hearing

BY RANDALL P. LIEBERMAN

Who says you can’t get something for nothing? In the state of Florida, if you suffer from hearing loss, you can get at absolutely no cost, a CapTel Captioned Telephone, which displays captions on a phone display screen to allow people with hearing loss to see word-for-word captions during a phone conversation.

“We support the hard of hearing by providing greater access to effective communication tools and information,” said Michael Atteo, the CapTel Outreach, Education and Installations Division (OEI) area outreach educator for Central Florida.

In order to receive a CapTel phone, applicants must submit a form signed by a professional qualified to evaluate hearing loss (such as a physician or audiologist) — or by an authorized representative from a government program. Once approved, a CapTel area outreach educator such as Atteo will install the phone and provide individualized instruction. And if users ever have technical problems, there is a 24-7 tech support number available for troubleshooting.

These life-changing communication tools became available for free by Federal Communication Commission (FCC) regulations in 2003 and again in 2006. This program is funded by

CAPTIONED PHONES

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