Frequently Asked Questions - Canadian Hard of Hearing Association

I cannot afford to purchase new hearing aids, but I need them – are there any additional sources of funding I can access?

Yes there are, but they vary by province/territory. Please refer to CHHA’s “Canadian Hearing Aid Subsidies and Workers Compensation” Guide at the following link for more detailed information: Hearing Aid Subsidies Across Canada

I use hearing aids, but I still struggle to understand in noisy situations. I would like to learn to lip-read, are classes being offered?

Certainly, CHHA National has trained several lip-reading (also known as speechreading) instructors across Canada and you are welcome to view a complete listing of these instructors here.

Simply scroll down the listing to find your province/territory, and you will see the contact information available for each instructor and the area they are holding courses.

If there are no instructors offering classes in your area, you can also learn the basics of lip-reading at home with CHHA’s Sound Ideas DVD and Booklet. You can find this on our publications page.

Can you recommend an audiologist or clinic that has experiencing dealing with my specific kind of hearing loss?

While CHHA cannot endorse one clinic over another, I would recommend you phone or email various clinics near you to inquire about their expertise fitting your type of hearing loss. Make sure that they will give you a long trial period for any prescribed aids/devices, that all charges are provided in writing ahead of time and that all terms are completely transparent.

Please don’t give up, I’m sure you’ll find a clinic that can help you!

My mother has hearing aids but finds it increasingly difficult to understand over the phone as she can't hear me clearly enough. Is there any telephone device that can be amplified so she could hear better?

To this question there is no one answer that fits all. It depends very much on your mother’s hearing loss and the type of hearing aids she wears. There are so many phones on the market with different options available. Some people do well with a phone that has a loud speakerphone option. The sound can be loud enough to be heard with both ears. Others do better when their hearing aids have a telecoil. This allows the hearing aids to pick up the sound by magnetic induction. Also, many of the latest model hearing aids send the sound to both ears when the phone is held up to one ear. Speech discrimination is always better when listening through both ears, so if possible try one of the options that allow the telephone to be heard in both ears.

I would suggest you talk to an audiologist to find out the capabilities of your mother’s hearing aids (ie. Do they have a telecoil?) Otherwise, there are amplified telephones available that can further increase the volume that might help. If you decide to look into amplified telephones, be aware that they are more expensive than regular telephones, and select a provider that will allow you to try out different phones with the option to return them if they don’t work out.