If you have a small meeting room, outdoor space, or temporary venue that needs an assistive listening system, here’s one solution: A Contacta Portable Room Loop Kit (PRLK).

At our picnic this July, our usual hearing loop hero, Spencer Norby from Hearing Loop NW, wasn’t able to attend the event and install the loop in the picnic shelter as he always does. So in order to hear one another, we had to improvise.

Board members Carolyn Odio, Heidi Crabtree, Rick Faunt, and Cheri Perazzoli came to the rescue. They jumped in and figured out how to make the portable loop work in the space. If you’d like to see how they did it, check out the guide they created. The guide includes how and where to lay the wire, connect to the speaker, and install the antennas. Big kudos to Heidi, not only for her leadership at the picnic but also for her installation of a hearing loop at the Longview Library.

This loop kit, plus others, were purchased a few years ago by the Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The kits were previously available at the regional ODDH centers for the community to borrow. Now, they’re in storage.

There’s a limited audio range for the PRLK, so this is a good example of how a small space can be made hearing friendly. Though there’s a bit of a learning curve, the PRLK installation is doable, even if you’re not a tech expert.

If you’d like to borrow one of these systems for your event or meeting, contact us: info@hearingloss-wa.org.

Reminder: The telecoil in many hearing aids and CIs connects wirelessly to hearing loops. Turn your hearing aid or CI to “T” or “Telecoil” mode in order to hear through the loop. If you don’t have a telecoil, or you’re not sure, talk with your audiologist. Also, remember to help others by announcing the loop and reminding people to turn their hearing aids to T or telecoil mode.