Hearing Loss in the Workplace: 2007 and Beyond - Part 1
Presented by Mary M. Clark and Dean Olson
This is part one of two parts.
Mary Clark started this workshop by noting that she has given it before
with various partners. The last time was three years ago, so she thought
it was time for an update. She also noted that Teresa Burke was scheduled
to participate, but was unable to attend the convention. Finally Mary
mentioned that this workshop is not intended for beginners. It's really
more for people who have admitted their hearing loss and "come out of the
closet" at work.
On a personal note Mary noted that she was born with severe hearing
loss, and it has remained constant throughout her life. She has a sister
with hearing loss and believes that having that companionship and support
growing up was very significant in the development of her attitudes
towards hearing loss.
Dean Olson works for a hospital in Seattle; he wears a hearing aid and
a CI.
Mary stated the following goals for the workshop:
1. Learn new skills for adapting to hearing loss in the workplace
2. Recognize when to "go for it" and when to be patient
Telephone Technology
Dean noted that, where applicable, suggestions would be grouped into
technological solutions and behavioral solutions, and the topics would be
considered separately. He began with the discussion of telephone
technology as it relates to the workplace. He noted that in the old days,
the only option was one of the portable phone amplifiers. But we now have
a variety of phone devices and services to consider.
Cell phones are becoming commonplace for both personal and employment
use. It's important to verify that the phone is compatible with your
telecoil, if you use one. Also he finds text messaging to be a very useful
feature. Bluetooth headsets can increase the utility of a cell phone by
making them it easier to use.
Some people find that the use of a headset with a telephone is quite
helpful, because it enables them to listen with both ears. A standard
audio headset or headphones may suffice, or people may prefer to use a
neckloop and their hearing aid or CI telecoil.
Some people prefer speakerphones, stating that they are better able to
understand speech with a speakerphone than using the handset, even with a
telecoil. But he noted that the quality of speakerphones varies a lot and
it's important to have a good one.
Perhaps the most recent innovation is the explosive growth of IP-based
telephone service, which uses the Internet to communicate, rather than the
traditional telephone lines. These services compress the audio signal to
save bandwidth, and some people may find that they don't hear as well on
an IP phone as on a traditional phone.
Behavioral tips for using the telephone include:
- use the telephone when your energy level is high
- take some down time to recover after a lengthy telephone call or
session
- negotiate job tasks to minimize your use of the telephone
- use email or IM rather than the phone whenever possible
- get good equipment
Meetings
In the old days meetings were face to face and used a minimum of
technology. Today we have distance meetings, the heavy use of projectors,
darkened rooms, speakerphones and conference calls.
Technical solutions for making meetings more accessible include:
- CART
- remote CART
- FM and other assistive systems
Mary then discussed behavioral solutions for making meetings more
accessible. She suggested several options.
One is a "Lights on" policy. People may want to turn the lights down to
make their PowerPoint presentations more visible, but low lighting is
disaster for those who are trying to lipread. Convincing people to leave
the lights on can make meetings much more accessible.
Another good policy is to be careful with the agenda and minutes.
Having an accurate agenda before the meeting is very helpful, because
knowing the topic is a huge help when trying to piece together the pieces
of conversation that we sometimes hear. Also accurate and timely minutes
help fill in anything that might have been missed and serve as good
preparation for the next meeting.
Have a buddy who is aware of your hearing loss and willing to help. If
you miss a topic change or a particular piece of information, your buddy
can bail you out!
Request face-to-face meetings and encourage people to attend them. One
of the unfortunate effects of teleconferencing is that people in the same
building may just call in rather than walk down the hall to the meeting.
For a person with hearing loss, a person in the room is much easier to
understand than one on the phone. One way to enforce an "in the room"
policy is to not publish the call-in number locally.
If the meeting table is rectangular it's generally best to sit at one
end of the table, because you can see everyone in the same field of
vision. Even if you're not a good lipreader, body language and visual cues
are very helpful.
Coach people to facilitate the best participation. If you have a good
relationship with the participants and have established good
communications protocols, you might bring scrunchies to the meeting to
throw at those who violate the protocols (as a good-natured reminder ;-)
Mary noted that if someone seated next to her is speaking with their hand
near their mouth, she'll actually reach over and move the hand! And she
now has other people at the meeting doing that!
Here's Part Two
