Parker Evangelical Presbyterian Church Installs a Hearing Loop

Dec 22, 2022 | Colorado Hearing Loops

People with hearing loss have the best sound in the house at Parker Presbyterian!

Parker Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Parker, Colorado recently installed a hearing loop, making it the most recent church in Colorado to “get in the loop”. Congregation members with hearing loss can now have the sermon broadcast directly to their ears via a hearing loop.  Parker Evangelical Presbyterian Church, located at 9030 Miller Road, Parker CO 80138, chose to install a hearing loop during a larger renovation of the sanctuary. The renovation included new carpet, a new seating arrangement, and a hearing loop. The hearing loop installation occurred immediately prior to the new carpet installation.

The Project

The idea for the hearing loop project initially came via a recommendation from a member of the congregation. It became evident to the building committee that many people in the congregation would benefit from a hearing loop. Moving forward, a member of the building project committee spearheaded the vendor search and selection process. The vetting process included speaking with other Presbyterian congregations that hearing loops. After speaking with several happy Assist2Hear customers, Assist2Hear was selected to design and install the hearing loop system at Parker Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

There are always many moving parts during a renovation project, Parker Presbyterian being no exception. In this example, the hearing loop installation was to occur immediately prior to the new flooring installation. Material delays caused the project to be pushed back by several months. Once the material arrived, the church Facilities Manager, Cliff, performed the demolition of the existing carpet in the sanctuary. The demo turned out to be quite a task, involving a significant amount of scraping, sanding, and even an ATV! Finally, a last-minute change in the flooring finish underneath the pews required a modified materials approach by Assist2Hear.

How Does a Hearing Loop Work?

Hearing loops transmit sound directly to a user’s hearing aid, without the use of additional receivers or other equipment. Hearing aid wearers simply change their hearing device to the telecoil (t-coil) or M-1 program in order to do so. The telecoil program is very common in hearing aids. The Hearing Loss Association of America cites that approximately 81% of hearing aids and 100% of Cochlear implants currently have the telecoil option available in them.

Each hearing loop system is designed specifically for the location in which it is to be installed. At Parker Presbyterian, a “phased array” design is being used to ensure a consistent sound for the user, regardless of their orientation in the sanctuary. A phased array design selection is also appropriate to limit the spill of the system onto the main worship platform, where a bevy of instrumentation is frequently used.

Other Parker Hearing Loops

Residents and visitors to Parker Colorado can enjoy hearing loops throughout Parker and the nearby South Denver communities. Most notably, the Parker Library, which has two hearing loops for public use in its upstairs community rooms. In fact, residents of Douglas County can enjoy hearing loops in every library within the Douglas County library system! Another nearby hearing loop is the Lone Tree Performing Arts Center, a state-of-the-art, 350-seat theater in nearby Lone Tree.

Assist2Hear is happy to help you learn more about the cost of a hearing loop installation in your church.

Hearing Loops in Library Systems

Apr 11, 2018 | Blog, Research

Hearing loops in library systems are an essential part of reducing barriers to services for library patrons.  Without hearing loops in library systems, persons living with hearing loss can find library services difficult or embarrassing to utilize.

What is the first rule of thumb in a library?  Be quiet!  Now imagine having hearing loss and attempting to communicate in a library.  Perhaps you are at the information desk and you asking where a specific book is located.   The librarian will provide detailed instructions, in a soft tone, because that’s what you do in a library – talk quietly.  Unfortunately speaking softly makes for an incredibly challenging situation for persons living with hearing loss.   In the library, a conversation in an elevated volume brings disapproving eyes and a “shhhhh!”

Hearing loops in library systems are an essential part of reducing barriers to services for library patrons.  Without hearing loops in library systems, persons living with hearing loss can find library services difficult or embarrassing to utilize.  The information desk is just one of many locations where hearing loops can help users hear better in libraries.  Library hearing loop systems should be present in a variety of forms, such as large area hearing loop systems in public meeting rooms and small area loop systems, such as counter loops at information desks.

One of the most common locations for hearing loops in a library is the community or meeting room.  Most libraries have meeting room(s) that are available to the public for use to host or engage in seminars, trainings, and even government functions, such as such as city council meetings.  Most of these rooms also have a microphone and/or audio-visual system in them, which means they are also legally required to offer hearing assistive technology to users to meet ADA regulations related to access for persons with hearing loss.  In new libraries, hearing loops are becoming the standard hearing assistive technology offered because of the high level of user-satisfaction and the ability for patrons to use the system without the librarian or library workers having to maintain and checkout additional equipment.

It is essential for librarians and library workers to assess their local library resources to make sure that hearing assistive technology is present for the community.  A counter hearing loop is a very cost-effective way to help persons with hearing loss access the basic services of the library.  If a large area hearing loop is not in the library budget now, a lower cost system such as FM or IR may be a short-term solution to ensure compliance with the ADA and make sure that all library patrons can access services, such as use of the community room.

Assist2Hear has installed hearing loops in many library systems.  In the Front Range of Colorado, these hearing loop locations include:

For more information about what it takes to install a hearing loop in your local library, give Assist2Hear a call today!  We offer the free site assessments for hearing loop systems and can also provide you with a demonstration counter loop to test at the information desk or other point of service.  Additionally, Assist2Hear also offers training resources to library staff about hearing loss and how to effectively communicate with persons with hearing loss.