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OT: Is there a cell phone or an app for deaf folks?


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Howdy, y'all. My mom-in-law's cousin is for all intents and purposes stone deaf from too many years around industrial machinery without using enough hearing protection. He's had one cochlear implant which sort of works, and recently had a second one done but I haven't talked to him since then to see if that one has helped. Because of his lack of hearing he's unable to use any kind of phone, which makes it hard to contact him if necessary. So my question is this: is there a smartphone, or an app, out there somewhere in technology land that would allow him to maybe read what someone is saying to him in real time, then he could answer them back with his voice? Vibration could clue him in that his phone is ringing, then he could answer it on speaker and maybe carry on a conversation with some of the family who is trying to get ahold of him. Does such a thing exist?

 

I have to go to town in a day or two and I'm gonna go talk to the Verizon folks and maybe the US Cellular folks next door to Verizon then but I thought maybe I could get a jump on the topic by asking here.

 

Thanks!

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Don't know if this will help. Got this item from V.A. and is available to the public. It' a phonak TV Link. That base you see plugs into the tv. The item that has the green light I wear around my neck. The base sends the sound from the tv to the compilot around my neck. It is bluetooth to my hearing aids and I receive the sound from the tv. This compilot is also bluetooth to my cell phone. When my cell phone rings it goes directly to my hearing aids. That compilot is also a speaker so that I may talk to who ever is calling. Also any music I have stored in my cell phone will play into my hearing aids. If a call comes in while listening to music or the tv, the call will over ride and ring in my ears. It really works great and fantastic for me to finally hear the tv along with phone calls. I love it. I once looked it up on the internet and found that it cost around $150. But, you do have to have hearing aids that it will work with. Check with his hearing people.

phonak.jpg

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If you go into the phone, iPhone = App Store, Droid = Play store.

Go into the app stores and search “DEAF APP” and dozens of options come up. Check it out. 

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My latest VA hearing aids have the Blue Tooth app installed. Good lick. First time in years that I have been able to understand conversation or telephone messaging.

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2 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

If you go into the phone, iPhone = App Store, Droid = Play store.

Go into the app stores and search “DEAF APP” and dozens of options come up. Check it out. 

I looked at a bunch of the ones that come up but none of them really seem to do what I'm looking for. I'm not thinking about in room conversations, I'm thinking about answering the phone and having the other person's words come up on the screen. Or maybe I'm not understanding what they're saying about the apps...

 

But Thanks!

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4 minutes ago, Noz said:

My latest VA hearing aids have the Blue Tooth app installed. Good lick. First time in years that I have been able to understand conversation or telephone messaging.

The problem that we seem to be having is that the hearing aids don't really help him to hear stuff. That's why I'm looking for something that he can read on his phone when people call him. But thanks!

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2 hours ago, Smoken D said:

Don't know if this will help. Got this item from V.A. and is available to the public. It' a phonak TV Link. That base you see plugs into the tv. The item that has the green light I wear around my neck. The base sends the sound from the tv to the compilot around my neck. It is bluetooth to my hearing aids and I receive the sound from the tv. This compilot is also bluetooth to my cell phone. When my cell phone rings it goes directly to my hearing aids. That compilot is also a speaker so that I may talk to who ever is calling. Also any music I have stored in my cell phone will play into my hearing aids. If a call comes in while listening to music or the tv, the call will over ride and ring in my ears. It really works great and fantastic for me to finally hear the tv along with phone calls. I love it. I once looked it up on the internet and found that it cost around $150. But, you do have to have hearing aids that it will work with. Check with his hearing people.

phonak.jpg

Again, not sure that this would really help, because his hearing aids don't seem to really help him hear anything much.  Guess I'll keep looking.

 

But Thanks!

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Charlie:

 

My Dad was deaf, also from exposure to machinery (and Navy engine rooms).  We were able to arrange for a captioned phone, with which speech was immediately transcribed to print and displayed on a screen for him to view in real time.  Neat system, called Caption Call. If I were you, I would check with the phone company and/or your local senior service agency.

 

LL

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1 hour ago, Noz said:

My latest VA hearing aids have the Blue Tooth app installed. Good lick. First time in years that I have been able to understand conversation or telephone messaging.

 

  if ya can hear now , does that meen , I gotta talk nice about ya now :huh:

 

  just wait NOZ , I might bring Shade Tree , back out of hiding , that ortta be fun , for those that know the story 

 

  CB   (TROUBLE MAKER) :P

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Thanks for your replies, folks. I'm going to talk to the cell phone outfits in town this week and see if they can help me with something for him. Thanks!

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Well...callers that leave voice mail on my phone, their message appears as text that I can read.  Then your friend can text them back?

 

Or why don't the callers text him in the first place, or email?

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2 hours ago, Matthew Duncan said:

Well...callers that leave voice mail on my phone, their message appears as text that I can read.  Then your friend can text them back?

 

Or why don't the callers text him in the first place, or email?

I've got my voice mail set up the same way. He's got an old flip phone, which can be used for texting but is really a pain to do, and no email set up. I think I'm going to have to try to talk him into getting a smart phone, which, if I put it right, should be relatively easy. The hard part's going to be convincing my wife and her mom that my idea will work. The CaptionCall-type apps that I've looked at so far look like they may be the ticket.

 

Thanks!

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6 hours ago, Charlie MacNeil, SASS #48580 said:

...The hard part's going to be convincing my wife and her mom that my idea will work...


Let them think it’s their idea!  :D  

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1 hour ago, Matthew Duncan said:


Let them think it’s their idea!  :D  

Actually it didn’t turn out to be hard at all. They thought it was a great idea. Who knew?

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1 hour ago, Charlie MacNeil, SASS #48580 said:

Actually it didn’t turn out to be hard at all. They thought it was a great idea. Who knew?

Oh oh...TWO women agreed with a male?  RUN!

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Late to the party. . . .

-----------------------

Generic answer.

 

How do I get my android to read my text messages aloud?
2. Text-to-Speech
  1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Text-to-Speech. The settings here will likely vary depending on what make phone you have. ...
  2. Go back to the Accessibility screen and scroll down to Select to Speak and toggle it on.
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3 hours ago, Cliff Hanger #3720LR said:

Late to the party. . . .

-----------------------

Generic answer.

 

How do I get my android to read my text messages aloud?
2. Text-to-Speech
  1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Text-to-Speech. The settings here will likely vary depending on what make phone you have. ...
  2. Go back to the Accessibility screen and scroll down to Select to Speak and toggle it on.

 

3 hours ago, Cliff Hanger #3720LR said:

Also there is speech to text.

You talk to the phone and it prints out text that you can review and edit as needed before sending.

Yeah, that’s not quite what I’m looking for.

 

But thanks!

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