“It’s a Whole New World!” Hearing Aids Make a World of Difference for Sheryl
Sheryl is an administrator for a youth soccer organization in the Okanagan, handling everything from registration to scheduling to taking minutes and enacting decisions made in meetings. She has hearing loss.
“I need to be able to hear to take notes and minutes for all aspects of communication: phone calls, in-person meetings, zoom calls, training sessions, etc. I find people with accents and those calling from cars extra challenging to understand. In situations where more than one person is talking, I can only focus on one person at a time which means I miss another speaker’s input,” she shares.
She learned about WorkBC Assistive Technology Services from NexGen Hearing in Kelowna, and decided to apply.
Through WorkBC Assistive Technology Services, Sheryl received funding for hearing aids.
The hearing aids have made a big difference in her workday.
“I feel so confident and empowered now! I didn’t realize how much hearing loss I had,” Sheryl explains. “[I] am still discovering how much I have been missing, but at my very first meeting about 10 days after receiving my hearing aids, I could clearly hear EVERYONE in the room without having to ask anyone to repeat! It was both exciting and overwhelming! I had to go to the RCMP station to speak to the office staff there and even though they were behind glass and wearing a mask, I could hear and understand everything!
“It’s a whole new world!”
Sheryl says that she would “most definitely” recommend WorkBC Assistive Technology Services to others in need.
“I thank everyone involved in this program,” she says. “The actual cost [of hearing aids] is quite prohibitive and I don’t know how I could’ve afforded them otherwise. This has truly been life changing and every day I discover something else I didn’t know I was missing. Just today I realized my computer mouse makes a noise when I am scrolling! I am so incredibly appreciative of the program’s support. All of the staff I had contact/interaction with were so kind.”
WorkBC Assistive Technology Services is operated by Neil Squire. Assistive Technology Services are available to individuals who have a work-related barrier due to a disability or a functional limitation. This may include barriers related to traveling to and from the workplace.
Questions about WorkBC Assistive Technology Services? Need help applying? Contact us: 1-844-453-5506 or info-ats@workbc.ca
Please visit www.workbc-ats.ca for more information about WorkBC Assistive Technology Services.
