Vocational Rehabilitation and Workers with Hearing Loss

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Vocational Rehabilitation and Workers with
Hearing Loss

• Samuel Trychin, Ph.D. Julie Eckhardt, M.A., LPC
• ?????? 2005/8/26

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Introduction

• Audiologists may refer patients to a vocational
  rehabilitation program for funding of hearing
  aids and other accommodations.
• Audiologists will facilitate eligibility
  determination and the rehabilitation process,
  resulting in improved patient outcomes.

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Vocational Rehabilitation (VR)

• Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) is a program
  designed to assist people with disabilities,
  illnesses, or injuries, in acquiring and or
  maintaining suitable employment.
• VR services are funded by federal and private
  sources, and are provided either through state
  administered programs .

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Eligibility Vocational Needs Assessment

• An Eligibility Assessment determines whether an
  individual meets the program eligibility
  criterion.
• To assist the counselor in conducting the
  Eligibility and Vocational Needs Assessments for
  a person with hearing loss .

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• The audiologist should submit the usual hearing
  evaluation detailing the type and degree of
  hearing loss.
• The audiologist report should specify the
  vocational impact of the hearing loss, including
  the client specific, job-related, communication
  needs.
• The audiologist should detail recommendations for
  accommodating the hearing loss to meet the
  vocational needs of the individual.

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Examples of Vocational Considerations

• Communication Requirements
• Visual Communication
• Voice Quality
• Balance and Vertigo
• Auditory/Cognitive Processing
• Hearing Technology Maintenance and Usage
• Social Interaction

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Communication Requirements

• All levels of hearing loss can produce
  communication problems.
• FM systems and hearing aids are extremely useful
  for one-on-one communication situations.
• Environmental accommodations such as good
  lighting, noise-absorbing wall, floor and ceiling
  coverings, and reducing background noise, are
  essential for employees who are hard of hearing.

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Visual Communication

• Hearing is often supplemented by visual
  information such as facial expressions, speech
  reading, context, and visual aids.
• Speech reading (or lip reading) may be an
  important adjunctive tool for some workers with
  hearing loss.

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Voice Quality

• If, on the other hand, the individual with
  hearing loss speaks loudly and/or is difficult to
  understand, co-workers may avoid him or her.
• VR candidates may need speech therapy to learn to
  adjust the volume level of their voice or to
  speak more intelligibly. Hearing aids often allow
  people to better hear and modulate their voice
  volume levels.

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Balance and Vertigo

• Hearing loss due to Meniere Disease,
  endolymphatic hydrops and other inner ear
  conditions may significantly impact the worker
  balance and sense of proprioception.
• People with inner ear based hearing loss may
  also have difficulty with balance in the dark, or
  non-ideally lighted rooms and work areas.

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Auditory/Cognitive Processing

• If problems are suspected, consider appropriate
  evaluations such as an Auditory Processing
  Disorder(APD)evaluation by an audiologist, a
  cognitive evaluation by a psychologist, or,
  perhaps a speech-language evaluation by a
  speech-language pathologist.

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Social Interaction

• This can be taken as a sign of unfriendliness,
  lack of initiative, low motivation or
  psychological problems.
• Coworkers may tend to avoid the person who is
  hard of hearing because of communication
  difficulties.
• Supervisors may give unsatisfactory evaluations
  and not recommend promotions or salary increases.

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Discussion

• Clients who were hard of hearing were older. The
  average age of clients who were hard of hearing
  was about 45.
• Most clients who were hard of hearing already had
  jobs they wanted to maintain.
• The average cost of providing services to the
  clients who were hard of hearing was 1,200,
  about the cost of a hearing evaluation and
  hearing aid(s) at that time.

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Conclusion

• The audiologist can perform a valuable service
  for the VR client by providing a comprehensive
  audiometric evaluation and an in-depth needs
  assessment.

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THE END

• THANKS!!