Challenges of Restaurants for the Hearing Impaired
Tim Gaule
I am a member of the SaddleBrooke Hearing Discussion Group. In this month’s article I would like to discuss the challenges of hearing in restaurants if you are hearing impaired. Modern restaurants tend to be noisy, not only due to the chatter of the patrons but also due to the background music and perhaps the noises from the kitchen. Most restaurants tend to have hard-surface floors and high ceilings, which are not helpful in dampening noise. In fact, many restaurant owners prefer a noisy environment, as it gives the impression that the restaurant is a fun and enjoyable experience.
I would like to share some suggestions that my wife and I have, based on our experiences at local restaurants. I wear a hearing aid in my left ear and have a cochlear implant in my right ear. Prior to getting the implant, it was very difficult for me to hear in restaurants. Hearing aids are good at amplifying sound, but they don’t help with clarity, especially with all the competing sounds in restaurants. Prior to getting my implant, I relied on apps that would convert the spoken word to text. I found those apps to be challenging, as they tended to pick up parts of other conversations.
Now that I have my implant, I can usually hear fairly well if we are out by ourselves or with just one other couple. We typically try to sit in a booth. Whether I am in a booth or table, I try to sit so that I am facing a wall. The microphones in my hearing devices are going to focus on the speaker in front of me, so it is best if there is no one behind that person. If a booth is not available, we try, if possible, to find a table that is away from larger groups. We also like to go out around 3 p.m. when the restaurants tend to be less crowded. We call that “linner” since it is between lunch and dinner.
Of course, 3 p.m. doesn’t work at the HOA restaurants. At The Preserve, the hostess, Mary Lee, tries to seat us at a table that’s not as noisy. At MountainView Bar & Grill, we try to sit in the dining room and, hopefully, grab a booth if one is available. We find the RoadRunner Grill to be challenging unless the weather allows us to sit outside. If making reservations upstairs in SaddleBrooke One, we request to be seated in a quiet location.
To locate quiet venues, I would recommend checking out the SoundPrint website at www.soundprint.co. It allows you to discover quieter venues in Tucson. Download their app’s internal decibel meter to measure the noise level of any venue. There is also an option to submit noise readings to the SoundPrint database.
If you have questions or would like to recommend a quiet restaurant, my contact email is [email protected].
Hearing V-I-B-E-S: Discussion Group for Better Hearing
Who We Are:
We are SaddleBrooke residents who recognize the need in our community for a caring place of support and education for those experiencing hearing loss and those beginning to research this topic for themselves or a loved one.
What We Do:
(1) Discuss issues we face, learn tips and solutions, receive handout educational materials, and offer guidance and encouragement. Occasionally, an audiology doctoral student from the University of Arizona will be a guest, also hearing technology reps.
(2) Submit articles for the SaddleBrooke newspapers covering hearing loss topics and personal testimonials from members of our community about their hearing loss journey.
(3) Sponsor periodic “Hearing Night Out” community-wide presentations by local audiologists.
(4) Advocate for better technical support in SaddleBrooke facilities for those living with hearing loss.
Meetings:
Meetings are held the second Friday monthly at 10 a.m. in the Sonoran Room at the MountainView clubhouse.
Questions:
Jennifer Jefferis at [email protected] or Lyle Larson at [email protected]
Did You Know?
• Only one in five people who would benefit from a hearing aid actually uses one.
• Hearing loss has been shown to negatively impact nearly every dimension of the human experience, including physical health, emotional and mental health, and perceptions of mental acuity, social skills, family relationships, and self-esteem.
• New findings linking cognitive decline to even minimal hearing loss suggest that we could do a lot to protect our brains if we protect our hearing.
• Hearing loss is now known to be the largest modifiable risk factor for developing dementia, exceeding that of smoking, high blood pressure, lack of exercise, and social isolation.
Taken from The New York Times article “For Better Brain Health, Preserve Your Hearing” and The Hearing Loss Association of America.