Communicating with one another is central to human survival.
Access to information not only reduces isolation but is the primary component of education, employment, and success in a community.
New forms of information or new methods of delivering it can have unanticipated consequences. The telephone, invented in the 1870s, was especially beneficial for people isolated in their homes but it created exclusion for others. The teletypewriter, or TTY, which made telephone communication accessible to people who were deaf or hard of hearing was not widely available until the 1970s.
The objects pictured here—a Braille writer and book, communication board and head stick, TTY, hearing aid, and teletouch—all ensure inclusion of people who communicate in atypical fashion.
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This group includes a portable TTY for creating telephone-delivered text, a Braille writer for making raised letters and a booklet in Braille, a communication board with words and a headstick for pointing to them, a teletouch device, and a hearing aid.
A teletypewriter (TTY) converts the electrical information of sound into printed letters. This large, mailbox-size device with a keyboard and paper roll is an early model. It connects to a paper-tape Braille printer on the table. The telephone’s receiver rests on the modem.
This small TTY, with a keyboard, screen, and receiver replaced the large, immovable devices.
This small mechanical keyboard in a brown leather case has a Braille cell on the back and was used to communicate with a person who was deaf and blind.
On the cover of this technical manual, a woman in an office sits at a teletype machine the size of a mailbox. In the 1960s, deaf inventors adapted these machines by creating an acoustic coupler and created the TTY.
This London Bell-style hearing aid with engraved decoration and ivory earpiece is held up to the ear for amplification.
This trumpet-shaped hearing aid is made of copper and telescopes in size for transporting.
This battery-powered device amplified sound. It is made of Bakelite and worked with an earpiece and large battery.
Zenith made this electric hearing aid in a gold-colored metal case.
Once batteries got smaller and transistors replaced vacuum tubes, hearing aids were one-piece and worn on the ear alone. This one curves to match the contour of the ear.
The components in this box the size of a video cassette player produced closed captioning of television programs. It was replaced by captioning chips included in television sets, required by law in 1993.
People used heavy, cast-iron Braille writers with six keys and a carriage similar to a typewriter to type in Braille, a raised-dot language that people read with their fingertips.
The Ziegler Magazine printed in Braille and distributed copies for free. This massive printing press was its pride and joy.
When mobility and speech made communication difficult, people could use a board with frequently needed words and an alphabet. This board had phrases such as “I’m kidding,” “I’m not kidding,” “fast,” “I have an appointment,” and “Mall.”
Braille ’n Speak, a small plastic box, is a talking note taker developed by Deane Blazie in 1987.