Carmen is currently receiving training for employment through WorkBC. She faces barriers in her search for employment.

“I have a series of medical issues that impact my ability to work: Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, POTS, Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety, PTSD, and Long COVID. I have a very low window of tolerance for physical tasks and find increased pain,” she shares, noting that she can only work a limited amount of hours and days during the week.

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Lorna works in healthcare administration, overseeing the day-to-day functions, patient and staff scheduling, and daily operations of a healthcare facility. She has hearing loss.

“This affects my ability to perform my job as my job is very public facing in a large and noisy environment,” she shares. “My work also involves attending and running meetings which I find challenging to keep up with the conversation.”

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Kathy is a support worker, providing day-to-day assistance and advocacy for individuals experiencing mental illness and homelessness.

“I help clients access community resources, support their personal goals, and promote independence and well-being. I also collaborate with colleagues and service providers to ensure consistent, person-centred care,” she explains.

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Bonita works as a registered foot and hand reflexologist, and she also creates organic soap, which she sells at retail stores and farmer’s markets. For both, her listening skills are vital, whether she is working one-on-one with a reflexology client or talking with customers in a busy market.

“The loss of my hearing is significant with regard to both my professions and has a dramatic impact on how I am able to perform in a reflexology setting, where the client frequently shares vital health and/or personal information, and regarding my organic soap when I am selling in a market setting. Customer feedback is vital to the creation of an organic product which people use on a daily basis,” she shares. “[It’s] frustrating and limiting.”

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Michael is a counselor and trauma therapist, working with clients who have anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other sorts of difficulties in their life. His job involves working with individuals, couples, and whole families.

“I am hard of hearing in both ears,” he shares. “This has made my work particularly difficult with clients who are in distress and their voice modulation is not particularly being attended to. You can imagine how awkward it would be to ask a client to please speak up after sharing something vulnerable. Also, there are times where clients just are soft spoken. It has been very difficult repeatedly asking clients to speak up.”

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Connie, who has hearing loss, is looking for work. Her local WorkBC Centre referred her to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services (ATS) for help funding the hearing aids she needs for the job search process and for her future employment.

“Having this assistance has been life changing for me! I never knew how much I was actually missing not being able to hear properly. Being able to hear clearly what is being said to me both one on one and in larger conversations is going to assist me in my career more than I actually realized,” she shares.

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With the help of WorkBC Assistive Technology Services, Coralee, who has hearing loss, got the hearing aids she needs to find a job and thrive in her future workplace.

“These new hearing aids are giving me more confidence to look for work,” she shares.

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Almoneda works as a pharmacy assistant, and her job includes filling prescriptions and answering phones. She has hearing loss, and she found that she was often having to ask customers and co-workers to repeat themselves.

Through WorkBC Assistive Technology Services, Almoneda received funding for the hearing aids she needs for work. She’s seen a big difference in her workday, now able to hear conversations with much less effort.

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Alaa, who has hearing loss, works as an employment counsellor. Thanks to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services, she was able to get the assistive technology she needs to thrive at work.

“WorkBC Assistive Technology [Services] generously funded my hearing aid. [My] case manager was supportive and the whole process didn’t take much time,” she shares. “I am able now to communicate effectively with my colleagues and clients.”

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Congratulations to our Director of Audiology, Heather Ritchie, on receiving the Canadian Academy of Audiology (CAA) Rising Star Award today at the CAA Conference in Blue Mountain, Ontario.

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