On The Job With Hearing Loss The Invisible Disability

On The Job With Hearing LossThe Invisible Disability

Becky Morris, President, Beyond Hearing Aids, Inc.

Definitions of the Population

• Hearing Loss identifies someone with any type of hearing impairment. A general term to encompass anyone with a hearing loss, regardless of the severity of the loss.

• Hard of Hearing – individuals who have varying degrees of hearing loss who are using their residual hearing to communicate. Hearing aids and assistive technology are helpful.

Definitions of the Population

• Late-Deafened – individuals who are unable to use residual hearing to understand speech. Hearing aids and assistive devices do not provide benefit. Most often do not know sign language and use visual cues to communicate.

• Deaf – individuals who have profound hearing loss who are prelingually/culturally deaf and use American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate.

Who Are We Talking About ?

28 Million People with Hearing Loss

Hard of Hearing94.8%

Late Deafened3.8%

Deaf1.4%

Fact or Myth ?

• Hearing loss is an invisible disability.

• People who are Deaf or severely hard of hearing are less intelligent.

• Hearing aids correct hearing like glasses correct vision.

• Hearing loss mainly affects older people.

• You can hide your hearing loss.

Fact or Myth ?

• The accommodation for hearing loss is an interpreter.

• The person with the hearing loss will know what accommodations they will need.

• I will know what an employee needs to help them on the job.

• A hearing aid fixes all communication needs.

Statistics From SHHH

• ___________________Americans have hearing loss. 

Statistics From SHHH

• One in every ten (28 million) people have hearing loss.

• As baby boomers reach retirement age starting in 2010, this number is expected to nearly double by 2030.

• While hearing loss increases with age (1 in 3 over age 65) most hearing losses develop over a period of __________.

Statistics From SHHH

• One in every ten (28 million) people have hearing loss.

• Nearly 38 million Baby Boomers between 40-59 will begin to face the challenges of hearing loss.

• While hearing loss increases with age (1 in 3 over age 65) most hearing losses develop over a period of 25-30 years.

Statistics From SHHH

• Only 5% of hearing loss in adults can be improved through medical or surgical treatment.(12,500 people have Cochlear Implants)

• While 95% of people with hearing loss could be successfully treated with hearing aids, only 22% (6.35 million individuals) currently use them.

Why People Don’t Wear Hearing Aids

• The average time it takes a person to accept and deal with a hearing loss is .

Why People Don’t Wear Hearing Aids

• The average time it takes a person to accept and deal with a hearing loss is 7 years.

• The average cost of two hearing aids is about $ .

Why People Don’t Wear Hearing Aids

• The average time it takes a person to accept and deal with a hearing loss is 7 years.

• The average cost of two hearing aids is about $3000. Hearing aids are not covered by most insurance companies.

How Hearing Loss Can Affect Job Performance

• Difficult to use the telephone

• Difficult to understanding work orders

• Unable to respond to emergency sounds

• Very difficult to hear when background noise is present

The Invisible Disability

How Hearing Loss Can Affect Job Performance

• Social implications that affect morale

• Reluctance to participate in meetings

• May appear ‘aloof’ or ‘stand-offish’

• Perceptions affect performance as self confidence erodes

The Invisible Disability

Lost Potential

People with hearing loss may not advance as quickly as others because of performance and perceptions.

Many people who start experiencing difficulties related to their hearing loss on the job will not seek advancement (because they can’t participate in training) or retire early.

There are better ways to accommodate than this !

A less than supportive work environment impedes the accommodation process and can actually become one of the identified challenges to overcome!

A T T I T U D E

Successful Accommodation Steps

Identify the communication issues in each of the job functions.

List where breakdowns occur.

Gather the technical information.

Seek help in accommodations.

Knowing when the phone rings

AM100AMPX or AMPXB

Knowing when someone is at the door

Silent Call Good Vibrations receiver and Door/Window Access

Hearing on the phone

HATIS Headsets

M12 amplifier

Hearing on the phone

HA40

PA25

XL30, XL40, XL50

ClearSounds

Hearing on the phone

CapTel

Uniphone 1140

Hearing on the phone

Fax machine Email

Alerting to the Fire Alarm

Silent Call Good Vibrations and Fire Alarm Transmitter

Knowing when someone has entered the office/store

Silent Call Door/Window Access and Transmatter Mat

Hearing Protection Headsets

Bilsom Headset

Hearing on a Cell phone

T-Mobile SidekickHATIS

Alternative to the Overhead Page

Private Page System

Stethoscopes

Cardionics Escopes

Common Sense Options

• Always use an agenda for meetings

• Use meeting rules such as one person speaks at a time (use a moderator)

• Get person’s attention and move to a quieter area

• Have at least one accessible telephone

Communication Options

• Sign language interpreter

• CART – Computer Assisted Real Time Captioning

• Assistive Listening Systems for many levels of hearing loss

CART

One-on-One for Small Meeting

Projected for Larger Meetings

Using an Interpreter in a Meeting

How ALDs Work

SPEECH SPEECH SPEECHSPEECH

SPEECH

SPEECH

Microphone

Transmitter Receiver

SPEECH

Courtesy of Samuel R. Atcherson, Ph.D.

FM System

Photos courtesy of Listen

Transmitter/mic

Receiver w/option

FM Listening OptionsNo Hearing Aids or In-the-Ear Hearing Aids

Headphones

Earphone

Photos courtesy of Listen, Phonic Ear

Dual Earbud

In-the-Ear Aid

FM Listening Options Hearing Aids/CI Speech Processors

w/telecoils

Neckloop

Silhouette

Behind-the-Ear Aid w/telecoil

Ear Level Speech Processor w/telecoil

Photos courtesy of Beltone, Cochlear Corp, Listen, HATIS

FM Microphone Options• Transmitters

– Lapel microphone– Conference microphone

• Receivers– Environmental microphone/’Smart

mic’– Conference microphone on receiver

Photos courtesy of Comtek, CentrumSound

www.BeyondHearingAids.com

Becky Morris, President

Beyond Hearing Aids, Inc.

463 Erlanger Rd. Suite 1

Erlanger, KY 41018

800-838-1649 v/tty

Beckym@beyondhearingaids.com