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I just have to share a great Device Demonstration which was completed by Ceora Hull who works for the MATP’s subcontract program at the Superior Alliance for Independent Living in the Upper Peninsula. I was so impressed by the creative solution and so happy for this dedicated married couple that our program was available to help them.

The husband is profoundly hard of hearing and is the caretaker for his terminally ill wife. Although hospice comes in regularly, the husband is the primary 24/7 caretaker. They were now sleeping in different rooms at night so he needed Assistive Technology beyond his hearing aids.

He had two specific needs. First, to be able to get up at a given time in the morning without waking up his wife in order to have her breakfast and medications ready, and Second, to respond during the night if she needed him. He would take his hearing aids out to sleep so couldn’t hear a normal volume alarm clock or hear her calling from the other room.

Ceora took a number of possible devices to their home to set up and try out. The typical call monitors available would be ineffective due to his hearing disability. After trying these devices and researching others, they decided to use a Sonic Boom Alarm Clock with a bed shaker linked to a compatible remote doorbell accessory with a simple push button activator.

He found that when the bed shaker was activated by the alarm clock, it was perfect for waking him at the desired time without waking his wife. During the night when his wife pushed button on the remote wireless doorbell device it activated the bed shaker to wake him up so he could attend to his wife’s needs.

The couple, their children and their peripheral caregivers were grateful that SAIL and the Michigan Assistive Technology Program was not only available to help them with their needs but that the program was able to guide them to a reasonably priced and creative way to meet those needs.

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