At Margaret’s work, she runs a filling machine which fills small vials and requires a lot of focus. She has hearing loss — particularly making it hard to distinguish ‘f’ and ‘th’ sounds — which led to her sometimes misunderstanding directions at work, and also made it difficult to hear when the machine was not operating properly.

“I was having a hard time understanding people clearly, which caused a few misinterpreted conversations,” she shares. “This became very frustrating for me and hard for me to do my job.”

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Paula’s job includes taking care of admin duties like accounts payable and accounts receivable, payroll, as well as other general office duties. However, some tasks, like taking meeting minutes, were quite difficult for Paula.

“[I have] 100% hearing loss in [my] left ear,” she shares. “It limited the jobs I could apply [for], and limited the duties at my job I was able to do, like attending meetings, never mind taking minutes.”

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Sara works as a printing and production clerk in the Lower Mainland. She was born deaf, and has worn hearing aids since she was a child. Through WorkBC Assistive Technology Services, she received funding for a new set of hearing aids that she needs on the job.

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Jody is looking for work. She has hearing loss. “Poor hearing makes me feel less confident. Having to ask people to repeat themselves is not a good feeling and does not give a potential employer confidence either,” she shares.

Through WorkBC Assistive Technology Services, Jody received funding for the hearing aids she needs for employment.

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Laura (name changed to protect privacy) has her own house cleaning business. She has hearing loss and tinnitus, and this can make communicating with her clients difficult, particularly when they are soft-spoken. “I have troubles hearing precisely what they are talking about,” she shares.

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Scott is a self-employed handyman contractor in the Okanagan. He does maintenance and small renovation projects for rental property owners and homeowners, as well as work as a subcontractor. New to the industry, he’s in the early stages of building his client base.

“I’m half deaf in one ear due to injury,” he shares. “This has negatively impacted client relations and safety in the workplace where communication prevents accidents.”

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Lena works as an ESL teacher. Her duties include helping the students practice pronunciation, providing guidance and feedback, and managing the flow of class, all in a noisy and fast-paced environment. She has hearing loss.

“Without my hearing aids it was extremely difficult for me to communicate efficiently with my students, understand their comments and questions, as well as help my students become confident while speaking, because they were not sure if they made any mistakes every time I could not hear them,” she shares.

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Theresa has been working as a public service assistant at a library for 10 years, helping people from all walks of life access resources at the library.

“I experienced gradual, age-related hearing loss that made it very difficult to understand conversations,” she shares. “I was constantly asking people to repeat themselves, and it was as frustrating to me as I am sure it was to anyone with whom I was attempting to converse, both patrons and colleagues.”

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Sophie works in education, helping children succeed in the classroom and reach their goals. She has severe to profound hearing loss.

Her local WorkBC Centre referred her to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for funding for the new set of hearing aids she needed on the job. “They were able to help me get new hearing aids,” she shares.

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Andrea works as a Senior Executive Assistant, and her job involves scheduling meetings, responding to inquiries from the public, and coordinating accommodations. Much of her work takes place over the phone, or virtually through Microsoft Teams.

“In my current role, I am responsible for a range of tasks that require clear, consistent, and often spontaneous verbal communication,” she shares. “I have bi-lateral, sensorineural hearing loss, which I have experienced since childhood. While I have developed coping mechanisms for personal and social situations, my hearing loss impacts my ability to perform job-related tasks efficiently and equitably.

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