Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Tag: deaf

  • Steve Claridge, Software Engineer

    Tell me about your job, career, or calling. How did you get into this line of work?

    I’m a software engineer. I started out working for a company that built PC software for hospital radiology departments, then I worked for an academic publisher and then for the molecular imaging department of a corporate behemoth. After those jobs I wanted to get more into the Web and joined another academic publisher, which is where I am today, I build and maintain numerous websites and other systems.

    I got my first computer when I was about eight years old, it was a ZX Spectrum 48k. A few friends had a Spectrum too and we spent countless hours playing all of the great games that were released for the machine; classics like Horace Goes Skiing and Jet Set Willy had us glued for hours but look and play horribly when compared to today’s XBox and Playstation blockbusters.

    It was those games that got me into software development: I didn’t just want to play them I had to know how they worked too. I taught myself how to program the Spectrum so I could make my own games. I wanted to make games for a living, which I never quite did but my fascination with software took me into programming for businesses and website development.

    What is the best part of your job, career, or calling?

    Software development is constantly evolving and new ideas and ways to write programs are appearing all the time. I’ve been writing software professionally for 19 years and I’m still learning new things every day. That’s the most exciting thing. You have to stay on your toes, keep learning, finding new and better ways of creating. Software development is still a fairly young discipline and we’re all still really working out the best way to go about it! People are pushing it in all different directions and it is very interesting to watch and learn from.

    What are some of the challenges?

    Most offices these days are open-plan, which isn’t great for someone with a hearing problem. There’s a lot of noise coming from all directions and hearing is a challenge. I am constantly surprised by how well, and how far, other people can hear across the open-plan desks – I’ll be having a conversation with someone next to me and another person from several desks down will chip into the conversation, how can they hear from way down there?! I have to constantly remind myself that others can, and will be, listening into the conversation I’m having at my desk. If we ever shuffle seats then I try and get a seat with a wall at my back so that the directions that voices are coming from is reduced a little bit.

    The telephone is of course a major problem. I’m generally not great with phones but the office is worst of all, the background noise makes it impossible to hear, especially if its a call involving more than two people, its really hard to follow multiple voices. And meetings where people are using desk-phones are the bane of my life! I use instant messaging system like Skype as much as I can instead of phoning but often people want the human element of a phone call, where I can I book a meting room for myself and use a phone on loud speaker, not having the handset pressed to my ear works better for me.

    Medium to large meetings are often difficult, especially when multiple people are talking. It’s not just difficult to hear in large rooms but it is very hard for me to localize the voice – I can often hear what someone aid but am not sure who said it! If I’m booking a meeting myself then I always make sure I book a small meeting room in a quiet part of the building and I always get a good seat with a wall behind me and everyone facing me – a little preparation goes a long way.

    What was it like growing up deaf/hard of hearing?

    I was diagnosed with a mild hearing loss when I was five. My parents got me a pair of behind-the-ear aids from the NHS, which I wore some of the time, mostly at school. I hated them. I think I wore aids at school until I was about eleven and was moving up to secondary-school – from then on, until I left school I didn’t wear them much at all. I knew I was missing some stuff but I was still getting by OK with close-by conversations and, to be honest, missing some stuff and muddling by seemed far better than wearing hearing aids to 13-year-old me. People were largely OK with my aids and I don’t remember getting teased about them at all, my reasons for not wearing them were all in my own head. By the time I was 13-15 my hearing was getting a bit worse and hearing teachers was probably the hardest part of school. Would I have done better in school if I’d worn my hearing aids? Absolutely. My grades were OK but they could have been much better had I heard what was going on!

    I stupidly thought I was getting away with hiding my hearing loss, but of course I wasn’t. People knew, probably everyone knew but no-one really mentioned it, only on occasions friends with jibe a little about it but nothing nasty – it was those times that I got a bit of a wake up call and realized how much I was missing.

    What advice would you give a deaf/HH person who is looking for a job, career or calling like yours?

    I don’t think a hearing problem should negatively affect your ability to work in software development. More and more companies are using remote teams and communicate mostly using Skype and email, which would be idea for some with hearing loss – these companies tend to be startups or smaller businesses.

    For larger companies, open-plan offices are very popular, if you get the choice of where to sit then think about the best place for you to hear; try and sit with your back to a wall, a corner seat would be the best as you minimize the sounds around you.

    I have always, always, told potential employers about my hearing loss at interviews. If you try and hide it then you are setting yourself up for big problems down the line. If I enter an interview and I can hear everyone OK then I don’t mention it straight away, I leave it to the end so that I’ve hopefully already shown them I can communicate OK it certain circumstances. But always mention it and be honest about it.

    For anyone wanting to get into software development a portfolio is a must. That would be an obvious thing for an artist or a graphic designer but most programmers don’t create one. If you have a strong body of work to show then you are already ahead of most people.

    Steve’s site: Hearing Aid Know

     

  • The New Stem Cell Research for Hearing Loss

    Back in January, 2012, I talked to the research team at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Houston about the first human trials using stem cells to improve hearing. What follows is an article published in the Communicator:

    In my family, there are five generations of relatives who are deaf and hard of hearing. Every now and then, a discussion would come up among us—what if there was a non-surgical solution to restoring hearing?   I recently came across an article sent to me via my blog, about the first stem cell clinical trials being done in Houston, Texas.  I also came across an article opposing the research.

    I got in touch with the research team to find out more about using stem cells to restore hearing.  The idea of using stem cells to improve hearing first came about from a casual conversation between Linda Baumgartner and her husband, neurosurgeon Dr. James Baumgartner.  “Jim did a few other studies with stem cells for other issues and I asked him, ‘Is this something we can do for babies with hearing loss?’’ said Linda.  Jim was working on a trial using bone marrow for patients with traumatic brain injuries and he was intrigued with Linda’s idea so he did some research and talked to several researchers.

    Dr. Baumgartner came across previous research done in Italy which showed successful results using mice.  “The study used infant mice and exposed them to noise, antibiotics, or both– to create hearing loss,” he said.  “All of the mice were injected with human stem cells through the abdomen.  The damaged hair cells grew again—the nerves reconnected.  The cells from the human cord blood triggered the mice’s own hair cells to grow again.”

    The FDA approved a license for the first human trials on ten patients, ages six months to eighteen months.  Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas and Cord Blood Registry(r) (CBR) identified two babies to receive the treatment.  The first baby, whose hearing loss resulted from CMV exposure, received the first stem cell infusion on January 23, 2012.

    I asked Dr. Baumgartner about the side effects from stem cell treatments and he assured me that the procedure had a strong safety record.   “Safety is our goal.  People  are often scared of stem cell research—they freak out,” he explained.  “Autologous blood, giving people back their own blood products, is safe.”

    Once the trial shows results with at least five infants, the team can request FDA approval for the second phase which will allow an increase dosage of stem cells.  The third phase would include double-blind random trials.   “I feel my hypothesis is strong and I’m hopeful we will get good results,” said Dr. Baumgartner.

    In a discussion with a friend, she revealed that she was scared about the potential success of the stem cell trials.  “It scares me to think that we would lose the beauty of deaf and hard of hearing people in the world.  The world would be so bland without that diversity,” she said.  “Think of how the world would be without the contributions of Beethoven… or Edison… or Vint Cerf—the father of the internet.  They are all deaf and hard of hearing and they contributed something valuable to the world.”

    My own feelings were very mixed on this.  I spent the last twenty six years getting really comfortable with myself after going from hard of hearing to deaf.  In sharp contrast to the teen who hid every sign of hearing loss, the teen who became deaf at nineteen learned to embrace a whole new world that included American Sign Language.  My world truly opened up after becoming deaf and I saw the change as a blessing.  I learned to embrace the gift I was given.

    I asked Dr. Baumgartner about research on families like mine—five generations due to a mitochondrial gene. My daughter will pass this gene on to her children.  He explained that bone marrow trials may be promising.  “Your own bone marrow won’t work. If you use a different person’s blood, one without the genetic cause, another person’s bone marrow would allow the organ of corti to repair itself,” he said.

    Talking to Dr. Baumgartner on the phone using an interpreter and learning about the possibility of growing new hair cells—like I said, this brought on mixed feelings. On one hand, there was the excitement at the possibility of progress, of being able to restore hearing.  I thought of my siblings—I know each and every one of them would jump at the chance of being able to hear again.

    I asked my daughter how she felt.  “I want deaf kids,” she said. “It makes me kind of sad to think of the world without deaf and hard of hearing people in it.”

    Yes, deep inside of me, there was a bit of sadness.  I believe the world is a more vibrant, colorful place with the tapestry of deaf and hard of hearing people who have crossed my path over the years.  I cannot imagine a world without them.

    Karen Putz is a mom of three deaf and hard of hearing teens.  She blogs at www.deafmomworld.com and www.deafhhcareer.com.

    Families who are interested in participating in the clinical trial can obtain more information at:
    http://www.cordblood.com/hearingloss

  • Financial Peace University with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Folks

    Last night, Joe and I discovered something new about each other.

    I’m the “Free Spirit.” He’s the “Nerd.”

    I’m the “Spender.” He’s the “Saver.”

    And it was time to learn some Financial Peace about it all.  Six years ago, we had no debt other than our mortgage and a car payment. Then we moved two blocks down into a bigger house. Then we lost our entire investment in a flower shop. The property taxes nearly doubled and our savings account dwindled.Then one kid left home for college.

    Sounds like a bad country song, doesn’t it?

    Then… instead of taking up knitting or some sensible leisure activity, I rediscovered my passion for a very expensive sport and started flinging twenty-dollar bills at every driver who would pull me barefooting.

    Uh oh.

    We signed up for Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University at our church along with several other deaf and hard of hearing folks. Meghan Vozzolo generously provided the interpreting:

    Over in Minnesota, Adan and Emily Burke are leading a Deaf Financial Peace University class:

    And over in Minnesota, they’re starting them at a young age:

    If you’re deaf/hard of hearing and interested in joining a Financial Peace University class:

    Adan Burke (Minnesota): adan(at)burkeconnect.com

    Karen Putz (Naperville, IL): karen(at)karenputz.com

    It’s time to live like no one else, so you can live like no one else.

  • Would You Trade Passion for Hearing?

    “I don’t know what it’s like to be deaf, but I do know what it’s like when something is important to a person,” a new friend wrote. “I have a question for you, if God or man came up with a solution to restore your hearing, and in exchange you had to give up barefooting, which would you take? I’d bet the farm that you’d take the deal.”

    To this new friend’s surprise, I’d take the barefooting over restored hearing.

    You see, I’ve been deaf so many years now it is just a part of me. I’ve long moved past the stage of grief and into living. That doesn’t mean I still go through periods of time when I get down about the communication difficulties and wish for hearing. I had a lot of moments like that yesterday when I struggled to understand the conversations flowing around me at the barefoot tournament.  But to give up a passion? No can do. Now if I could have both, that’d be a different story…

    This week’s guest post over at Lipreading Mom explores the topic of why going deaf became a blessing for me:

    Why Going Deaf Was a Blessing for Me

    Special thanks to Shanna Groves for sharing my story.

    How about you– would you give up your passion if it meant being able to hear?

  • Todd Hlavacek, Software Engineer

    Todd Hlavacek software engineerTell me about your job, career, or calling. How did you get into this line of work?

    I’m a software engineer.  I knew back when I was a gangly teenager sitting in front of my Apple IIgs writing BASIC that I wanted to be in the computer field writing code.  Ever since that epiphany, I worked my butt off to get in the field.

    What is the best part of what you do?

    Solving the world’s problems.  🙂  Seriously, an analogy comes to mind here.  Think of Michelangelo working on the Statue of David.  He had a vision of what he wanted the statue to become.  The result of his hard labor was a beautiful statue.  It’s the same way I feel with my work.  The best part of what I do is I get something in the form of written requirements for a “problem,” and I work using some or all of the skills I have to get to the end result — a beautiful statue written in software code.

    What are some of the challenges?

    Admittedly, in a field like this, my deafness would be more of a hindrance, but fortunately, technology has progressed to the point where there are engineers, hearing, deaf and even blind, who do work remotely.  In order for them to do their jobs effectively as remote engineers, tools have to be utilized over the internet that I as a deaf engineer have benefited from greatly —

    1. Instant Messaging
    2. Go-To Meeting (similar to Microsoft’s old NetMeeting)
    3. Video Conferencing where other call in, and I can call in using Video Relay from home
    4. Smartphones — believe it or not — because now with the capability to text, IM and all on a smartphone, deaf engineers now can be a part of the “on-call” rotation with other hearing colleagues.

    One challenge still remains — face to face brainstorming and design meetings where my presence is needed.  I use sign language interpreting services for that.

    As I tell people when they encounter a deaf engineer — “Being Deaf only means that we use a different language than English to communicate orally and verbally, it does not of and by itself mean that we can’t do the job that any able-bodied engineer speaking a different language than English can do.”

    What was it like growing up/becoming Deaf/deaf/hard of hearing?

    Gosh, this is both an easy and difficult question to answer.  You see, I grew up with a deaf brother in a hearing family using Total Communication.  My mom never subscribed to the “oral only” or “Sign language only” methodologies.  She wanted to give my brother and I all tools from which we could utilize to be successful later in life.  Little did we both know growing up that we both would later use speech and sign language at one time or another throughout our lives wherever applicable — at home or at work.  I fought against one methodology and embraced the other.

    So, while growing up deaf was hard, I was fortunate in that I had a mother who fought for me.  I had access to other deaf/hard of hearing friends along with a good education.  So growing up was good, but not easy. Today’s deaf/hard of hearing children have it far much easier, I’d think, with a wide range of activities, organizations, and the like out there.

    What advice would you give a D/deaf/HH person who is looking for a job, career or calling like yours?

    I would say this:

    Number one, play around with the activities that will lead to your calling NOW instead of waiting until college.  Don’t just say, “I want to work with aeronautics” and sit and play games on your X360.  Find out all about aeronautics, do activities, etc.

    For example, I played with BASIC programming, along with other computer related stuff, back when I was a teenager — way before high school and through high school.  I knew right then it was for me.  I never changed majors in college.  The first major I went into was the one I graduated with.

    So, having stated that, if you are not sure but want to wait, don’t.  Find ways to do these activities, whether it be volunteering for a not for profit organization, or doing self-paced study online (there are plenty of them online these days), or taking community college classes.

    Number two, remember the saying:  “All work makes Jack/Jill a dull person” and conversely, “All play makes Jack/JIll an unhappy person.”  Find a balance in life between your pursuit of the calling and some play time.  Don’t sacrifice your social aspect in your relentless pursuit of your calling.  Don’t sacrifice your hard work by doing too much play time.  You’ll live for 80+ years, so be mindful of that.  You’ll find that your social life does in fact help you with your professional life, and vice versa.

    Number three, enjoy life.  Enjoy doing the work you want to do.  The day you stop enjoying it is the day you need to take a second look at whether the calling is for you or not.  I’ve been in this field for over 15 years now and I still feel the same excitement that I did the first day on the job.  I love what I do.

  • Top Ten Deaf Folks on Twitter

    top deaf on twitter

    Of course Marlee Matlin is number one!  What fun to be among this cool group of deaf folks:

    To Ten Deaf Folks on Twitter

  • The 2012 EHDI Conference and Henry Kisor

    Last week, I drove down to St. Louis to join the Hands & Voices gang at the EHDI Conference.  It had been several years since I attended an EHDI conference and because I work in early intervention as a Deaf Mentor, I have a heart for this topic.  I’m one of three mentors in Illinois and one of the first trained groups.  The first child I worked with is now thirteen.

    When I attended my first EHDI conference in it’s infancy, I was only one of a few Deaf and Hard of Hearing participants at that time.  At this conference, wow! Everywhere I went, I met up with old and new friends.  The conference has truly grown from the early days and the grand ballroom held around 1,000 people for Hands & Voices board member Christine Yoshinaga-Itano’s keynote opening presentation.

    At Hands & Voices, one of our most requested presentations is Supporting Families Without Bias.  We put together a Part II of this presentation that goes even deeper into the topic.  When I first founded the Illinois Hands & Voices chapter back in 2003, I was often thrown in to “this camp” or “that camp” based on how I communicated or how low the lines were on my audiogram.  Eventually, more and more people embraced the spirit of Hands & Voices and began to understand my passion for our mission, “What works for your child is what makes the choice right.”  What I’m most grateful for during my years with Hands & Voices is that I’ve met so many wonderful families from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.  My kids have grown up with kids who cue/speak/sign/combine/whatever works  and they’ve made some lifelong friends.

    At the EHDI conference, I had the pleasure of sitting down to lunch with Henry Kisor and his wife, Debby.  Henry and I met  several years back when he was working at the Chicago Sun-Times as a book editor.    I first discovered Henry when I read his memoir, What’s That Pig Outdoors  and I enjoyed his frank outlook on life. I interviewed him for the Hands & Voices Communicator:  Henry Kisor, Mystery Author Unveiled.  I like to hang around Henry because he tells me nice stuff like, “You’re a natural writer.”  I would have lunch with him every week if I could.

    During the last night of the conference, Hands & Voices hosted a dinner for everyone involved in state chapters.  When I first joined the board of Hands & Voices, there were just four chapters.  We sat around a table and pondered simply how we could share our mission with others.  Today, we have expanded worldwide and nearly every state has a chapter.

    Back at my first EHDI meeting, we all fit around a single table during our Hands & Voices dinner.  At our dinner last week, we had 75 of  us seated around several tables.  As I worked my way around the room taking pictures and meeting new people, I took a few minutes to talk to a two-and-half year old boy sitting at a table with his father.  The father and I talked about how his family became involved with Hands & Voices.   The little one and I talked about the noodles he was devouring on his plate.

    And that’s what keeps me going year after year– the little ones.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Greg Pereira, Delivery Driver

    Tell me about your job, career or calling. How did you get into this line of work?

    First of all, I work two jobs. I serve both the hearing and deaf population. I am currently a full-time delivery driver for Markwell in Miami, Florida. I drive a van from the offices in Opa-Locka as far south as Homestead and as far north as West Palm Beach. This covers roughly around a 100 mile range. I deliver cases of staples, nails, stretch film, and other supplies to warehouses in the area that are involved in woodworking, upholstery, bedmaking, furniture, flower farming, and lobster trapping. Markwell is an industrial tool and packaging distribution company that is family-owned. Yes, my family owns the company. My brother is a part-owner as well as my father and I came aboard about three months after my brother bought the company. Think I got the job because my brother is the owner? Think again–I had to earn this opportunity. I come from a hardworking family of businessmen–my brother was a longtime Verizon executive who rose through the ranks from his outstanding sales work. He earned every bit of his promotions, so when I went to work for him I had to earn the job. After some time in a trial basis, I became an employee of the company (not an owner) and I earned it because I worked hard and did what I was asked to do. It took some time to find a role, but it has been solidified by the fact that I have a safe driving record and I love to drive, so deliveries have worked out for me. I also do projects on the side. Another reason that I earned this job is that sales have been in record numbers since I started delivering for the company, mainly because of my willingness to drive anywhere.

    My second job is with ZVRS as a Z Associate. My job is very simple, I just install the wonderful Z phones we have and I do some sales work as well. I also enjoy working with customers and meeting with new people. I worked for 6-7 years in human services (working in group homes and private academies) and I decided I wanted to change my career and have always been interested in working in the videophone business. I work with great people and the job is a lot of fun!

    What is the best part of your job, career calling?

    The best part is I get to work the front lines with both jobs and talk directly to the customers. I get to listen to a lot of feedback and generally the customers are very nice and we exchange questions and answers, for the purpose of growing a good working relationship. Another great part is I get to explore parts of places I have never visited since I am on the road often. For instance, I did not know South Florida had a lot of farmland. Tourists don’t generally associate South Florida with farms, but there are a lot–and areas west of Homestead have flower farms where the supplies I deliver ensure the survival of the plants that are growing there. The best part is that the farms have been thriving since Hurricane Andrew hit back in 1992. Andrew destroyed Homestead with 200 mph wind gusts that took about several hours, but it left a lot of rain in the area which strengthened the soil and allowed the crops to flourish. One of those things in South Florida if you are a longtime resident like I am, to think about how something so powerful can eventually help in the long run. Another part of the job that stands out for me is my co-workers. In Miami, there are many people that are living there for a long time and do not speak English. The warehouse guys I work with do not speak English well but we work well together because we found ways to communicate through gestures and a lot of patience. I learned Spanish while living in Colombia back in the 1990s and I was able to communicate in Spanish with them even though I am not fluent.

    What are some of the challenges?

    To know me is to REALLY know me. I speak so well that hearing people assume I can hear out of the left ear which is completely deaf. I’ve had hearing people come to me and start whispering in my ear for no reason. I say, “This is my bad ear.” They go around to the other side and start whispering into my hearing aid. “Nope, this is also my bad ear.” They get puzzled then I tell them not to worry, I can lipread and I can read Spanish well. I do get feedback from other customers who compliment me on my ability to speak so well. I also am told they are surprised I can drive a van. I often say, “I don’t need my ears to drive..all I need are my eyes that tell me what my hands should do with the steering wheel.” Another challenge is the language barrier. In Miami, there is a large influx of immigrants that mainly speak Spanish but also speak French Creole (those from Haiti) and my hearing customers often do not speak English. However they understand the routine I do for deliveries but sometimes they do not have much patience trying to communicate with me. The best approach that works for me is to just be patient with them myself and show them what I am trying to say to them so this way communication is smooth. Patience is also a virtue when it comes to doing home visits with customers who have a hard time understanding instructions. I myself am not 100 percent ASL. I use a mix when signing to customers and generally they understand me well. The best way is to show customers what to do–I have found they learn much faster this way. On the other hand, I was the same way growing up, I learned better when people showed me what to do as opposed to receiving verbal instructions.

    What was it like growing up Deaf/Hard of Hearing?

    I am the oldest of all the Pereira cousins, brothers, sisters. Being deaf was a full time job and it still is. I lost my hearing at 4 years old. Why, I do not know. I do not remember myself hearing. But I wear a hearing aid on my right ear. Have been this way since I was a little boy. As was the case in the 1970s, 1980s growing up there was no captioning on TV but I liked sports, action movies, and cartoons. But when television wasn’t around, I turned to books. As I did not learn to sign until I was 12, I learned to speak first and I found I could not follow family conversations so I turned to books to keep myself occupied. My grandparents had a library row full of Dr. Seuss books and those were the first books I could read. Reading then became a passion that took up a lot of my time growing up. I also lived out of the country for a long period of time at different times. I lived in Mexico during the late 1970s and in 1988 I moved to Colombia. Colombia was where I had to learn on my own, to grow up quickly. I did not have a choice. In Colombia, the high school kids I went to school with were neat dressers and looked up to their parents as role models and were very mature and polite people. Down there it was also a wide gap between the rich and the poor, and Colombians took their studies seriously. Family values were the same generation after generation. The more things changed, the more things stayed the same. I picked up Spanish quickly simply by reading, however verbal communication was difficult. On the other hand, I went to the American school and all the friends I made treated me with a lot of respect and I wasn’t the “deaf guy” in school, I was one of the guys. There was no bullying. I wore uniforms every day. On the other hand, Colombia was going through the worst period of violence in their history and I had to be extremely careful about what to say to people there, this is still a trait I follow today when talking to people, I often think of what to say before I say it. I was an American living in Colombia and it was a dangerous time, but I enjoyed my experience growing up. I fell in love with soccer and I adapted living there. Going to school there was wonderful, but I did not have sign language interpreters. Believe it or not, I did not need interpreters as I chose to adapt to having notetakers and I studied every night.

    What advice would you give a Deaf/Hard of Hearing person who is looking for a job, career, or calling like yours?

    One of the things you must understand is that when you look for work, employers are looking for somebody who has the intangibles. Experience is one thing. The other thing is showing them you have those intangibles. What do I mean by intangibles? Intangibles are this: having a neat appearance, having a positive attitude, having a clean record (driving, criminal, etc). The other thing is you have some skills that make you talented–things that people just don’t teach. The other and most important thing is discipline. Discipline is taking the same approach to work every day with positive results. Do not be discouraged if you get turned down for a job, there are others that are waiting to be filled. I cringe sometimes when deaf/HH people think they have been turned down due to their deafness and sometimes dwell on this. People, regardless of who and what they are, get turned down at times. The best thing is to move on and keep looking and finding that job for you. Yes, a job is hard to find with the economy being in a slump, but the important thing is never to give up and keep on looking as hard as you can. Even if you find something that pays less than your previous job, take it! You will always find that you can work your way up and be back to the level you were before, even if it takes some time to get there. The job you have may not be the calling you expect it to be, but sometimes the calling comes in unexpected places. Since I work as a driver, I had to have a clean driving record. Driving takes an enormous amount of discipline. It’s not as easy as it looks. I have been doing this since I got my license at 21. Miami is known for having lots of careless and aggressive drivers, so I have to be able to concentrate 100 percent of the time I am on the road. Trust is also very, very important. Be honest. This is a virtue you MUST have. Employers can turn down anyone they feel they are not going to trust. It used to be they could hire anyone and train them on the spot but this is not happening anymore. Times have changed where there are more stringent requirements a job seeker has to go through. The most important thing is to be patient and have a positive attitude, and be honest with yourself.

  • Tina Childress, Educational Audiologist

    Tell me about your job/career/calling. How did you get into this line of work?

    I am an audiologist with my specialty being educational audiology. I work in the mainstream and residential school settings supporting students, their families and staff. This involves duties such as diagnostic hearing evaluations, working with hearing aids/cochlear implants/assistive technology, participating in IEP meetings, providing informational workshops on how to work with students with hearing loss and being a resource to families.

    I got into this field by accident…I actually first went to college to become a computer engineer (hence, my love for all things gadgety) but didn’t feel it would be a good fit. I decided to take an elective that had nothing to do with engineering and it ended up being Sign Language. That class got me into the Speech and Hearing Science Building and introduced me to the world of Audiology. I loved the incorporation of my sign language skills, my passion for helping others, the science of hearing and use of technology into one career. Little did I know how ironic it would be that I would become an audiologist…

    What is the best part of your job, career, calling?

    Paying it forward! With my personal experiences as an audiologist who was late-deafened and is now a bilateral cochlear implant recipient, I have gone through various degrees of hearing loss, used hearing aids then cochlear implants, and have gone through the stages of grieving my hearing self. I feel like I can reach out to students and families and give them a glimpse of what’s POSSIBLE, not impossible. I have a passion for teaching, too, and am addicted to providing perhaps complex and technical information in an easy-to-understand and practical format whether that be in the form of a workshop, blog post or sharing my favorite links on the Internet.

    What are some of the challenges?

    Meetings with lots of people and listening in noisy situations are always hard situations. I compensate by either using effective communication strategies (e.g., going to a quiet place), using assistive technology or using sign language.

    I also get frustrated with lack of appropriate access to such places as a classroom, the workplace, captioning on the Internet, live theater or movies. It also peeves me when people think that one cookie-cutter solution is the right thing for ALL people with hearing loss.

    What was it like becoming deaf?

    Becoming deaf was like being on a roller coaster. Because my loss was rapidly progressive (I lost all of my hearing over a course of nine months), I never knew if I would wake up to a “good” hearing day or a “bad” one. After a while, they were all “bad”. Along the way, I have been surrounded by amazing people, like my co-workers and my family, who have taken my communication needs into account and make sure that I have access. My then-boyfriend-now-hubby took that first sign language class with me and we’ve been signing ever since! He was, and continues to be, my ears in a variety of situations.

    When I reached completely profound hearing loss, I realized that all of my communication depended on visual information – lipreading, sign language, text, etc. It was at that point that I decided to get my first cochlear implant…I didn’t want to miss anything! I decided to become a bilateral recipient five years later. I do very well with my cochlear implants and it’s always a testimony to the technology when someone sees me talking on my cellphone and then comes up to me later and says, “What?!? You’re DEAF?!? I never would have known!” Granted, I still have days when I need to get my CI program tweaked or I struggle in very noisy environments, but for the most part, I appreciate being able to navigate between the deaf/Deaf and hearing worlds. My motto is “It doesn’t matter HOW you communicate, just THAT you communicate!”

    I’ve also come to the realization that my identity is not merely dictated by my audiogram – it’s situational. When I am sitting at a restaurant with my Deaf friends, signing in ASL with voice off…I am Deaf. In the mornings as I’m blow drying my hair and my five-year old is trying to tell me something and my cochlear implants aren’t on yet…I am deaf. When I’m at a meeting and three people are talking at the same time and I’m trying to follow the conversation…I am hard of hearing. As I talk with my mom on my cellphone about my upcoming visit…I am hearing. I am not one of these identities (Deaf, deaf, hard of hearing, hearing). I am all of them.

    What advice would you give a deaf/HH person who is looking for a job, career or calling like yours?

    Being an audiologist with hearing loss means that you will have a unique empathy for working with your patients. You have walked in their shoes! Be careful though as you talk to patients that it remains about THEM and not about YOU. You can definitely use your experiences in counseling but remember that each person has their own unique needs and abilities and what may have worked for you, may not work for someone else. They will appreciate your insight and goes a long way for establishing rapport.

    Technology is your friend! Take advantage of things like FM systems in the booth or using interpreters or CART, as needed. Depending on your hearing ability, there may be some tasks that are difficult for you, like speech perception testing, but don’t be afraid to exhaust all possible ways of getting access.

    Be a good example as an advocate! This may mean making sure your professors understand your listening needs or handing an FM transmitter to a presenter at a professional conference or asking someone to repeat something that you did not hear.

    Explore the many facets to audiology. It’s not just about being in a booth all day – perhaps you want to do research, or focus on hearing conservation, or do aural rehabilitation.

    There are others that have already paved the way! There are facebook groups for the Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Loss (https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/amphl/) and the Association of Audiologists with Hearing Loss (https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/114874958541349/). Feel free to ask questions about things like choosing a program, getting through school and what accommodations are successful in various settings.

  • Mom’s Night Inn, A Weekend of Connecting

    mom's night inn group picture

    When Andrea Marwah asked me to speak at the Illinois Hands & Voices Mom’s Night Inn this year, I happily agreed.  The Mom’s Night Inn weekend was like coming home all over again.  When I founded the non-profit organization back in 2003, we launched the annual Mom’s Night Inn, modeled after a similar retreat at Colorado Hands & Voices. Every year, the retreat continues to be a weekend of connection among the moms of deaf and hard of hearing children.  Andrea Marwah, the current president, has expanded the Mom’s Night Inn in central Illinois as well. There is still time to register for that: Mom’s Night Inn Central.

    mom's night inn group in circle

    This year’s theme was “Celebrating Their Gifts, Unleashing Your Child’s Potential” and the title of my presentation.  I shared my own journey of growing up hard of hearing, becoming deaf, and discovering the gifts that resulted from a paradigm shift in my perceptions.  I read an excerpt from Lee Woodruff’s book, “Perfectly Imperfect,” where she describes her deaf daughter as one with a different ability.  If you have not read her book, grab it.  Lee is an amazing writer and her book will grip your heart.  She has a new one coming out in September, 2012.

    Massages, crafts, discussions and chocolate, those are some of things the moms get to experience during the retreat.  Woven into those moments are the connections– the experience of sharing your personal journey with another mom.  It doesn’t matter where you are on the journey, or the choices you’ve made or the choices you are exploring– there’s the common bond of raising deaf and hard of hearing kids.  It’s a wonderful feeling to share the journey together.

    don't try so hard to fit in because you were born to stand out

    On Sunday, we had a panel of deaf and hard of hearing kids, from elementary to college age.  Ben Lachman also sat on the panel and shared his experience as a young adult and businessman.  Their experiences were as unique as their fingerprints.  As I sat there and watched each person share a glimpse of their journey, I’m reminded once again why so many of us across the Hands & Voices world volunteer our time with families: because every kid counts.