1. On The Job With Hearing Loss The Invisible Disability Becky Morris, President, Beyond Hearing Aids, Inc.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Who Are We Talking About ?

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Statistics From SHHH ___________________Americans have hearing loss.

8. 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 __________.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. Why People Don’t Wear Hearing Aids The average time it takes a person to accept and deal with a hearing loss is.

12. 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 $.

13. 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.

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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.

18. There are better ways to accommodate than this !

19. 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.

20. Knowing when the phone rings AM100 AMPX or AMPXB

21. Knowing when someone is at the door Silent Call Good Vibrations receiver and Door/Window Access

22. Hearing on the phone HATIS Headsets M12 amplifier

23. Hearing on the phone HA40 PA25 XL30, XL40, XL50 ClearSounds

24. Hearing on the phone CapTel Uniphone 1140

25. Hearing on the phone Fax machine Email

26. Alerting to the Fire Alarm Silent Call Good Vibrations and Fire Alarm Transmitter

27. Knowing when someone has entered the office/store Silent Call Door/Window Access and Transmatter Mat

28. Hearing Protection Headsets Bilsom Headset

29. Hearing on a Cell phone T-Mobile SidekickHATIS

30. Alternative to the Overhead Page Private Page System

31. Stethoscopes Cardionics Escopes

32. 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

33. Communication Options Sign language interpreter CART – Computer Assisted Real Time Captioning Assistive Listening Systems for many levels of hearing loss

34. CART One-on-One for Small Meeting Projected for Larger Meetings

35. Using an Interpreter in a Meeting

36. How ALDs Work SPEECH Microphone Transmitter Receiver SPEECH Courtesy of Samuel R. Atcherson, Ph.D.

37. FM System Photos courtesy of Listen Transmitter/mic Receiver w/option

38. FM Listening Options No Hearing Aids or In-the-Ear Hearing Aids Headphones Earphone Photos courtesy of Listen, Phonic Ear Dual Earbud In-the-Ear Aid

39. 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

40. FM Microphone Options Transmitters –Lapel microphone –Conference microphone Receivers –Environmental microphone/’Smart mic’ –Conference microphone on receiver Photos courtesy of Comtek, CentrumSound

41. 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