Article - I Want To Watch TV Too!

According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day. Television is a source of information and entertainment, and even fills a social need for some people. An election year, a disaster or a particularly exciting athletic playoff can keep TV sets humming. Not to mention movies, concerts, soap operas and other forms of entertainment. What do you do when you want to watch TV, but an aching back, hearing loss or even difficulty using the remote turns this simple pleasure into a challenge?

The staff at Dynamic Living has a few suggestions to help you overcome obstacles that make watching TV difficult:

Get into the right position:

• Use angled glasses - When lying flat is the only comfortable position, try angled glasses. These odd looking prism glasses enable you to watch TV from a lying down position by using several mirrors to get the image where you need it. They even work over prescription glasses (including bifocals)!

• Incline your bed - You can buy a special bed that inclines easily so you can go from a sitting to lying position at the touch a button. Or try an inflatable bed wedge, an inexpensive, yet effective way to incline your mattress to a more upright position.

• Get or create the right seat for your back - We all have different positions that make us feel comfortable (or uncomfortable). Make sure you have a chair, couch or cushions that can help you maintain a straight-back position without straining your legs or neck. The easiest way to do this may be to get some throw pillows or a specialized pillow that gives you more support in a particular part of your back. Alternatively, there are a huge variety of chairs, recliners and sofas that may fit the bill!

Get rid of the tiny buttons:

Standard remote controls are getting more complicated and the buttons are getting smaller. If you struggle with your current remote - whatever the reason - try another one!

• Simple remotes - These remotes only have a few buttons to control the main functions of your TV: on, off, volume up, volume down, channel up, channel down and mute.

• Big button remotes - With most of the universal remote features, these remotes have bigger buttons that are easier to press. The unit tends to be larger than your standard remote control, making them harder to misplace.

• Voice activation - If buttons just aren't your thing, forget about them! Voice activated remotes take commands directly from you without your fingers getting in the way. Simply speak your command and the voice activated remote will change channels, turn up the volume and more!

Hearing loss:

Decreased hearing does not have to decrease your enjoyment of watching TV. Nor does louder volume have to bother others around you. One of the following options may help.

• Personal listeners - Use a personal listening device to increase the volume of the TV to your own headset while filtering out background noise. Reminiscent of the Walkman, these are usually small devices with their own ear bud.

• TV listener - This specialized device allows you to listen to your TV and other audio devices completely wirelessly. It has stereo headphones with their own volume control. Other people can listen at normal volume while you get an increased decibel level. Because the signal comes from an output jack, the TV can also be muted and you can still hear it.

• Use closed captioning - Closed captioning, otherwise known as subtitles for the hearing impaired, may be very useful to help you follow a program when you miss the words now and again or the individuals are speaking too quickly. Many TV sets come with a built-in closed captioning decoder that is either accessed using a menu option or turns on automatically when Mute is pressed on the remote control (check your TV instructions). Other TVs require a dedicated closed captioning decoder.

Vision Loss:

People with low vision can benefit from two new technologies.

• Flat screen TV's have come down in price significantly. They are not as bulky as the CRT style TV's and can be hung on a wall. These bigger screens can seriously increase the size of the images. The average TV size used to be 19", while flat screen TV's go up to 60" diagonally.

• Some programming is now available with Audio Description, an extra audio commentary for blind or partially sighted people. When there is a gap in the dialogue on TV or at the theatre, for instance, a narrative voice jumps in to explain anything visual going on so that visually impaired people can follow the plot. Most digital TV's have a feature that can turn on the Audio Description if it is available. (It might be called SAP, Secondary Audio Programming.)

Television is meant to be informative, entertaining and relaxing. But, if you have trouble hearing all the words or sounds, seeing the picture, or changing channels when you want to, it can just be aggravating! Using the above tips, you should be able to make watching TV a pleasant and relaxing experience again.

© Copyright 2008 Dynamic Living, Inc.
Dynamic Living Newsletter may only be redistributed in its unedited form. Written permission from the editor must be obtained to reprint or cite the information contained within this newsletter.

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