|
|
|
|
|
Home  Articles Health Hearing Impaired in the Workplace
|
|
Hearing Impaired in the Workplace |
|
|
|
Written by Chris Hampton
|
|
Hearing Impaired and the Workplace by Chris Hampton Dec 09 2004Being hearing impaired can be a real challenge in the workplace. The biggest problem is that few understand the problem, and usually the person with the hearing impairment is hesita....
Hearing Impaired in the Workplace
by: Chris Hampton
Hearing Impaired and the Workplace by Chris Hampton Dec 09 2004
Being hearing impaired can be a real challenge in the workplace. The biggest problem is that few understand the problem, and usually the person with the hearing impairment is hesitative to admit the fact.
When in one on one situation things may be just fine, especially there is little background noise. In a crowd situation the hearing impaired person may hear, but not understand, 50% or more of what is said. It can be very frustrating in meetings etc.
Sound is made up of Frequency and Volume measured in decibels. In the ear that sound is converted to electrical impulses to the brain. Many things can happen to keep the sound from reaching the brain.
Say some one says the letter “A”. That “A” is made of the frequency determined by that person’s voice box and the loudness that he speaks. That sound goes out into the room and mixes with the noise in the room. A person with normal hearing in both ears has little problem understanding the letter “A”.
But a person that has hearing in one ear only, cannot determine where that sound comes from. And the brain has to work twice as hard to process that sound.
It is a matter of information. With two ears twice the information available to the brain.
Same with someone that has a hearing loss the percentage of hearing loss, for whatever reason, reduces the amount of information available to the brain to process.
A normal ear may process the sound of the letter “A” with this much information, 0110110110011011 to the brain while the damaged ear may only send this much, ------11011---------, so the brain has to look for more clues as to what that information really represents.
If you will notice a person with hearing loss does everything possible to gather clues or information to help in the hearing process. Some of the things are:
Looking at your face or lips while you talk.
Turning their head so that the good ear is facing the speaker
Cupping the ear with the hand
Remember even a hearing aid does not work as well as a normal functioning ear.
I hope this helps you understand what the loss of hearing really is.
Chris Hampton -Arizona Acoustic Art - http://www.azaart.com
About The Author
Chris Hampton has 25 years experience in the sound and vibration industry and being hearing impaired knows the importance of sound and noise control and conditioning.
SHHH member www.hearingloss.org
This article was posted on December 09, 2004
|
|
Random News |
- Low Speed Impact "Injury" Facts
Low Speed impacts are those that take pace at speeds under 10 MPH. There’s often little (if any) visible Property Damage done to the rear of ones motor vehicle. However, those who are struck (especially in the rear) often have injuries, especially....
Read more
- Selling Effectively on Ebay Motors
Remember back when selling online was a new experience? Dealers tried everything to sell their vehicles online. Today’s market has expanded to include several hot online marketplaces but there is the largest online marketplace, Ebay. Ebay has e....
Read more
- Effective Online Car Sales on Ebay Motors
Remember back when selling online was a new experience? Dealers tried everything to sell their vehicles online. Today’s market has expanded to include several hot online marketplaces. The largest online marketplace is Ebay. Ebay has evolved in....
Read more
- FAQ on Modifying the Toyota Supra
What does BPU™ stand for? (BPU™ is a trademark of SupraStore.com)Basic Performance Upgrades. These modifications are: A full length three inch down-pipe (with or with-out high flow cats), 3” (75mm) or bigger cat-back exhaust system, raised boost....
Read more
|
|
