Ears and the law

December 2024

Fire and ice: Our most recent snowstorm covered this burning bush plant at the height of its redness. Photo by Don Merrill

Hearing loss meets legal resistance

It is difficult to win a discrimination suit for inadequate hearing access, November speaker Spencer Kontnik told Denver Chapter members, but we should keep trying. Spencer is a founding partner with the Denver law firm Kontnik Cohen, specializing in disability law.

Spencer was born with a profound hearing loss, and at age 6 lost his hearing in his left ear. He now uses a cochlear implant and a hearing aid. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado and University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

For one example, if you request closed captioning at a movie theater, and are given a device located in an otherwise undesirable seat, a jury, especially of hearing people, is unlikely to see that as a lack of accommodation. Even winning such a suit is unlikely to result in monitary damages, though it might produce an order for better training and awareness.

Spencer recently found himself at the plaintiff’s table in a discrimination suit. In 2021 he was called for jury duty in Denver. He arrived with a Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) captioner, but was immediately excused because court officials thought his disability would cause delays in the trial.

With backing from the Colorado Cross Disability Coalition, he sued and was ultimately awarded a total of $9,250 from both the district attorney’s and public defender’s offices.

He also recently won a case of employment discrimination against Denver Health over its refusal to hire a woman with hearing loss.

However, he noted, such victories are rare, and his office must turn down many more complaints than it can successfully prosecute.

Why we need to speak up for rights

By Paula DeJohn

His own sudden loss of hearing prompted retired internist Daniel Fink, MD, to become an advocate for the rights of people with hearing loss. His initial focus was reducing environmental noise—the cause of his own hearing loss—and he went on to found the Quiet Coalition, a program of Quiet Communities Inc. (See HAH, January 2024)

His latest investigation has been into the legal rights and disability status of people with hearing loss, which he summarizes in the Fall 2024 issue of Hearing Health.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), places of public accommodation are required to provide assistance to people who need it to fully enjoy and participate.

For people with hearing loss, a lack of assistive listening devices in an auditorium is as much a barrier to the enjoyment of a performance as a steep flight of stairs would be to someone with a mobility disorder… For people with hearing loss who need assistive devices to understand what's being said on stage, who need subtitles when watching a movie in a theater or television at home, or require live captioning when participating in a Zoom meeting, lack of these features is a disability rights issue.

Access varies by disability

However, Dan (as he prefers to be called) notes, the ADA standards apply mostly to deaf people, rather than those with some hearing. In contrast, he says, European Union countries require telecoils, loops and other technology dedicated to improving accessibility for hard-of-hearing folks.

There are ADA standards for the deaf, including requirements for teletype communications, visible fire alarms, and translation services. Unfortunately, there are no specific ADA standards for those with moderate to severe hearing loss, which is the largest category of people with difficulty hearing.

This means that approximately 15 percent of the American population, the nearly 50 million people with moderate to severe hearing loss, are denied the equal protection of the law guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

He recommends organizations like HLAA pursue policy changes by working with the U.S. Access Board.

My understanding of how ADA standards are developed is that the U.S. Access Board develops general criteria, and then the Disability Rights Section at the Department of Justice actually writes and publishes the standards and regulations.…Advocacy organizations can petition the U.S. Access Board to develop criteria to help those with hearing loss understand what is being said in auditoriums and other public venues.

Protest, lobby…and sue

Other options include contacting elected representatives at all levels to lobby for protection of rights, or to demand enforcement of laws that exist. Think of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, he advises, and protest noncompliant venues.

People with auditory disorders, including hearing loss, tinnitus, and hyperacusis, have rights that must be fought for. As with civil rights, we must be willing to take legal action to secure the full and equal enjoyment of public spaces guaranteed by the ADA. <>

The price of hearing aids explained

By Paula DeJohn

While the legalization of over-the-counter hearing aids creates a more affordable option for some, prescription hearing aids remain too expensive for many Americans with hearing loss. With little or no insurance coverage, including from government sources like Medicare, we can expect to pay an average of $4,000 a pair, according to Kathleen Wallace, AuD. In an article in the Fall 2024 issue of Hearing Health, Wallace attributes the high cost of prescription hearing aids to two main factors: control of the market by a few manufacturers, and the services of individual providers.

Six manufacturers control 90 percent of the $7 billion hearing aid industry. These manufacturers are responsible for considerable research and development and significant overhead for staffing these large corporations.

These expenses are passed along to hearing care providers, who order units for their patients at a price determined by the manufacturer for that amount. Of course, the price of a particular device depends on the features and level of technology it contains, which can vary depending on the severity of hearing loss.

Once a hearing care provider has the hearing aids, various factors will determine the cost to you.

What goes into the final price

The audiologist prescribing hearing aids charges for services such as testing, fitting and follow-up adjustments, in addition to the price of the aids themselves. That is the first factor Wallace mentions, and it can vary depending on the “model” or the way the service is organized: all included, for example, or paying per visit. If there is any insurance coverage, the insurer will specify its limits.

Sometimes the location of service adds to the cost; hospitals and ENT clinics may charge fees to providers using their facilities.

While increased competition, and the advent of more manufacturers as over-the-counter options increase and improve, may bring down prices in the future, Wallace reminds us not to forget the importance of the human factor.

Hearing aids are only one piece of the puzzle when managing a hearing loss. They require proper programming and use and may still need additional assistance, such as assistive listening devices, good communication strategies, and rehabilitative programs like auditory training or aural rehabilitation …Unlike with eyeglasses, which may require just one or two visits to adjust, hearing aids may take several visits to be optimized for your hearing. <>

What he heard in a silent room

Hari Kunzru doesn’t have hearing loss, but he may have experienced some tinnitus, while discovering a new perspective on deafness. In an essay in the November 2024 issue of Harper’s, the British novelist and journalist describes trying to write in the midst of distracting background noise. His curiosity led him to visit an anechoic chamber. These soundless rooms, “among the most quiet spaces in the world,” are used by some science departments for acoustics research. A previous visitor had recalled hearing only two sounds, high and low, explained as the sounds of the nervous system and blood circulating.

In his essay, Lo-fi Beats for Work or Study, Kunzru reports,

I put on a blindfold and lay down on the springy wire floor. The absolute absence of sound was disconcerting. Soon enough, I heard a high tone. I surmised from reading about [the other visitor] that this was probably not the music of my nervous system, but rather a sign of minor hearing damage. I also began to hear a whooshing noise, as my heart pumped out blood and pulled it back again. It was revelatory but also odd. I could imagine my brain ‘flipping’ and processing this absence of sound as something positive, a pressure that was crushing, bearing down on my skull. I began to understand why extended sensory deprivation is a form of torture.

Commission to meet in Arvada

The Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind will have its next quarterly meeting in person Wednesday, December 4, at the Arvada Library, 7525 West 57th Ave., Arvada, CO 80002.

Among recent personnel changes at the commission, Katie Cue, EdD, was appointed to two new positions: Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program Director 75% time; and Deputy Director 25% time, effective November 2. Dr Cue was previously Outreach and Consultative Services Manager, and that position will remain vacant as restructuring continues.

Interim Director is Trish Leakey, and the commission is seeking a new director. Email: office.ccdhhdb@state.co.us Phone: 720-457-3679

Feliz Navidad, amigos

Following last year’s entertaining and delicious holiday lunch party at the Blue Bonnet Restaurant, the Denver Chapter will gather there again on December 14, from noon to 2 p.m. The Blue Bonnet features Mexican food, and is located at 457 S. Broadway, Denver, CO 80209, across from the Sam’s Club parking lot.

ALDA convention comes to Denver

The Association of Late Deafened Adults (ALDA) will have its next annual convention October 15-19, 2025 at the Curtis Hotel, 1405 Curtis St., Denver 80202. The group defines late-deafened adults as people who have lost the ability to understand speech with or without hearing aids after they have acquired spoken language.

Sunny escape: While Colorado was digging out of November’s snow, chapter member Barbara Nguyen was visiting relatives in Orlando, Florida. She sent us this view from her window.

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