Florida’s Best-Kept Secret

Lyle Marshall has just found one of Florida's best-kept secrets, and it came in the form of a phone.

The 83-year-old World War II veteran first noticed his hearing problems when he was in his early 20s and teaching college courses in the evening.

“I'd tell my students to speak up so that they could hear each other, but I was really asking them to speak up so that I could hear,” Marshall said. “I also used to be accused of conveniently not hearing my children crying in the other room.”

Marshall has been wearing a hearing aid for close to 20 years, but had recently discovered the device gave him problems trying to hear others on the phone.

“It would either be too low, or there would be too much interference,” said the Ocala resident.

Thanks to Florida Telecommunication Relay, Inc. (FTRI), Marshall now has his own XL40, a special telephone that amplifies incoming sounds up to 43 decibels.

The nonprofit organization FTRI provides disabled and hearing-impaired Floridians with a variety of communication devices at absolutely no cost.

Marshall's new phone has bigger buttons that are easier to read, as well as a louder ringer that is easier to hear throughout the house.

“I was totally shocked when I found out about [FTRI],” Marshall said. “It’s a great program. I didn’t know there was such a thing.”

The program has its origins in the Telecommunication Access System Act, which was passed by the Florida Legislature in 1991 and dictates that all Floridians should have telecommunications services made available to them at a reasonable cost.

FTRI contracts with several distribution centers across the state, which are licensed to distribute and train their clients on how to use the phones.

The Centers for Independent Living in Gainesville, Ocala and Lecanto collectively handle FTRI cases within a sweeping 16-county area of North Central Florida.

In order to receive a phone, one must be at least three years old, a Florida resident, and certified by a physician or audiologist as having a hearing loss or speech impairment.

Once certified, all Floridians have to do is come to one of the regional distribution centers, fill out an application and meet with a program director, who will find them the equipment that best meets their needs. In some cases, the Center for Independent Living can certify clients in-house.

The Center for Independent Living staff members will then train them to use the telephone or other device. Not once are clients asked for any money or a deposit. Those who receive an FTRI telephone can keep it for as long as they need it and can have it replaced if it malfunctions.

An .11-cent surcharge on all Florida landline telephones helps fund the FTRI program.

“We call ourselves Florida’s best-kept secret,” said Myrtle Hoffman, program director for FTRI at the Center for Independent Living in Gainesville.

And plenty of people need the service.

More than 17 percent of the populations in Alachua and Marion counties have some sort of hearing problem, according to the FTRI Web site.

“Hearing loss is the hidden disability,” Hoffman said. “If you don’t have a hearing aid in your ear, no one notices that.”

About 80 percent of Hoffman's clients are Seniors, she said, and the work she does involves more than just handing out telephones.

“We're building a relationship with them,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman was particularly close to one client, a cancer patient who passed away last year.

The man was hard of hearing and had for many years relied on his wife to answer the phone and communicate with their son, who lives in another state. When the man’s wife died, he was left alone and unable to reach his son.

“We were able to set him up with a telephone,” Hoffman said. “He actually called me before he passed away and said, ‘Thank you so much.’ It was very special to me that he knew he was going to pass away and he thought to call me. I loved him so much.”

FTRI not only works to grant Seniors more independence; it also helps save them time.

Before receiving an FTRI telephone, many of Hoffman’s clients had missed doctor appointments because they misunderstood the doctor’s office staff when they called to confirm, she said. A number of veterans drove several miles to the VA hospital in Gainesville to find out they had come in on the wrong day.

“They can't afford to miss an appointment,” Hoffman said. “If they don’t have the right equipment and they can’t hear, sometimes they get it all mixed up. To get them back in for an appointment can take a while, with the VA being so busy.”

In addition to amplifying phones for the hearing impaired, FTRI also provides phones that create captioned read-outs for the deaf, hands-free phones for stroke victims and several other devices.

The Center for Independent Living is expanding its community outreach efforts to get the word out about FTRI. For her more reluctant clients, Hoffman said she often shares with them the story of her own father.

He was hard of hearing and passed away before she knew about FTRI. She was lucky enough to have been able to visit with him before he died.

“If I had to depend on talking to him on the telephone, he would probably never have heard those last words to him, ‘I love you, daddy,’” Hoffman said. “You never know when that might be the last conversation with your family member.”

Medically homebound residents can request that a Center for Independent Living employee come out to their home with FTRI equipment.

The job is made even more satisfying when all Hoffman asks in return is a “smile and a thank you,” she said.

“We had a man who had never heard his 3-year-old grandson on the telephone,” Hoffman said. “When you hear a man break down and cry, you can't help but have it touch your heart.” §

People interested in the program can call or visit the Gainesville, Ocala or Lecanto branches of the Center for Independent Living. Gainesville residents should call 352-378-7474 and ask for Myrtle Hoffman or Edgar Morales. Those in Ocala can call 352-368-3788 and ask for Debbie Everett. For the Lecanto branch, call 352-527-8399 and speak to Linda Perry. Additional information and applications are also available online at www.cilncf.org and www.ftri.org.

Laura Wright is a writer and editorial assistant.
She may be contacted at laura@towerpublications.com.