ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) — A new system in the Mishler Theatre is helping folks with hearing impairments enjoy the shows a little better.
The local audiologist who donated the universal looping system to the theatre said she hopes those who are hard of hearing will take advantage of it, and possibly experience the shows to their fullest.
The system connects the T-Coil in a person’s hearing device to the raw sound from the microphones from the stage.
“You can sit in any seat downstairs and hear exactly what I, as the sound engineer, or whover is engineering the sound, want everyone in the house to hear,” CJay Castello, Technical Director at the Mishler Theatre, said.
Dr. Karen Lemme saw a need for the system in the community. She said people have been coming into her office excited about the addition.
“With this, it just opens up the theatre to a lot more people, people who may never have come, people who maybe came once in a while, people who would sit here and maybe attend but not really get the full gist of the program, so now, they’re going to be able to sit here and hear it and follow it,” she said,
The system has been in place since February, and one of the first users of it was a young boy on a school trip, who had hearing aids.
“The first thing he did was turn and say, ‘oh my god!’ And smiled and he was like ‘wow’ and he was into it the entire show,” Castello said.
If you have a hearing aid with a T-Coil, your audiologist can help you set it up so use the Mishler’s system.