Closed-caption phone?

[agate]

I have MS and don't know if my hearing loss is related to it or is just due to aging. It started to be a problem in my 30s, but I didn't get hearing aids for nearly 30 more years--so it wasn't much of a problem for quite a while.

Now I'm told I have "moderately severe" hearing loss, and I've been offered a free closed-captioning phone.

Does anyone know about these? I'm trying to avoid a complicated gadget or any device that will often need repairs. I'd appreciate any information.

I'm a little suspicious of something they're trying to so hard to give away....

[Dejibo]

I dont know about hearing stuff, but when I went blind with MS the blind folks gave me a ton of toys and I thought "do I need that?" and was hesitant, but when they explained how they worked. I was in love! how did I live without this?

You can always use the phone, and if it doesnt work out, return it to them as a donation for someone else.

Have you thought about learning some sign? The DH is going deaf from a noise event in the military and we agreed to NOT talk to each other unless we are in the same room. no more screaming from room to room. We wait for the appliance or the ice maker to stop before we finish what we are saying. in a restaurant we have some hand signals that are easy to see and understand. Tugging on my ear means (get me outta here!) and doing the pull your hand towards you in the "more" signal means "give me or show me what you are holding"

Im so sorry this is happening to you. I have other tips and tricks if you want. im here. ((hugs))

[agate]

Thanks for the good advice! I'm working on getting the closed-caption phone. It sounds like a great idea--I'm just timid about new technology.

Learning to sign is probably a good idea too. Most people I'd be communicating with wouldn't know how to sign but it might not be a bad skill to learn anyway.

I've been wearing hearing aids for 9 years now and have to get new ones now. They're useful but in a very limited way.

I could use any suggestions anyone has. My "solution" to my hearing problem is all too often to pretend I've heard when I haven't. I get tired of saying "What?" to people, and I'm sure they get very tired of hearing it from me.

[Jo*mar]

have you done a search on the phone they are offering?

here's one -
http://www.captel.com/

and many more phones for all impairments -
http://www.thephoneresource.com/inde...red-phones.cfm

Amazon carries many too-
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...mpaired+phones

[agate]

Jo*mar, thanks so much for the links. I'm checking into them.

The phone offered to me is called CaptionCall. I seem to have it now--it was installed today. Now if I can figure out how to get it to work... I'll be spending the next day or two at least just learning about it.

[agate]

I've had the phone for a week now, and so far so good!

The captioning isn't perfect by any means but it isn't good on live TV either.

It's not hard to get adjusted to though. There's a touch screen, and the display is actually visible for me. The screen is 4x6" and the letters are white on a black background.

You can store your contacts, scroll to the number you want to dial, touch it, and the phone dials the number for you.

The ringer can be adjusted in both pitch and volume.

One really neat feature is that it has a stand. You can prop it so it's almost upright. It's much easier for me to see and deal with it when it's propped up.

If your Internet connection is off for some reason, the captioning won't work but the phone still works.

The tech support people have been very helpful and accessible.

https://www.captioncall.com/captioncall