Roger is my friend! He is paired with my Phonak Audeo Sphere hearing aids, and I find him useful in a lot of situations and essential in some. Even with state of the art aids I often have to work hard to process what people are saying, whereas with the Roger it is more like life was before I developed hearing problems. In the past couple of weeks he has accompanied me:
- On a walk with my son and his dog
- With two other people having lunch in a restaurant
- At two meetings, of 7 and 6 people sitting round a table
- At my exercise class
- During dinner at home
All of these occasions were indoors except, obviously, the walk. Tim my son wore the Roger in pointing mode, and I could hear him clearly whether we were walking side by side or in single file.
I cannot remember when I was last able to hear clearly what he was saying – at least 30 years!
The lunch venue was relatively quiet, and we were seated in a corner which made life easier, for us as well as the Roger. At home our kitchen-diner has lots of hard surfaces and is quite a resonant space. Using the Roger while we were at the table meant that I didn’t have to keep asking my husband to repeat himself.
Our weekly exercise class takes place in a very resonant room. We tried the Roger On lecture mode but it did not cut down the reverb sufficiently. So the instructor has the Roger near her, on pointing mode. I can now hear everything she says which is a revolution and means that I can participate fully in the class.
Using the Roger for the meetings, resting in the middle of the table in table mode, I could hear what people were saying, and make contributions without the potential embarrassment of getting the wrong end of the stick! Both rooms were non-resonant. The second meeting (pictured) took place at my Cambridge college, with two current students both of whom have been deaf since childhood. We discussed the particular problems relating to student life, from lecturers who can’t use microphones properly to the impossibility of hearing anyone at a drinks party or formal hall…
As I use Roger in more situations, I am discovering what works and what doesn’t. A quiet ambiance is best, ie no-one apart from the people I am with, and no other sounds in the room. Despite what they say in the printed guide, Roger doesn’t help in a noisy restaurant, even in pointing mode. As often happens, if people at a table nearby are talking loudly it is them that you hear, not the people you’re with.
What would revolutionise restaurants, drinks parties, etc would be the ability to bring the field closer in. The ability to switch to a range of a metre or so would certainly help with that. But that apart, Roger helps me to relax and not to have to strain to hear everything.
Dr Penny McClean
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