By Jonathan Taylor, Ph.D.
In New York City, we are required to wear face coverings in public and practice social distancing to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Non-essential work, like my own part-time job as an educational researcher for a university, must be completed remotely. With these vital public health measures emerge new challenges for people with hearing loss, and I’m advocating for myself and creating solutions when and where I am able.
In New York City and other places where face masks are required in public, people with hearing loss continue to struggle to communicate..
I have a progressive sensorineural hearing loss that is classified as severe with more than 70 dB lost in both ears. I am a bilateral hearing aid user waiting to be evaluated for a cochlear implant. My loss is likely a combination of genetic vulnerability and repeated exposure to loud sounds during my previous career as a classical trombonist.
Face masks make verbal communication nearly impossible for me. Because I ordinarily rely in part on speechreading, I struggle more to understand speech when people’s mouths are hidden behind masks, which sharply decrease the volume of spoken words.
In fact, masks are among the many reasons I hope I do not need to go to the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, for the virus itself or otherwise. Given that patients are not permitted to bring anyone with them to the hospital, I know that communication with doctors would be very problematic.
Transparent masks are an obvious solution, but their availability remains extremely limited. I hope that in the near future production will increase. My advocacy at one hospital on this issue, on the use of captioned devices and on hearing loops was well-received. I hope it will lead to more accessible communication for people with hearing loss.
Indoors, where masks aren’t required, I’m making great use of video teleconferencing tools Google Meet and Zoom. The captions on Google Meet are extraordinarily helpful to me. When Zoom isn’t captioned, I place my iPhone next to my computer and use the Otter app to transcribe the speech to text. This helps immensely except during group family calls with many voices. And my grandchildren, whose speech is less distinct, are difficult to understand.
Getting most of my news from online and print articles, I’m not experiencing difficulty accessing the news. Captioned television series have been my favorite form of entertainment..
When I was diagnosed with mild hearing loss in 1992, my hearing thresholds were only about 30 dB. But they have progressed over the years to the current levels of 70+ dB. By now, I am well-acquainted with the challenges of living with a progressive hearing loss, but the circumstances created by COVID-19 are like no other. With the help of the NYC chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), I have learned many things that have helped me live a full life in spite of my hearing loss. My friends in HLAA have helped me meet the challenges that have become worse during this pandemic. I am hopeful that some of the improvements we continue to see, such as the availability of captions and clear masks, will become routine after the pandemic has passed.
Jonathan Taylor, Ph.D., holds a doctoral degree in developmental psychology and lives in New York City. He works as an educational researcher at Hunter College and is the personnel manager of the American Composers Orchestra. In addition, he is president of the NYC chapter of HLAA.
