How to Assist People with Hearing Loss in Academic Settings
If you or a loved one is struggling with hearing loss while in school or university, we want to do everything in our power to help. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 48 million Americans, or 20 percent of the population, report struggling with hearing loss. Nothing gets in the way of learning like not being able to hear. Did you know that there are several ways to get assistance, and achieve your academic goals?
Hearing Loss in Academia
It’s important to understand the issues around hearing loss in universities. Do you feel frustrated or embarrassed when the people you are trying to communicate with can’t understand you, or you don’t follow the lecture as easily as everyone else? Perhaps you don’t talk about your hearing loss because you fear rejection from your peers. This is a common feeling among the hard of hearing community in every university, and can make concentrating on learning a challenge.
Understanding Different Kinds of Hearing Loss
The first thing to realize is that there are as many kinds of hearing loss as there are people. There are those who are born deaf, those who lost their hearing from an accident or from military duty, and those who have noise induced hearing loss. Some view deafness as a culture, and others see their hearing loss as a medical concern. Each comes with its own set of challenged and struggles. For example, veterans will often be suffering from tinnitus, brain injury, or PTSD along with their hearing loss, and this presents different challenges than those who were born deaf and use American Sign Language (ASL) as their main form of communication. Not all assistive technology will work for every student, and you have to find what will work for you.
Why We Need Assistive Programs in Universities
With hearing loss, you’ll only be hearing a fraction of what’s going on, and this can be both socially isolating and very stressful. If you’re only hearing some of what’s happening around you, all your energy is taken up straining to hear the words you’re missing. There’s no capacity left to try to understand the content, and it’s easy to see how this is not a conducive setup for learning new information and developing skills and knowledge.
Assistance Available
Most universities have an office of accessible education, where students can go to explore aid options or seek counseling. Universities of today assist those with hearing loss in reaching their goals by offering social support and practical aid. If you’re hard of hearing, both real time captioning and closed captioning can be made available to you. A revolutionary program is speech to text technology through computers or iPads, that can make all the difference in understanding lectures. In some cases, American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters are hired.
Tips for Students with Hearing Loss
The best tip we can give you is to understand your own abilities and struggles, know what you need from your professors and your peers, and have the courage to ask for it. Be open about how you hear best. Sit near a speaker, or wherever you can understand the most. Use visual cues, and don’t be afraid to ask for written cues. Stay positive! If you get too tired to understand, take a break and come back to it. If you look for help, you’ll be surprised by all the services you’ll find, and the acceptance you will feel from profs and peers alike.
At Desert Valley Audiology, we offer assistive listening devices that could help in academic settings , as well as top of the line hearing aids. Contact us for more information!
(702) 605-9133