I am severely hearing-impaired. I wear high-end hearing aids when I interact with other

[tblue37]

people, watch TV (even with closed captioning), or go to a movie, but I never wear them unless I am doing something that requires me to hear. (I enjoy the peace and quiet, and I hate to have aids in all the time because they are physically annoying.)

I have a landline in my living room, and that is the only phone jack I have in the apartment.

I cannot hear my phone ring unless I am right next to it, but I am busy, so I cannot spend all my time hanging around right by my phone. I miss sooooo many calls!

Do any of you know of an alerter--flashing lights or loud ringing or, preferably, both--that I could have in the other rooms of the apartment to let me know when the phone is ringing? It would need to be something that would not require being hooked into the phone jack, since I would need for it to be in the other room where I can see/hear it when I am not in the living room.

I would, if necessary, go as high as about $100, but I would very much prefer to stay under $100--as far under it as possible!

I am hoping that maybe there is some sort of device that would use bluetooth or that could be hooked to a regular wall outlet without having to be attached to the landline phone/phone outlet, which wouldn't solve the problem, since I would still not hear or see it from the other rooms.

BTW, my deaf/HoH site:
I'm Listening as Hard as I Can!
http://www.deafnotdumb.homestead.com/index.html

[TeeYiYi]

1. My suggestion...

...would be for you to get a cell phone and lose the land line. You can keep your same phone number.

I always carry my phone in my left front pocket. It's set to ring and vibrate with every call. I have separate alerts (plus vibrate) for texts and email. I never miss anything that I don't want to miss. I use the calendar alerts for appointments and tasks that need a reminder.

My phone is my communication center. I have unlimited internet access, unlimited calls and unlimited texts for $50/mo.

I couldn't function without my cell phone. I carry it with me at all times.

TYY

[tblue37]

2. I do have a cell phone that I use to call others when I am not at home,

but I honestly cannot hear most people on the cell, and I cannot hear automated menus at all on it--though it is always iffy whether I will hear them on my landline, either.

I only use my cell to call out, not to receive calls.

[stevenleser]

3. Have you looked into any of these products for cell phones for hard of hearing folks?

http://www.harriscomm.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=47_1053

Sorry, I found this group when someone linked to it from GD. I remembered a hard of hearing friend mention some of the tools they use to be able to hear folks on their cell phones.

Hope this helps!

[SheilaT]

4. While I can't help with your actual question,

you might be at least slightly amused at this story: When I was in high school in the early 1960's, my French teacher wore a hearing aid. He was a remarkable teacher of the language, I hasten to add. But on days when he was done with the actual lesson a bit early, and had us working on our homework, he'd turn off his hearing aid. We learned rather quickly that we could talk to each other in normal conversational tones and he never heard a word.

[tblue37]

5. When my son was a teenager, he enjoyed being able to carry on private phone conversations

Last edited Tue Dec 8, 2015, 03:45 AM - Edit history (1)

while sitting right next to me. He also loved being able to play his punk rock music at high volumes, even early in the morning and late at night.

My daughter, though, freaked out when she finally got home 3 hours late from sheltering at work one day when a tornado smacked our town around. She walked into the apartment to find me sound asleep on the couch.

"Hey, Mom! You just slept right through a freaking tornado!"

Never even heard the sirens.