And while we sympathize with those who cannot see or those who get around in a wheelchair, we have too little patience for those who cannot hear.

Bernice Furrow knows the mindset all too well.

"I have had people talking to me and when I could not understand what they said, they asked, 'What is the matter, are you deaf?' I replied, 'As a matter of fact, I almost am.'"

She's not alone.

In Southwest Florida, close to 250,000 qualify as hard of hearing, according to Carol Moyer, executive director of Hearing Impaired Persons of Charlotte County. About 25,000 live in Charlotte, she says.

The problem goes beyond the inability to decipher words. It creates depression.

"You quit doing the things you like to do just because you can't hear," Moyer says. "The things that bring comfort, you avoid. Soon, there's nothing left."

Furrow, who describes herself as 78 going on 80, hasn't reached that point. But she has cut down on her activities. Furrow once ran Bob Dole's Charlotte County campaign and presided over the Peace River Federated Republican Women's Forum.

Now, she rarely attends political functions, in part because she can't understand conversations in rooms full of people. Furrow has, however, opened a new line of communication. Last week, she picked up a special telephone for the hard of hearing.

HIP distributes the phones. And they're free. Well, they're free to users. Otherwise, they cost $150 to $500.

Each month, telephone customers statewide pay 15 cents, which goes into a fund to supply the phones. Anyone who lives around here can get one at the HIP office at 24901 Sandhill Blvd., Port Charlotte, (941) 743-8347.

Moyer says HIP distributes about 2,000 free phones a year, not only from its office but during bimonthly trips to Arcadia, Sebring and the fire station in Rotonda.

Furrow says the phone has made a big difference.

Quietly, HIP seems to be doing the same thing. The nonprofit agency recently persuaded the Federal Communications Commission to rule against two Fort Myers TV stations, WBBH and WZVN.

The FCC fined the stations $24,000 each for failing to provide captioned information for the hard of hearing as Hurricane Charley veered landward. FCC rules require that consideration during an emergency.

The rest of us could offer similar consideration for our hard-of-hearing friends by facing them when we talk and pronouncing our words carefully.

Says Furrow, "That helps a lot."

By Eric Ernst
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051018/COLUMNIST17/510180410