Telephone program helps hearing-impaired    

Lincoln woman gets the word out

[JULY 13, 2006]  Jonie Tibbs not only suffers with Meniere's disease, but has also been hearing-impaired since she was 26 years old. The Lincoln woman, now a grandmother, received a letter from her audiologist in December announcing the availability of special telephones free for qualifying individuals.

Although all of the phones are available in landline only, not as cell phones, there are several different types of phones with a variety of features to best match people's needs. Some light up when ringing or can cause visible signals such as room lights flashing. There are text message phones for those who do not have sufficient hearing.

Tibbs checked into the program and had a phone by mid-January. She chose one with a loud ring that she can hear from any room in the house, even when she's out in the garden. "I can turn it up as high as I want," she said. She said that the clarity is better when she is talking to someone. And the phone has in its features 12 memory buttons and optional caller ID.

Since getting her phone she has been telling everyone she knows about the wonderful difference that it has made in her life and is on a mission to inform those that that she thinks would benefit from getting one also. "It's just a nice thing, something that needs to be told," she said.

Tibbs arranged for a representative from ITAC, which provides the phones, to join her in presentations at The Oasis and the Christian Homes this week. She said they had a great turnout. Over a hundred applications went out, and more will be sent to those who didn't get one. People were real excited about it, she said.

Application forms have been placed in the HOPE Mobile (the Rural Healthy Communities Partnership mobile health care unit), as well as at the Logan County Health Department and The Oasis.

[See voucher program details on qualifying and phones.]

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