Help Your Hearing Impaired Home Care Client

If you work with people that have trouble hearing the phone ring, hearing what their caller is saying on the phone, holding onto a handset, dialing, or talking loud enough to be heard on the phone, you may be interested in Minnesota's Telephone Equipment Distribution (TED) program. The TED program offers telephone equipment at no cost to those who qualify.

To qualify, a person must live in Minnesota, have phone service, have a hearing loss, speech or physical disability, and have an annual income of $45,240 or less for one person ($59,160 or less for two people). Visit www.tedprogram.org for more than two person households or call 1.800.657.3663. For people who qualify, TED program staff will decide what equipment is needed, such as:

• telephones that make voices sound louder and clearer;
  
• devices that make the phone ring louder or have a lamp flash when the phone rings;
  
• hands-free speaker phones for people who have trouble holding a handset or dialing;
  
• captioned telephones so users can read what callers say;
  
• amplified, big button cell phone for wireless users; or
  
• equipment for people who are deaf blind or have other needs for non-standard equipment.

"Having a telephone helps people feel more secure, depend on family members less and to socialize more freely," says Sharie Hawkins, Program Assistant Administrator of the TED program for the Minnesota Department of Human Services Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Division.   TED is funded through the Department of Commerce - Telecommunications Access Minnesota and administered by the Minnesota Department of Human Services. To learn more about TED, visit the website at www.tedprogram.org, email ted.program@state.mn.us or call 1.800.657.3663.

Members may also be interested to know that TED staff also offers presentations at no charge. In addition to the TED program, the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Division offers other services for deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf/blind individuals and their family members. To find out more about these services, call 651.431.5940 or visit www.dhhsd.org.

For further information:
Contact Sharie Hawkins, DHS Program Assistant Administrator at sharie.hawkins@state.mn.us.