hearing loss and employment
People with hearing loss may have have difficulty getting and keeping
jobs. Those that have employment need communications accommodations to function most effectively. Employer's efforts to provide accommodation greatly affect the attitudes of people with hearing loss towards their work.
It may be extremely difficult for people with hearing loss to get a job. Whether
because of ignorance, uncertainty, fear, or malice, employers are often
unwilling to hard of hearing, late deafened, or oral deaf people. This is illegal under
various laws in the United States, but is still an extremely common
practice. In addition to the obvious consequence that many hard of hearing, late deafened, and oral deaf
persons don't have jobs, many are stuck in jobs that are unfulfilling ,
offer no advancement possibilities, or lack challenge and interest; they
are stuck because they think it extremely unlikely that they will get
hired for another job, regardless of their qualifications and
experience.
Life isn't necessarily a lot better for people who have jobs, even
for those who have fulfilling and challenging positions. Lack of
accommodations in an employment situation can turn a potentially
wonderful job into a nightmare. Read one person's description of an employment situation that
lacked accommodations. Notice the tone of the message. Now
read another person's description of an employment situation that provided
accommodation. Notice the tone of that message. Which person would you
rather have working for you?
Think accommodations are too expensive? If you're a small business,
the Disabled Access Credit provides tax relief of up
to $5,000 a year for accommodations you provide.
May 2000 - Another tough issue is determining for which jobs hearing
is really a requirement, and for which it isn't. Read about a court case
involving an airline mechanic.
July 2000 - There was a wonderful panel discussion on Hearing
Loss and the Workplace at the 2000 SHHH convention. Cheryl Heppner
of NVRC wrote up a great summary of the discussion and graciously shared
it with us.
November 2000 - How are things at work? Does your hearing loss
contribute to problems there? Is communications an issue. Get some ideas
on how to approach these and other problems at the ALDACON 2000 Hearing
Loss in the Workplace panel workshop.
January 2001 - NTID Offers Guide to Employing People with Hearing Loss
January 2001 - Know any deaf lawyers? How many do you think ther are
in the US? The answer may surprise you, as it did me and some of our
readers. Here's some interesting information on deaf
lawyers in the US.
February 2001 - Here's a great list of tips
for people with hearing loss in the workplace. Thanks to Trudy Zahn (zahn@primary.net)
for permission to share this with you.
April 2001 - New Website Established for Deaf Lawyers and Students
July 2001 - Japan Removes Occupation Restrictions on People with Disabilities
October 2001 - You may have heard about a discrimination suit brought
against Wal-Mart by two deaf men in Arizona. As a result of that suit,
Wal-Mart will be paying for television ads in which the men tell their
story. Here's the information.
November 2001 - Anyone who's read our newsletter for any length of
time is familiar with Cheryl Heppner and her wonderful organization,
NVRC. They recently held a workshop focusing on what employers are
looking for in today's market. Here's Cheryl's
write-up.
July 2002 - Workplace Email List Debuts
July 2002 - Maintaining Employment Status and Enhancing Personal Adjustment
July 2002 - The 2002 SHHH Convention included a
great workshop on hearing loss issues in the
workplace. If you're
having problems at work, you may want to check out this report.
July
2002 - The SHHH Convention Research
Symposium included the following employment-related presentations:
-
Innovative Rehabilitation Interventions Regarding Employment by Dr. Steven Boone
of the University of
Arkansas Rehabilitation Research and Training (RRT) Center for Persons
who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
- Maintaining Employment Status and Enhancing Personal Adjustment by
Dr. Carren Stika of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC)
for Persons who are Hard of Hearing or Late Deafened
November 2002 -
Job hunt got you down? If you need a little pick-me-up (or even if you
don't), you'll enjoy Attitude is Everything!
December 2002 - Dreading that holiday party? Here
are some (tongue-in-cheek) tips from Randy Collins on how you can
survive the ordeal.
July 2003 - Hearing loss in the workplace is
always a popular topic at hearing loss conventions. Here's
Cheryl Heppner's report on Beth Wilson's workshop on that topic from the
2003 SHHH convention.
October 2003 - Here are some thoughts on employment
and hearing loss, as expressed on the HLWork email list, which
focuses on hearing loss in the workplace. (See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HLWork
for information on the list)
July 2004 - If you think that the Federal
Government is still looking to hire people with disabilities, you
may be surprised by this article about a recent EEOC study!
October 2004 - Several years ago I started an email list to discuss
workplace issues related to hearing loss. Exchanges are a bit sporadic,
but we have had many wonderful discussions on employment issues. Here
are two emails from a recent exchange. (To join the group,
send an email to:
HLWork-subscribe@yahoogroups.com)
January 2005 - Will the Department of
Rehabilitation pay for you to attend law school?
March 2005 - Ever notice that most of the people who work in
organizations for the "Deaf and hard of hearing" are either
Deaf or hearing? In many of these organizations you can count the number
of hard of hearing people on one hand - and have five fingers left over!
We're running a series on the awakening oral hearing loss (OHL)
community, and one of our focuses will be on organizations that falsely
claim to serve Deaf and hard of hearing people. And we even have an
advocacy group you can join! More
information is is available in the Identity section.
May 2005 - At the 2005 Western Symposium on Deafness Dr. John Schroedel and Dr. Douglas Watson of the University of Arkansas
presented an excellent workshop entitled "Patterns in the Employment and Vocational
Rehabilitation of Hard of Hearing Persons".
March 2006 - We've all heard that hearing loss affects all aspects of
life, including employment. A recent study in Denmark
has confirmed this fact, and provides some quantitative results.
March 2006 - An article in the New Standard
argues that attitude, not cost, is the main barrier to the employment of
people with disabilities.
June 2006 - Research Indicates Relationship Between
Hearing and Income
July 2006 - Deaf man realizes
dream of being cop
October 2006 - Court: UPS
Discriminated Against Deaf
October 2006 - Here's
a great synopsis of baby boomers' hearing loss, how it's affecting their
lives, and what they're (not) doing about it.
April 2007 - Court
to Reconsider if UPS Can Bar Deaf Drivers from Vans
July 2007 -
A Quiet Day at the
Office: Acoustics for People who are Hard of Hearing
July 2007 - Hearing
Loss in the Workplace: 2007 and Beyond
August 2007 - Absenteeism Higher Among Hearing
Impaired People
October 2007 - Hearing Loss Impacts Earnings
December 2007 - Court orders judge to reconsider
ruling on deaf truck drivers
January 2008 - Federal Hiring of People with
Disabilities Plummets
April 2008 - Absenteeism Higher Among Hearing Impaired
People
May 2008 - Law Enforcement Officer with Hearing Loss
Fired
July 2008 -
HLAA Research
Symposium: What Research Tells Us of Lifelong Learning and its Impact on
Earnings for People with Hearing Loss
October 2008 - Jury finds federal rules on hearing aids
discriminate
February 2009 - Disability Employment Survey Results
Released
March 2009 -
Hearing Loss and Business Meeting
Survival
March 2009 - Hearing Aids Promote Job
Preservation in Economic Tsunami
June 2009 - HLAA Employment Toolkit
June 2009 -
UPS to allow hard-of-hearing drivers
August 2009 -
Should Deafness/HOH Be Mentioned on Resumes?
October 2009 -
HLAA Convention:
Acoustics in the Workplace
October 2009 -
Hearing Loss in the Workplace: It's All in a Day's
Work
October 2009 -
Helping Hard-of-Hearing Employees
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2008
Ramundo Ruiz got great job reviews as a court
security officer at the federal courthouse in Victoria. But four years
later, in 2006, Ruiz found himself booted from his $50,000-a-year
position. Why? Because he wears a hearing aid. The 61-year-old can hear
perfectly well with his hearing aid, and federal rules permit security
officers to wear the devices while they work, said Kathy Butler, an
employment lawyer with Butler & Harris, who represents Ruiz. However,
according to other federal rules, court security officers can't wear the
devices when they're taking a hearing test, Butler said. If they fail like
Ruiz, who worked for a private contractor at the behest of the U.S.
Marshals Service, they're out of a job. Last week, a jury found that Ruiz
had been discriminated against because of his disability and awarded him
$257,048 in back pay for emotional distress. His lawyers plan to ask the
court to award future pay and have the government cover Ruiz's legal fees.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2009
Business meetings, symposia, conferences, seminars
- are any of these a part of your work activities? They are if you're
employed in the corporate sphere. And whether you're plugged in to a tele-conference
call or attending a seminar in Vegas, there are some things you can do to
prepare yourself to stay in touch - even with a hearing loss. The effects
of hearing loss may subtle or they may be dramatic. In either case hearing
loss can affect your communication abilities in the workplace. Even
persons that have chosen to treat their hearing loss by wearing hearing
aids, may still find themselves having difficulty in large groups or
business meetings. If you are one that finds yourself having difficulty,
consider the following tactics to get you through your next meeting
successfully.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 2009
United Parcel Service tentatively settled a
10-year-old lawsuit Tuesday by agreeing to allow some deaf and
hard-of-hearing employees to compete for jobs driving small delivery vans
after special testing and training. The settlement, which awaits approval
by a federal judge in San Francisco, would apply to about 1,000 workers
and 1,250 vehicles at UPS, the world's largest private package carrier,
said attorney Laurence Paradis, executive director of Disability Rights
Advocates in Berkeley.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 2009
I have always thought that it would not be a wise
choice to list my hearing impairment on my resume because I thought that
as soon as they were to see it they'd chuck my resume in the garbage and
not bother giving me a chance, but if they saw me in person they would
realize that the fact that I am hard of hearing would have no effect on my
job performance. <snip> I always thought it was a private matter and the
fact that I am HOH was none of their business and that I didn't need to
bother telling them because they could possibly use it against me. But now
I'm on the fence.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2009
With the worst economic downturn since the Great
Depression, unemployment in the United States is skyrocketing. So it is
understandable that the competition for the jobs that do exist is fierce.
Let's say you are looking for work and are confident that you have all the
required qualifications. But there is one glitch - you have hearing loss.
How do you optimize your chances of getting the job you want despite what
some employers still perceive - erroneously of course - as a disability?
From the interviewing process (can you hear and respond to the questions
in a clear and confident manner?) to the actual employment (are you able
to listen to and follow all the instructions?), challenges abound, but,
thankfully, help is available to maximize your chances of landing that
job.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2009
In 1969, legendary coach Vince Lombardi noticed
that his Redskins running back Larry Brown was responding late to the
quarterback in the huddle. Taking a guess, he had Brown's ears tested and
ordered him to wear an ear piece in his helmet. Three years later, Brown
was the NFL's Most Valuable Player and played in the Super Bowl. Today,
managers and HR executives could take a page from Lombardi's playbook. If
an employee is suddenly missing information or zoning out in meetings, he
or she could be having trouble hearing. That's not a surprising situation
in the modern workplace, when older workers -- including senior-level
leaders -- are staying longer, and boomers are coming out of retirement.
Full Story
