Disability Action Center NW, Inc.

Need a TTY or Amplified Phone?
Krista Kramer, Indepdent Living Advocate
Contact this Author

Subsidies are available from the Idaho Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to help people purchase equipment such as TTYs, amplified telephones, assistive listening systems, and alerting systems. Also available are corded and cordless telephones that amplify voices up to 55 decibels and allow you to adjust the tone of both the incoming voices and the phone ringer. Devices that let the user read an incoming message from a relay operator and respond by voice are also an option.

The PocketTalker is a small microphone and amplifier that is useful as a listening aid in personal communications situations. Alerting devices include a strobe light smoke detector, the Alertmaster, which will flash lights and vibrate under a pillow to signal telephone calls, doorbells, and loud noises. Additional components can be purchased which would alert someone to a baby’s cry, or provide connection to motion or smoke detectors, or paging devices.

For demonstrations of the available equipment in Region I (northern 5 counties of Idaho), contact Russ Patterson at:

The Learning Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing,
Coeur d'Alene Public Library
201 E Harrison, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 83814
Toll-Free TTY: 866-889-8647 "User Name, LCDHH"
Voice: 208-769-2315

For a subsidy application in Region I, contact:

DAC Northwest, Inc. - Coeur d’Alene
1323 Sherman Avenue, Suite 7
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 83814
Voice / TTY: 208-664-9896
Toll-Free: 800-854-9500

In Region II (Latah, Nezperce, Clearwater, Lewis and Idaho counties) contact Krista Kramer for demonstrations or subsidy applications at krista@dacnw.org or:

DAC Northwest, Inc. - Moscow
124 E. Third St.
Moscow, Idaho 83843
Voice / TTY: 208-883-0523
Toll-Free: 800-475-0070