“The Outcome Was Amazing!” WorkBC Assistive Technology Services Helps Jacqueline Hear Clearer at Work
Jacqueline works as an on-call case manager for an immigrant-serving agency in Vancouver. She helps immigrants find employment in the same field they were employed in their home country, helping them with everything from finding positions and training to resume writing to interview prep.
She has a hearing impairment, moderate hearing loss in one ear and profound loss in the other.
“I have been wearing hearing aids in both ears for years. An issue arose with my work in which I could not turn the sound up on the computer to hear well enough to understand what was being said in Zoom calls or in Teams, which is where our intraoffice calls are made,” she shares. “An audiologist recommended upgrading hearing aids to a kind that can use Bluetooth to act as the headphones for my cell phone and my laptop.”
Her audiologist referred her to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for help funding the hearing aids.
“The program was amazing! I paid $200 instead of the $5,000 I was initially quoted for the hearing aids and dongle that make them work with my laptop,” she says.
“It has made a HUGE difference in my ability to respond quickly to clients and coworkers. I no longer feel the need to request people literally spell it out for me! We can speak on Teams or Zoom and share the screen and talk at the same time now. It is so much more efficient.”
The new hearing aids have particularly made a big difference when dealing with important conversations with clients and co-workers.
“I do not have to keep interrupting client and coworkers to ask them to repeat what they just said. Sometimes we are discussing very sensitive topics, and this was always a tough call. ‘Do I let the missed words pass and try to guess what they said by context? Or do I stop the flow I worked so hard to get started and possibly cause the person to lose their train of thought?’ This new headphone set up makes it possible to fully concentrate on what is being said.”
When asked if she would recommend WorkBC Assistive Technology Services to others, Jacqueline responds, “YES, YES, YES! The people were so helpful and the outcome was amazing!”
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.
