colleagues – Open Ears Archive

This is the question that some friends of mine have asked me when we were talking about my job. De facto, this is not a completely fallacious train of thought. There was a time in the past when I was wondering the same: particularly around my A levels, which, as they say, open all the doors to working life. “Really? For everybody?” were my thoughts.

At that time, I was attending a regular school and could perfectly manage my congenitally profound hearing loss in both ears by simply sitting in the first or second row in the classroom. Moreover, I always had terrific, attentive teachers and friends around me for support if necessary. Things then became more challenging when I had to think about my upcoming working life.

Suddenly, I became aware of my handicap and as a consequence, I was wondering which professions I would be able to take up with my hearing impairment.

I want to give you an idea of what my hearing loss means. With hearing aids, I perceive sounds as you would perceive a pixelated and blurred picture, in which you can recognise the shape and the gender of the person but not the details like the pattern of the pullover, for example. Enough to be able to cope with it. Continue reading ““Can you really work as a hearing care professional with your bad hearing?””

The end to every journey can be met with excitement or sadness: it’s all on how you look at it. The past year has flown by before my eyes. There were days when I was tired and thought that it was the longest day of the week, however the majority of time has left me saying to myself “where did the week go” by the time Friday came. So then how do I look at the end of my journey? I see it as an exciting time as well as a sad time.

The past year has been an experience that has made not only a professional impact but also a personal impact on me. As an audiologist, I have grown substantially. As I wrap up my time here at headquarters I feel as though I have gained the knowledge and experience of a 5 year time span. I recognize that the intensive 12 months behind me have challenged my educational foundation (in a good way) as well as required me to think ‘outside of the box’ by looking forward 5 years to the future generation of hearing aids and the people who will be wearing them.

This challenge has made the biggest impact. As you emerge from school with a fresh perspective you still remain closely focused on the present, the here and now. You look at each day and each patient regarding how they are getting along at that point in time. You never challenge yourself to think 5+ years ahead. Think of what the technology will be like, what hearing loss and medical intervention may be, as well as the average age and profile of the clients you will see. Can you wrap your head around it?

Continue reading “A Beautiful Ending”