The Hear Daily

Laura McCullough-DeLorme is 38, from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and is an aspiring playwright.  Her blog is Little Orange Kitchen.

My hearing loss was gradual at first and I chalked it off to people mumbling. Eventually my husband noticed that I was constantly asking him to repeat himself and that I didn’t pick up noises like loud birds outside our window or even the cat meowing in the next room.  I finally went to an audiologist.  I have sixty percent loss in both ears.  To discover the loss was equal in both ears scared me. The doctor suggested hearing aids.   I started to cry and left the office.   I continued to avoid the topic, but when my husband and I went to a play, I realized that I was missing most of the dialog and blinked back tears for the entire performance. I sat there thinking that all I wanted was to have my own plays produced and that by the time that happened I might not be able to hear them. It was overwhelmingly depressing.

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Every hard of hearing person struggles on the phone at some point.  Some phones are better than others, some people speak better than others.  My most frustrating moments on the phone are usually voicemail related.  My family members are regularly called to assist me in deciphering a message.  “What did she say?  Did she say anything else?  Are you sure?  Did she saying anything about ….” I ask.  I would love to be more independent and have my privacy back! 

This week, Line1 Communications announced new service called Spinvox.  Spinvox transcribes your voicemail to your email.  Now, if you get a voicemail you can’t understand, you can log onto your email and read it. Read the rest »

I love going to the movies.  Adventure flicks, foreign films, love stories, you name it.  I’ve never met a movie I couldn’t enjoy in some fashion, either by admiring the sets, the costumes, the beauty of the actors or the ridiculousness of it all.  I love the movies.  Even on the first day of spring, you can talk me into going to the movies.

But, once my hearing deteriorated to the point I couldn’t follow the dialogue anymore, I stopped going.   I started renting movies instead, going as far as popping corn, getting the big drink, turning off the cellphone and the whole thing.  I turn on the captioning and do my best.   But….it isn’t the same. Read the rest »

When Amazon announced Unbox, I was tickled silly.  I am a devoted TiVo subscriber and this new Amazon product makes it possible to download a rental movie (you can buy movies too) from the Unbox site and watch it on your TV.   You can also download a movie via their Unbox Video Player and watch on your computer, which can be hooked to your TV.  In less than an hour, you can download a movie to watch at home and not be bothered with returning the video to a store.  You can even start a download from your PC at work to be ready for when you get home.  See why I was so tickled? 

But guess what?  Closed captioning isn’t included in the download.  My first movie, About a Boy, is full of Hugh Grant voiceovers.  I missed every word.  I called TiVo, they double checked that my TV captioning was on (uh, yes, all the time) and then said to call Amazon, because they are the ones with the product.   Here’s what Amazon said:

Greetings from Amazon.com.

Thank you for writing to us about closed captioning and Amazon Unbox
videos.

Unfortunately we do not offer closed captioning at this time. The
availability of content through our Amazon Unbox service depends on
our agreements and arrangements with various content owners. We are
constantly working to establish and improve these agreements so we can
offer the largest range of content possible.

It is always important for us to hear how customers react to all
aspects of shopping at Amazon.com.  Strong customer feedback like
yours helps us continue to improve the selection and service we
provide, and we appreciate the time you took to write to us.

Thank you for your interest in Amazon Unbox video downloads on Amazon.com.

Bummer.

Join me in telling Amazon that their agreements with their content owners need to include closed captioning.  Go to Amazon.com, find the Unbox area, and look for customer service.  It’s a tricky navigation, and one that I can’t post.  Surely 31 million people deserve this support!