HIGHLAND PARK, IL—Illinois will get its first “looped” movie theater next month when the Renaissance Place Cinema in downtown Highland Park starts offering hearing loop technology to its patrons as part of ongoing renovations. This technology allows a movie’s audio to be amplified and delivered directly to hearing aid wearers’ ears through their hearing aid telecoil.
This installation was initiated via a community partnership between Landmark Theatres and Gurnee/Libertyville-based Hearing Associates.
As reported at Hearing News Watch, more and more movie theaters around the country are installing technologies that allow people with hearing loss to enjoy the show—and that bring the facilities into compliance with the public access requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Many of these systems provide captioning rather than giving patrons access to the movie sound track, as a loop system does.
Linda Remensnyder, AuD, and Carly Girard, AuD, audiologists at Hearing Associates, have been leading efforts in their area to persuade venues of many types to provide hearing loop technology for their patrons with hearing loss.
