Simon works as a visitor centre agent in Pemberton. His job requires him to speak with tourists both in-person and over the phone, a task made more difficult by his hearing loss.

He had learned about WorkBC Assistive Technology Services from a colleague at work, as well as his hearing aid provider, and decided to apply for funding for the hearing aids he needed for work.

Simon was quickly approved and received funding for a significant portion of the cost of the new hearing aids.

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Thanks to new hearing aids she received with the help of funding from WorkBC Assistive Technology Services, Stephanie is excelling at her job teaching prenatal and parenting classes.

“They have made it possible for me to continue working in my field,” she says.

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Andrew is a Building Service Worker, doing custodial work, minor plumbing work, as well as miscellaneous tasks at a shelter.

“I have a moderate to moderately severe hearing loss,” he shares. “This loss has greatly affected my employment and type of employment. I’ve gravitated towards jobs in which I can be primarily left to my own devices. This often is isolating, and limiting in scope of jobs.”

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Michelle works at a travel company on Vancouver Island. Her job involves talking a lot with customers over the phone.

However, Michelle has hearing loss which made it difficult to accurately hear her clients.

Her audiologist at Hear Inc recommended she apply to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for help funding a new pair of hearing aids. She applied and was quickly approved.

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Carolyn coordinates and oversees administrative tasks, covering everything from human resources, finance, keeping the office organized, event planning, project coordination, and health and safety compliance. However, she was facing a barrier at work with her hearing loss.

“Communication is the biggest challenge that impacts me,” she explains.

Her audiologist at Amplifon referred her to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for funding for new hearing aids.

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Ed works as a civil engineer in Surrey.

“I lost my hearing almost 10 years ago, which created many barriers and stress. It was very difficult to understand and interact during conversations,” he shares.

His audiologist referred him to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for funding for new hearing aids. He applied to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services and was quickly approved for a new set of hearing aids.

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Alan works at a post office sorting plant in Kelowna. He has hearing loss, which made it difficult for him to understand instructions and affected his safety as he was unable to hear all the different moving equipment around him in the busy plant.

“[I] was not able to hear adequately,” he shares.

His audiologist at HearingLife referred him to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for help purchasing new hearing aids. Alan applied to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services and was quickly approved for funding for the hearing aids he needs for work.

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Rita works as a cashier in Kelowna, and she has hearing loss making it hard to interact with customers.

When she was looking for hearing aids, she was referred to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for financial assistance for the hearing aids she needed for work. Rita applied to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services and was quickly approved, and was able to get the much-needed hearing aids.

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Amy works as a chairside assistant and sterilization tech in a dental clinic in Grand Forks.

“My hearing is impaired,” she explains. “Without hearing aids, it is very difficult to hear instructions, communicate with patients, and understand what is required of me.”

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Rob has been looking for work as a writer. However, he was having troubles in the job search process as his computer wasn’t very usable, and he didn’t have the right software to allow him to navigate his computer very easily — he is blind and needs a screen reader to use a computer.

“[The computer] was on its last legs, basically after 15 minutes it would overheat and shut down,” he explains. “Also, the fact that the screen reader program I was using called JAWS, I only had it in the demo version, so even if the computer lasted an hour before overheating, the JAWS would stop talking after 40 minutes, and I would have to restart it.”

All of this made it very difficult to browse online job boards, or to even apply to jobs.

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