Cynthia is looking for work, in particular, a customer service or teaching role, or something else she can do from home. However, she faces many barriers that make finding employment more difficult.

“I was diagnosed with a severely enlarged heart which leaves me very weak and arthritis in my low back, hips and legs. I have poor circulation and swelling in my lower legs and am in pain all the time. Since my mobility has been severely compromised, I use a cane around my home for support and a walker when I am out. I am only able to walk for about five minutes until I need to sit and rest,” she shares.

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Theresa works as a caregiver for a young adult with a disability, helping with personal care and daily tasks. She has hearing loss, which can make her job difficult.

She learned about WorkBC Assistive Technology Services from a friend and decided to apply for funding for the hearing aids she needs for work. “I received hearing aids that I never would have been able to afford,” she says.

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Jane works as a customer service associate for a home improvement retail store, assisting customers in-person, online, and over the phone. She has mild to moderate hearing loss, with lower hearing in higher tones, and with specific letter sounds.

“My work environment has a great deal of noise — machinery operating, multiple conversations in a close proximity to me, speaking on the phone, noisy product carts moving through and around my workstation,” she shares. “My hearing loss often required me to ask people to repeat what they said for clarity, or to speak louder or come closer to me.”

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Donovon works as a Web Services Manager, which involves managing web services, extensive typing while communicating with clients, and precise mouse work for digital updates. He describes the role as “technically demanding and sedentary,” working up to nine hours a day at a workstation. However, arthritis in his shoulders, as well as ADD, anxiety, and depression, were making it difficult for him to work full-time.

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Mahmoud works as a logistics coordinator for a distribution company, and his duties include organizing orders, coordinating shipments, and ensuring deliveries are accurate and on time.

“I have plantar fasciitis, which sometimes causes significant foot pain and may occasionally affect my performance,” he shares.

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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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