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December 21, 2015

The Star Wars force is with us

 

Every Friday we’ll feature the most buzzed about topics relating to the “hearing loss” community. Join us on social media or check in on the Hearing Like Me forum, and find out how our community is going viral!

This week was all about Star Wars. With the new film being released this week, we have some fun examples of how the Star Wars fever has integrated into the hearing loss community.

Previously we discussed how people with hearing loss often lip-read to help them piece together conversations they can’t clearly hear. Lip reading is useful, but also strenuous and not always accurate. These “Star Wars: Bad Lip Reading” videos goes back through the entire original trilogy and re-imagines the scripts.

If you’re seeing Star Wars in theaters and you have hearing loss, there are a few things you can do to ensure you have a great experience, and don’t have to rely on lip reading.

  • Captions: While we hope more theatres move toward captioning all their movies, there are often specific showings that are captioned. First, you can look up the availability of captioned movies in your area using CaptionFish. You can also contact the theatre and ask about showtimes with captions or other resources for the hard-of-hearing, such as Assistive Listening Devices.
  • Assisted Listening Devices: ALDs are available in many theatres, and are worn as headphones so you can choose the volume that works best for you. Be sure to call the theatre ahead of time to reserve the ALD and check availability.
  • Apps: If there’s a movie you really want to see, and no theater is offering a captioned version, you might consider the “Subtitles” app, which allows easy access to a library of movie subtitles and enables you to go to any movie theater.
  • Seat: Choose a seat at the center of the theatre, which usually has the best sound quality.

Many people will dress up for the premier as their favorite Star Wars character, but you can do better by giving your hearing aid a fun update.

And finally, some wise words from Yoda:

 

Take a free, 3-minute hearing test, here.

Author Details
The HearingLikeMe editorial team includes Jill Blocker von Bueren and Lisa Goldstein.