Audio Improvements

In The Meeting Room

To the Editor:

Special notice to members of our community who attend meetings at our municipal center: The Newtown Municipal Center has recently undergone a makeover in our community meeting room; one of the improvements we have made is in our audio department. For people with hearing loss, this change will make a big difference in how you will be able to hear the speaker and be able to participate in meetings/programs.

The three improvements are as follows:

1. State-of-the-art speaker/loudspeaker system. Our loudspeakers are strategically placed for optimum hearing comprehension.

2. We have purchased FM receivers with headsets that an individual can use at any meeting. This will bring the sound directly into the ear using the headsets, and can be worn sitting anywhere in the room. They can be used by anyone — hearing aid user or not. People with mild to moderate hearing loss will benefit the most with this system.

3. A hearing inductive loop system (a wire that goes around the room) has been added! For those who wear hearing aids, the following paragraphs will explain how you can now sit anywhere within the meeting room, and just by changing your hearing aid or cochlear implant (CI) setting to T-Coil mode (also called T Switch or Tele-switch) you will be able to hear the speaker clearly, precisely, and with just the amplification you need to better understand the speaker. Important features of both the FM and the loop system is that they work in conjunction with your hearing aids or CI to block out ambient sounds, such as background noises and echoes, that a hearing aid or CI user would normally pick up, To work, your hearing aid or CI needs to have a little device called a telecoil. Most hearing aids will have a telecoil, but not all hearing aids have the telecoil activated. Some older hearing aids may not have a functioning telecoil, or it may need to be repaired. If you are buying a new hearing aid, you want to make sure it has a telecoil so you can benefit from this technology. Most often there is no additional cost for a telecoil or a very minimal charge in some cases.

Newtown is one of the first towns in Connecticut to offer such devices for our community, and we would like to create partnerships with other community groups that may work with the hearing impaired, to see if we can offer our space and this amazing technology for their use. This is an incredible community resource, and we’d like to help as many people as possible. Won’t you stop by and see for yourself and please pass the word to anyone who could benefit with this state of the art audio improvements!

Patricia Llodra

First Selectman

3 Primrose Street, Newtown                                     January 17, 2010