyes are sensitive to
light, that was a good combina
tion. After the initial start of
having my head shaken and then
abrightlight flashingin my eyes,
I greatly appreciate the combi
nation of tactile and visual stim
ulation to boost me up and out of
bed. Depending on how much
“work” is needed from such spe
cial alarms (sound, no sound, vi
brator, flashing light, etc.), such
devices cost $24 up to over sllO.
They also come in portable, light
weight models so that they can
be used when traveling.
. *How do I tell when someone
is knocking on my door? Isl am
in the same room, I have enough
hearing to listen to knocks on my
door. But I cannot hear sounds
from another room. There are
electronic devices which can be
attached to the door to signal
vibrations on it (caused by the
turning of the knob or knocking
on the door) by flashing a power
ful light. Prices range from
$11.50 up to over SIOO. There
cause there is no cash buildup.
You can opt to have declining or
decreasing term life, where the
face value of the policy declines
according to a fixed schedule,
such as over 10 or 15 years. This
arrangement presumes that
you’ll need less coverage as your
family gets older.
Themain disadvantage of pur
chasing a term policy is, if the
“term” of the policy expires be
fore you do, you will not receive
any death benefit. Such policies
sometimes need to be renewed or
replaced. Some term policies help
you avoid this situation by in
cluding a “guaranteed renew
able” option or a provision that
allows you to convert your poli
cy, for a higher premium, to a
cash value policy. It’s important
to look for these options when
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are also special strobe light sig
naling devices for indicating oth
er sounds such as smoke alarms,
baby cries, etc.
*How do I hear speech on the
telephone? My telephone switch
on my hearing aids are not pow
erful enough for me to comfort
ably hear speech on regular tele
phones. I have portable amplifi
ers which I attach over the re
ceiver part of the telephone to
amplify the sounds. Such devic
es range in cost from $12.95 to
over $34, depending on the
amount of amplification needed.
There are also other types of
amplifiers which are portable
units that plug into the modular
jack of the handset cord. There
are also various modified tele
phones and separately-sold
handsets on the market, which
feature enhanced sound for the
hearing impaired. Cellular
phone users may use a HATIS
device which can assist people
with up to 99-percent hearing
loss (please refer to article about
it in the August 8, 1996 issue of
Augusta Focus, page 10.)
For the totally deaf, there are
special phones called TTY (tele
typewriter) or TDD (telecommu
nications device for the deaf) that
are used in place of a regular
phone. A TTY consists of a key-
purchasing a term life policy.
Whole life insurance covers
your whole life instead of just a
specified term. What’s more, your
premiums— paid monthly, quar
terly or annually — will be in
vested by the insurance compa
ny to build the cash value of your
policy. You also can borrow
against this cash value.
Whole life policies offer a cash
surrender benefit as well. You
can surrender or void the policy
and receive its equivalent cash
value minus any surrender
charges. Cash values vary de
pending on the policy’s duration.
Two popular types of whole life
insurance are universal life and
variable life, both of which build
up cash value. With variable life,
you can choose to invest a portion
of your premium in vehicles such
board for typing in messages; a
small screen for reading written
messages; cups to attach tele
phone handsets to and, in some
cases, printers to print out mes
sages otherwise displayed on the
screen. Direct communication
may be made between two TTYs.
For someone to make a call from
a normal telephone to a TTY or
from a TTY to a regular phone in
Georgia, a person can call the
Georgia Relay System. TTY us
ers should call 1-800-255-0056
and normal phone users should
call 1-800-255-0135. There,
trained operators will relay mes
sages back and forth between
callers. There is no charge for
this service for local calls in Geor
gia. Long distance calls are not
charged extra beyond normal
long-distance charges. TTYs
range in price from $229 to over
S4OO.
If you have a hearing problem
and would find some of the above
devices useful, please ask your
doctor or hearing specialist for
more information. You may also
call the Division of Rehabilita
tion Services of the Georgia De
partment of Human Resources
in Augusta at (706) 737-1808 for
information. They are located at
1727 Wrightsboro Rd.
as stocks or bonds. The cash value
of the policy will then vary de
pending on how your investments
perform. Typically, a minimum
death benefit is guaranteed.
Universal life (UL) enables you
toincrease or decrease your death
benefit annually and to increase
or decrease your premiums. This
flexibility, along with the fact that
the cost for universal life is typi
cally lower than that for other
whole life policies, provides op
tions some people need. However,
unliketraditional wholelife, which
offers a guaranteed cash value
accumulation, UL offers you a
minimum return rate, usually
around four percent. Abovethat it
varies. As with variable life, the
performance of your investments
will affect your return.
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arieston, doutn Laroina
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