The Hearing Loss Association of America ("the nation's voice for people with hearing loss") and the American Academy of Audiology ("the world's largest professional organization of, by, and for audiologists") have just announced that their two organizations are undertaking an unprecedented collaboration that aims to increase hearing aid functionality, by enabling them to serve as wireless loudspeakers for the broadcast of PA system and TV sound.  (See here.)

Simultaneously, Sertoma, a national service organization with 540 local clubs, is announcing that they will be supporting the adoption of this technology in communities across America. (See here.)

Also the Hearing Review is out with a cover story on the widespread adoption of this technology in the UK and Nordic countries, in several hundred venues here in West Michigan, and now, thanks to grassroots initiatives, in places such as Tucson, Albuquerque, central Wisconsin, and New York City (where, for example, the transit authority is using federal stimulus monies to install the technology in subway information booths and call points).

Press releases on these happenings, plus a FAQ list and a list of potential contacts, are now available. 

Excitement is rising over what these developments portend for the 36 million Americans with hearing loss--a mostly invisible but growing population.  As Sergei Kochkin, director of the Better Hearing Institute, notes, "Perhaps we are reaching that tipping point where we indeed make the world accessible to people with hearing loss through increasing the functionality of hearing aids" (quoted with permission).