With plentiful cheap traveloptions available, including cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, discounttravel deals, and cheap vacation packages,there is no reason you should be reluctant to travel if you are one of themillions of Americans who wear hearing aids, or who have a cochlear implant.
The following are some travel tips for the hearing impairedfrom Katherine Bouton:
Packall of your hearing equipment in a carry-on bag along with medications andother irreplaceable valuables. Thereality is that sometimes checked bags get lost.
If youwear a hearing aid, pack a backup if you have one (an older hearing aid isfine). Make sure to include back upbatteries, wax guards, and the brush and wire needed to clean your hearing aid.
If youhave a backup for your cochlear implant, pack that as well as spares for eachof the components including the ear hook, the T-mic, the cable, and theheadpiece. If you lose any of yourcomponents on a trip, they often cannot be easily replaced at the nearestdrugstore.
Makesure you pack the charger for your rechargeable batteries (bring at leastthree) for your cochlear implant. Travelwith a dehumidifier storage case for your implant.
Protectagainst wetness by using Dri-Aid to keep your hearing aid dry at night, whichis particularly important in humid climates such as in Florida. Pack a carrying case so you can safely putyour hearing aid away when you go swimming. Since sweat is not good for hearing aids, your carrying case can come inhandy on the tennis or golf course.
Whenpacking your assistive listening devices remember that a transmitter FM systemincludes a transmitter and a receiver, as well as a charger for each. If you forget only one component, then youwill be unable to use any of the other components.
Pack aBluetooth (and its charger), such as ComPilot, to pair with yourcellphone. If you use a captioned phoneat home, make sure that your cellphone is as hearing friendly as possible whiletraveling. Remember to switch on yourtelecoil before using your cellphone.
Pack apower strip so you can charge your multiple devices and connect variouschargers at the same time. If you willbe traveling abroad, make sure to bring the appropriate adapter.
Thebest way to ensure that you do not leave your hearing aid and cochlear implantbehind is to wear them. Neither devicesets off alarms at airport security and both enables hearing impaired travelersto better respond to questions from airport security agents as well as hear announcementsat departure gates.
Sinceairports are noisy, you may not be able to hear flight announcements. Politely ask the gate attendant to tell youwhen your zone is boarding (by doing so, often you will be offeredpre-boarding).
Bypacking and using your personal over-the-ear headphones you will be able tohear the in-flight entertainment without having to take off your hearing aidwhich would be necessary if you used the airlines free headphones.
Createa list before departing for your trip of everything that you will needincluding devices, chargers, batteries, chargers, cleaning equipment andinstruction manuals, and then check off the list when packing.
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