Are you planning a trip to an amusement park? If you are and you have hearing loss, you may be wondering how you can make the most of the experience. Fortunately, many amusement parks offer accommodations for people with this condition. We review tips for visiting an amusement park with hearing loss in this post.
See an Audiologist
If you’re still planning your trip to the amusement park, schedule a visit with an audiologist before you go. Audiologists are hearing experts who can administer diagnostic hearing tests and prescribe hearing aids. Hearing aids are medical devices that help you hear better by amplifying sounds in your environment to a level your ears can detect.
It is essential to seek treatment for your hearing loss if your audiologist recommends it, so you can communicate better and prevent conditions like depression and dementia. While approximately 28.8 million U.S. adults could benefit from using hearing aids, only one in five seek treatment.
Your hearing aids may even be compatible with some of the accommodations available at the amusement park.
Ask About Assistive Listening Devices
After you arrive at the amusement park, ask one of the employees if there are any assistive listening devices available. They may offer captioning devices, headphones that amplify sound or induction loops that can sync with your hearing aids.
Find Live Shows with ASL Interpreters or Captioning
A lot of amusement parks have live shows as well as rides. Many of these include dialogue, so you can ask if there will be an ASL interpreter there so that you can follow along.
As an alternative, there may be captioning options at the shows. Closed captions are provided on a portable device that you hold in your lap, or open captions may be displayed on the large screen that everybody sees.
Ask About Hotel Accommodations
No matter if you’re staying in a hotel associated with the amusement park or another local hotel like Bellevue Club Hotel, ask the staff what accommodations they offer, too. They may have an amplified or captioned phone, a shake-awake or lighted alarm clock, strobe light smoke detectors or assistive listening devices.
To learn more or to schedule an appointment with an expert audiologist, call Evergreen Speech and Hearing Clinic today.