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Deaf awareness aims to open eyes
Tuesday May 06th 2008. Posted: 13:31
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Nine million people in the UK suffer from deafness - and millions more are losing their hearing without doing anything about it
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Deafness is an issue most people never think about - simply because they feel it doesn’t affect them. But, for nine million people in the UK, deafness is a way of life - either because they were born deaf or because something has happened to damage their hearing. Many of those will be BT customers - quite a number will also be BT employees.
With Deaf Awareness Week taking place this week, BT says it’s a good time for everyone in the company to learn more about what a hearing impairment can mean and how to adopt more inclusive behaviour towards colleagues and customers. BT people and policy manager Helen Chipchase said: “Whether it’s BT people or our customers, we can all play our part in ensuring hearing-impaired people are not excluded.” A BT factsheet about working with hearing impairment offers an introduction to the subject and the simple adjustments that can be made to accommodate people with hearing impairment in the workplace. There are different degrees of deafness - Chris Roberts is a good example of someone whose hearing impairment often goes unnoticed. The director of business service management in Customer Service has suffered from tinnitus since he was 17 - noises in the ear that can range in severity from being annoying through to affecting a person’s ability to lead a normal life. Chris said: “Getting used to being able to sleep with it was probably the biggest challenge, and there are times when I can’t because it’s particularly loud.” He says it sometimes makes it very difficult for him to hear, particularly when he’s somewhere with a high level of background noise. In presentations he’ll sit at the front - and, he says, he’s not afraid to ask people to speak up. “The advice I give people with any disability is to make sure the people around them know,” said Chris. “They can’t guess you have a disability but, as long as you tell people, they can work with you.” Adam Oliver is head of corporate social responsibility and age and disability research. He has a particular interest in the development of technology to enable people with disabilities to communicate. Following a project working with blind teenagers, he produced the prototype for BT Text - the speaking text messages now widely used to send text messages to landlines. He was also involved in trialling the use of BlackBerry handhelds to improve communication for deaf BT engineers, and is now assisting research being carried out at Adastral Park by Pamela St Leger-McConnell - herself deaf - into improving Live Meeting features for deaf people. “This kind of work is empowering people with hearing loss,” said Adam. “People are making it better for themselves and being supported by the company to make it happen.” Stephen McConnell is a senior researcher at Adastral Park and has been profoundly deaf since birth. Since joining the company in 1994, he’s worked on projects including the Talking Head - a three-dimensional speaking avatar - and a system that enables people to buy tickets using text. He’s also the company’s deaf awareness champion - delivering deaf awareness training and acts as a consultant for BT on the development of support for deaf colleagues. He says being deaf hasn’t affected his career - but modern technology has made things a lot easier for him. “I use British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters for events such as lectures, presentations and large meetings,” he said. “This works well, although short-notice meetings can present problems as it’s difficult to find an interpreter that quickly. This means that everyone learns to be adaptable. “Without an interpreter I communicate with colleagues through e-mail, whiteboard, handwritten notes, instant messaging and text.” In addition to the range of products specifically designed for people with disabilities or age-related difficulties - such as digitally-amplified phones - BT says many of its products aim to meet a variety of needs. Helen said: “When we design products we try to do it in such a way that they’re inclusive from the word go. Ultimately, it also makes the products better.” But BT does more for its customers than simply produce helpful products - it was the first FTSE 100 company to introduce BSL on its website. Despite the resources BT invests to help its people and customers with hearing impairments, there are many who don’t benefit. That’s because an estimated four million people in the UK are losing their hearing but doing nothing about it. Research suggests this is due to embarrassment. Helen said: “People might feel they’re not hearing as well as they used to - this can happen for a variety of reasons. The Royal National Institute for Deaf People offers a telephone hearing check that anyone can use by calling 0845 600 5555. It takes just five minutes to complete and can be the first step on the road to improved hearing.”
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Last updated:
14:55