How to Use Assistive Listening Devices in the Cinema: A Practical Guide for Every Spectator

The cinema is a place of emotion, of story, of shared silence and of sudden laughter. But for the persons who live with a reduction of the auditory capacity, that experience can become a source of frustration rather than of pleasure. The dialogues arrive muffled, the music overwhelms the voices, and one finds oneself to ask to the companion “What did he say?” for the third time in ten minutes.

The good news is this: the majority of the modern theatres offers assistive listening devices, and to learn how to use them well is not complicated. It is sufficient to know which steps to follow. In this guide, I explain everything with the practical approach of one who has accompanied many persons in this path.

What Are Assistive Listening Devices and Why They Are Important at the Cinema

An assistive listening device is, in substance, a small system that carries the sound of the film directly to your ears, bypassing the acoustics of the room. It does not amplify everything in the same way. It gives you the possibility to regulate the volume according to your specific necessity, without to disturb who sits near to you.

The theatres are obligated by the law in many countries to provide these devices. Yet, the statistics tell us that less than one person out of ten who could benefit from them actually makes the request. The reasons are often the embarrassment, the ignorance of their existence, or the fear that the procedure is complicated.

In reality, it is a procedure of two minutes. And the difference in the quality of the vision is enormous.

The Principal Types of Devices Available in the Theatres

Before to go to the cinema, it is useful to know which options you will find. The most common are three:

The important thing is to communicate at the ticket counter which type you prefer. The staff is trained for this, and the request is absolutely normal.

How to Prepare Before Your Visit: Practical Steps

Here is the part that many persons skip, but that makes the true difference between a mediocre experience and a beautiful one.

• Telephone or visit the site of the cinema before the day of the film. Ask with simplicity: “Which assistive listening devices do you have available?” Some smaller theatres have only the headphones, while the multisala complexes offer all three options.
• If you use hearing aids, verify that the telecoil function is active. Many persons have this function but have never activated it. It is sufficient to ask your audioprotesist during the next control visit.
• Arrive fifteen minutes before the projections. This gives you the time to collect the device, to adjust the volume, to change it if the battery is low, without the anxiety of the darkness that arrives.
• Choose the seat with attention. Even with the device, it is better to sit in the central part of the room, not too near to the screen. The sound arrives more clean and the infrared signal (if present) works better without obstacles.

During the Film: How to Obtain the Best Experience

You have the device in your hands. The lights go down. And now?

The first rule is this: do not set the volume at the maximum immediately. Start from a low level and raise it gradually during the first minutes, while the initial dialogues give you the possibility to calibrate. Many persons make the error to push the volume too high in the first two minutes, and then to suffer when arrives the scene with the explosion or the orchestra.

The second rule: verify the device before the film begins. Put it on, listen to the advertisements or the trailers. If you hear a buzzing, a crackle, or if the sound arrives only from one side, return immediately to the counter to request a substitution. You have all the right, and it is better to lose two minutes now than to lose the entire film.

The third rule, and this is one that I say to everyone: do not be embarrassed to ask the staff for help with the adjustments. The young person at the counter may not know every model, but they can call the manager of the room. You are not a disturbance. You are a client who uses a service.

Taking Care of Your Hearing: A Long-Term Approach

The assistive device in the cinema is a wonderful instrument for the single evening. But the health of the auditory system is a matter of continuity, not of the single occasion.

In my experience, the persons who benefit most from these devices are the same persons who also take care of their hearing during the rest of the year. This means to protect the ears from the prolonged loud noises, to do the periodic controls from the specialist, and to nourish the auditory function also from the inside.

For this last point, I have seen many persons integrate their daily routine with specific nutritional support. For example, a supplement like Acuvit has become a reference for those who desire to sustain the microcirculation of the inner ear and the functionality of the auditory cells with ingredients of natural origin. It is not a substitute for the medical controls, naturally. But as a daily complement, many find it a simple gesture of attention toward their own hearing. Those who wish to understand better the composition and the philosophy behind this formulation can look at what is presented on acuvit.health where the approach is very clear and transparent.

The point is this: the device in the cinema resolves the problem of the single evening. The care of the hearing resolves the problem of the years. The two things walk together, one does not exclude the other.

Common Errors to Avoid

After years of observation and of conversations with spectators and with audioprotesists, I can list the errors most frequent:

• To wait the last minute to request the device. The devices are limited in number. In the Saturday evening projections, they finish.
• To never try the device before the film starts. You discover the problem when the room is already dark, and at that point to rise and to go to the counter becomes uncomfortable.
• To confuse the volume of the device with the volume of the film. If the dialogues are low and the effects are high, the problem is the mix of the film, not your device. In this case, there is nothing to do, and it is useful to know it before to think that the device is broken.
• To use the headphones over the hearing aids without to deactivate them. The result is a horrible feedback, a whistle that can disturb also the persons near to you. If you have hearing aids, use the neck loop or remove the aids and use the headphones.

A Final Practical Summary

To close, I leave you with a small schema to maintain in the telephone or to print:

1. One week before: telephone to the cinema, confirm the availability of the devices.
2. The day before: check the batteries of your hearing aids, verify the telecoil.
3. Fifteen minutes before the projection: arrive, collect the device, test it with the trailers.
4. During the film: adjust the volume gradually, do not force it.
5. After the film: return the device at the counter, and if it has functioned well, say it to the staff. This encourages the cinemas to maintain and to invest in these services.

The cinema must be for everyone. Not only for those who hear perfectly, but also for those who have need of a little help in more. And that help exists, it is free, it is at your disposition. It is sufficient to stretch the hand and to ask.

Go to see that film. You merit to hear every word of it.