Hearing Loss and the Workplace - Part Two

Part One

BRENDA BATTAT

- Marriott, TWA, and Pi

a Hut have active programs to hire and work with people who have disabilities. They found that morale went up with programs in these corporations that helped make people more aware of each other's needs, as this increased team spirit.

- There is no right or wrong answer to the question of whether you should disclose your hearing loss on your resume. But you should not just say you have a hearing loss. You can list some affiliations such as membership in SHHH; someone who understands will guess you have a hearing loss if they see this on your resume.

- Brenda's personal experience with four jobs in four different countries was that she never hid her hearing loss. She felt it important to stress that she had a hearing loss but could do what it took to get the job done.

- When going for an interview, ask about the environment. If it's a group interview, you might want to bring an FM system. Don't talk about your hearing loss but focus instead on what you can offer. The people interviewing you want to know if you can do the job and what skills you bring.

- Bluffing is sometimes the easier thing to do when you're tired, but you should vow never to bluff during a job interview. It is important to be sure you understand everything.

- In an interview, explain what you can do and how you can do it; that will take away any questions or doubts they might have about how you can do things when you have a hearing loss.

- Admit hearing loss to yourself. If you deny it, it will block any kind of action.

- Admit hearing loss to others, being specific about what it means and what you want them to do. For example, ask that they move away from the copy machine because the copier noise doesn't allow you to hear their voice, or say "don't be upset if I don't hear you when you talk to me from behind or talk to me from another room."

- Focus on your skills and not on the hearing loss. Know how to cope with hearing loss and move on.

- Take advantage of things that come up to try to illustrate why you use your hearing aid or assistive device by writing about them in an email or newsletter to your coworkers.

- Although with hearing loss you learn to control situations so you will have the best chance of understanding, it's important to show that you can also be flexible.

- Insist on access to any form of training to upgrade your skills and don't bemoan the fact you have a hearing loss. Build your skills and keep abreast of new information.

- When going for an interview, try to take examples of a situation you know you will have a problem with and how it can be resolved.

- Managers are dealing with a lot of things every day. If you come in with a solution to a problem you need that tells them what it is, where to get it, etc., it will move things along faster.

- Ask if you can give orientations to your coworkers or write newsletter articles.

- Get a mentor -- someone who knows what you're capable of. Even if there's no one where you work who can serve as a mentor, look for someone outside of your job that you can bounce ideas off.

- Learn to cope with stress. Find out what works for you. Many times hard of hearing people report that they come home tired and take it out on the people around them "because I've got to let down somewhere." Make a practice of regularly swimming, exercising, going to a funny movie, etc., and don't let the stress escalate and take over your life.

- Try to get all information and instructions in written form as well as verbal so you can be sure you understand. Use email, fax, pager or another text medium to give you something you can double check.

- Take responsibility to learn techniques such as where to sit, how to locate the best acoustics, and how to tell someone what you need in a non-offensive way.

- Ask your coworkers to be open with you -- "tell me if my hearing aid whistles" or "tell me if I'm putting the phone down too hard and it bothers you" or "tell me if my voice is too loud."

- Use Basic Psychology 101. Say "Oh, it's so nice talking to you because you always remember to face me and speak so clearly."

- Nip communication problems in the bud. If something is wrong, stop and find a way to resolve it.

- Remember, it's an "ear thing."

-- Cheryl Heppner, NVRC

* Copyright 2000 by Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons, 10363 Democracy Lane, Fairfax, VA 22030. Contact: NVRCinfo@aol.com, Website: www.nvrc.org. Please share this information but be sure to credit NVRC.*