Have you noticed that your hearing has started failing you? Is it difficult to hear private conversations in a crowded restaurant? Then local small-business woman, Marilyn Weinhouse, can help. Marilyn Weinhouse, a Hearing Loss Support Specialist, is the owner of Hear Gear, a Coronado based business that sells assisted listening devices and provides advice about hearing aids and local hearing loss resources. Weinhouse began losing her hearing at age 40, and wanted to figure out how to maintain her interactive and communicative lifestyle.
Weinhouse moved to Coronado in 2006 with her husband after retiring from teaching in Colorado. She is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma and moved to California to attend college. She has a BA from UC Berkeley, a teaching credential from California State University, Fresno and a MA from SDSU. She and her husband, a university professor, have traveled extensively and lived in various cities and countries, but came to Coronado regularly to visit family. When they retired, they decided to move to this beautiful island.
After moving to Coronado, Weinhouse continued teaching in the South Bay Union School District. She was struggling to hear her students, and started getting very frustrated with the impact her hearing loss was having on her teaching. Fortunately, the school district purchased a wireless FM listening system for her which worked so well, she was thrilled. This is how Weinhouse was first introduced to FM assisted listening devices.
Weinhouse has done extensive personal research and reached out to support groups in order to find the best solution to her hearing loss. Her expansive knowledge of hearing loss and hearing loss solutions is incredibly impressive. She is an expert and she enjoys teaching others about all the great technology available to help cope with hearing loss. Weinhouse continues to research new developments and writes The Hear Gear Blog to share this information. She attributes much of her success to the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA). The HLAA has a San Diego chapter which Weinhouse has gotten very involved in. This organization helped her learn about these life-changing devices and gave her a better understanding of how to deal with hearing loss.
Hear Gear products include FM listening devices, TV amplifiers, personal amplifiers, and alerting devices, and although Hear Gear does not sell commercial hearing loops, Weinhouse is a passionate advocate of this technology. A hearing loop a listening system that consists of a wire that loops around a room, and connects to the PA system. The sound can then be sent directly into hearing aids equipped with t-coils. The hearing loop is ideal in theaters, churches, meeting rooms, and conferences. With a hearing loop, people do not need to check out a device to hear, as hearing aids receive the sound directly. Those without hearing aids can also hear via a hearing loop by using a loop receiver. Weinhouse would like to see many more venues in Coronado and San Diego install hearing loops and she is working with another company to achieve this goal. She would especially love to see the Coronado Public Library install a hearing loop in the Winn Room so she can use it! (Photo to right: Weinhouse and husband using a personal amplifier while out to dinner)
Weinhouse promotes her products through her website, Facebook, Twitter, and by good old-fashioned word of mouth, by talking to people. She is an expert on every product she sells; Weinhouse herself uses the devices every day in her personal life. She offers free on-site consultations for Coronado residents and allows one to “try before you buy”. It is so rewarding to her, “when people light up, and they can hear for the first time in a long time.”
For more information and product details go to www.heargear.net and follow the Hear Gear blog at www.heargear.wordpress.com!
