By Charles Cook

My wife’s hearing has deteriorated to the point where even the most sophisticated modern hearing aid fails to provide relief. I’ve always been told that my voice, which won oratory medals at college, is very clear and strong.  But even so, now that we’re both in our eighties, conversation with her has become almost impossible.  Every other word is a challenge.

We had finally resorted to simply writing down important information.  But then I remembered a device we had used when her hearing first became a problem.

It was an idea inspired by her father.  He had coped with deafness in the 1960’s by using a basic microphone and speaker. We bought one.  But with the arrival of sophisticated hearing aids, it was put away and forgotten about.

This past month we decided to try to revive that old technique. A quick search of the Internet came up with the Pocketalker. Her father’s rather primitive box of tricks has been replaced with a sophisticated unit connected by wire to modern headphones. In a quiet atmosphere a one on one conversation once again becomes possible.