I am severely hearing impaired. I appreciate when people speak a little more loudly and face me so I can lip read. I appreciate when people repeat something if I ask without showing annoyance .

When I have conversations with my son he sits nearby and faces me.

Take your mom to Costco and buy her hearing aides. My husband has had his Costco hearing aides (under $2,000.) for a few months now, absolutely the best purchase we have made in a long time.

If that's not an option will they watch TV using closed caption? That might help some.

Good luck.

I also believe there are cordless headphones they can wear, while watching tv. I have a friend who uses them, not sure if you need a smart TV.

We bought these headphones because my husband likes to watch British soccer games which are usually on tv during our breakfast or lunch time. The background noise of the fans drives me crazy. These headphones are great.

1. They’re wireless. I can be sitting at the kitchen table watching the news at a normal volume. If he’s at the other end of the kitchen doing something, he can put these on and adjust his volume on the headphones to hear the news better.

2. You can mute the sound on the tv while you use the headphones.

i don’t know how many headphones you can use at the same time. You’d have to check on that.

Duh! I forgot the link.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/671074-REG/Sennheiser_502873_RS_160_Digital_Wireless.html?ap=y&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5NTHgua43QIVgUsNCh0BNA4FEAQYAyABEgLf__D_BwE&smp=y

I am no help. I've been dealing with my mother's hearing loss for years. She has hearing aids, but hates wearing them. She doesn't know how to lip read. Basically, if something is really important, I write it down or text it to her phone. She uses earphones when listening to video, so I don't have that issue, but conversations are truly impossible because I can't tell what she heard. I think she's hearing me, but then her response isn't relevant, so I know she didn't. I speak distinctly and make sure that I am facing her so that the sound is moving towards her, but... and don't get me started on telephone conversations.

Dh has significant hearing loss in one ear (worked in unshielded radar in the Marine Corps.) Better speakers make a huge difference for him. He set up some kind of home surround sound system. Ours is very old now so I can’t recommend anything current. He also used the wireless headphones for quite a while. Those were nice because his volume wasn’t tied to the television volume.

But for a visit? Closed captioning seems like a cheaper and easier solution.

I turned on the CC yesterday. The font is too small :) Still trying to figure out how to make the font larger.

Ah, yes. I stayed with my folks while my brother did some necessary remodeling of his house so that they could move in with him. The volume on the TV was unbearable. I could not stay in the room. I did not apologize for not watching Wheel of Fortune with them. Conversations were frustrating because mom thought that there was something wrong with US when she couldn't understand us. Get 79 YO mom together with her 101 YO mother and .... OMG. I really do not understand this reluctance to admit that your hearing has diminished.

Flash forward twenty years and DH had the volume on the TV up so loud I had to leave the room. He, wisely, realized there was a problem and got some nifty digital hearing aids. I'd talk to both your parents about getting high quality digital aids. Help them figure out how they work, can be adjusted, etc. In the meantime, smile a lot. "I am speaking in a normal tone of voice, mom. I think we should have your hearing tested." Earplugs if you feel like you have to watch TV with them.

Good luck!

As Helen Keller said, “Blindness separates people from things;deafness separates people from people” so communication can be extremely fraught.

In addition to Lucille's tips, I suggest asking your parents what techniques would aid their comprehension. Closed captions are not for everyone, my mom could not read fast enough and lost the gist of the content.

Could you move a TV (or purchase a small one) into a remote room? Having been exposed to my dad's nuclear volume for years, I know that earplugs would not sufficiently drown out that commotion. Depending on your tolerance, you may wish to invest in noise-cancelling headphones.

I'm losing my hearing-a car accident caused hearing impairment in one ear and years of rock concerts have paid a toll on both of them. I'm going to be looking into hearing aids soon myself. My mom's husband got his at Costco and they've changed his life. They're no longer those big, bulky ugly things. I'm going to ask my doc about them

For your parents, sheesh, I wish I knew of a solution. Maybe the poster who commented about Costco has a good idea-if they both can see the new generation and try them out, perhaps they'll be convinced to try them.

Meantime, I don't think it would be rude if you wore ear plugs-hearing damage can occur easily and you don't want to damage your own hearing by their extremely loud television.

Re the phone problem, I saw a commercial several months ago for free captioned phones for qualified individuals... I think it must have been this: CaptionCall

When I walked into to Sam's earlier today they have a sign up $300 off hearing aids.

My 27 year old son is hearing impaired. When he is reluctant to wear his hearing aids I stress that as a courtesy to others he should wear them.

I can sympathize with the TV at full blast when he is visiting!

On a funnier note though he is a PhD student and is cash strapped. For extra money he is a soccer referee but will never wear his hearing aids and can’t hear the insults hurled his way!

Hearing aids. And, what I'm told is waiting too long can be detrimental, then the brain has to 'rewire' itself to process sound again. Same with having hearing aids and not wearing them consistently, full benefit of having the aids is never achieved. My mother postponed hers for years, and is now faced with severe hearing loss. DH's hearing is diminishing, he's yet to make an appointment to have it checked ;0(

Mother has a CaptionCall phone. Her audiologist arranged it - the phone and installation free. (it does require internet)

Captions engaged on her television.

Another thing the audiologist pointed out, while Mom can pick up the tones of a male voice more easily than many women's, it's not always talking louder that can help. I do speak more loudly and try to face her in conversation. But his helpful tip was to speak more slowly. He said an older person processes words more slowly than when younger, and sometimes speaking to a senior not loudly but slowly will be helpful and I find that true with my mother.

I think my in-laws are headed for divorce because FIL won't get his hearing checked out. He's driving my MIL bonkers.

At least he finally got his cataracts done so he can and does use subtitles. He can watch/read movies he saw in the theater and it's obvious he missed the whole point the first time around.

I snuck upstairs and put a small pair of ear plugs in my ears. Combed my hair over my ears and went back into the TV room. I can still hear the tv plain as day but it no longer sounds like nails on a chalkboard :)

I empathize with your post. My mom hasn't been to my house in many years (can't navigate the stairs), but we have exactly the same problems when we visit her. TV blaring continuously because she "likes the background noise," never mind that when she has visitors they want to have conversations with her and each other. And then she can't hear what you are saying, but when you speak up, it's "Well, you don't have to yell!" Yes, it seems that I do (though I will try the tip about speaking more slowly rather than more loudly, though you still have to speak up to be heard over the TV).

No advice, just commiseration.

I'm really sorry you're having to go through this. I'm fairly noise sensitive so nuclear volume TV would make me crazy.

My DH has hearing loss from his military service and I imagine as he ages it will become progressively worse. For now I have to accept that when he's home he needs constant background noise to drown out the tinnitus that also came with his hearing loss. Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) could also be affecting your parents. This is most notable when he's trying to fall asleep and needs the irregular sounds of TV (music won't work) and I've had get used to falling asleep with a TV on.

One thing that's a big issue is a lot of background noise can make it nearly impossible for him to hear. If we go to a crowded / noisy restaurant, it makes it impossible for him to hear waiters and whoever he is dining with because he cannot distinguish the sounds.

We've also learned some very basic sign languages for a few necessities when we're out somewhere noisy, but I guess that doesn't help much with a conversation. Now that I think on it, perhaps we should start learning more sign language in preparation for when we age and his hearing goes first and then probably mine.

Oh geez, I can relate! Hubby has serious hearing loss (he's a drummer) and can be very cranky about it, although sometimes I swear it's selective.

My hearing isn't that great. either. Tho I tested fine, when there's background noise, I have a lot of trouble distinguishing separate sounds, but I understand that's an age-related problem having to do w/ the communication between our ears and our brains.

I do make an effort to be polite about requesting repetition, but ever since I read that Prince Charles, of all people, just says "What?", I don't feel bad about saying that, and I do have a collection of phrases, like, "Say that again, please", and "Excuse me?"

Sometimes it's pretty funny, because we often have conversations from different rooms and they're peppered w/ 'What?" (me), 'Huh?"(him) and many misinterpretations.

He uses closed captioning all the time as well as cranking up the volume to obnoxious levels.

My biggest peeve is that while he continually reminds me of his hearing problem, he seems to forget mine.

I always have earplugs on hand.

I am leery of wearing earplugs. Earplugs may be associated with tinnitus. I prefer headphones or headphone type ear mufflers. I just explain I'm sensitive to sound. I don't embellish. Best of luck.

My Mother and all of her siblings have some extent of hearing loss. My Mother is 83 and has been at probably 98% hearing loss for years. Even with hearing aids, having a conversation with her is difficult. Unless we're in the car. She can hear in a "confined" area. (I guess we could get together in a large closet for a conversation LOL) I convinced her to get a smart phone so she could text people, as she cannot hear well on the phone.

She does have a Caption Phone she uses some. To watch TV she also uses head phones. Fortunately, she recognizes her hearing loss and does what she can to help herself.

I too, have hearing loss. I've been wearing digital hearing aids for about 7 years. (got them at the young age of 51) They help, but they do not restore your hearing. I have about 50% loss in one and 45% in the other. Guess it's genetic. (and too many R&R concerts as a teen) I am doing everything I can to save what hearing I have. I have custom made ear plugs, and I use them if I'm around any loud machinery -- including when I blow dry my hair. Do you know how many decibels of noise those things put out?

Part of my problem is I can "hear" but don't always comprehend what is said. Hearing aids are just that -- AIDS. They're not a cure all. Morz is correct, the longer you put it off the harder it is to retrain the brain. But it's not impossible.

By all means encourage your parents to get their hearing tested. If they do get hearing aids, they will be amazed at how much they help.

When my MIL was alive, I did a lot of research on this subject and came up with nothing. I even looked into getting a voice enhancing microphone that I could use since there was no way she was going to do anything about the issue. Mr. Microphone anyone?

I remember taking her to the ER once (nothing life threatening) and she had to answer questions at the admitting office. You can imagine how that went. I came up with an idea for a microphone to earpiece type machine. The speaker would speak into the microphone, and the earpiece would be held to the ear and encompass the ear to drown out outside noise. I could never find anything remotely like that.

Sadly, I think it is true that at some point the issue is more the brain than the ears and nothing mechanical can help.

Yell a lot. My mom won’t wear her hearing aids. I have to be looking straight at her and shout. I constantly have to remind myself not to get irritated. CC doesn’t help because she can read that fast. Fortunately I don’t have to sit and watch tv with her. When I go over to her house I hear the tv before I reach the door. I will say that she could hear a video on the iPad just fine while wearing those Bose noise canceling headphones, so maybe that would be an option for you.

Another way to work with the TV issue is try and get a speaker(s) closer to where the person sits

Yrs back we had a TV w/jack that you could plug a stereo speaker into, the speaker was placed near my hard of hearing mom's sitting spot

Volume levels could be kept lower

Today they could be wireless

There are special microphones you wear around your neck and the person with the hearing loss wears ear buds. They are used in schools all the time and also for interpretations for multiple languages at some public meetings. They are available through some educational special needs companies and from ENT referrals.

This just came across me feed from the gommet.com. High fidelity earplugs:

High fidelity earplugs