A few weeks ago, I put the word out on Facebook and Twitter for people to get back to me about their experiences of office life. I’d been commissioned by the Guardian’s Careers section to write about this hidden side (to hearing people at least) of the world of work.
I got so many replies that when I collated them all, I had a document 20 pages long full of information, stories and tips. Many of them made it through to the final article, which can now be read on the Guardian website by clicking below…
http://careers.guardian.co.uk/careers-blog/deaf-office-workers
Please do add your own experiences and thoughts to the article (you may need to register on the Guardian site first) and pass on the article to anyone you know who might be interested!
Thanks
Charlie Swinbourne, Editor
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Emma Leigh
June 10, 2012
I work for a large public organisation…in a senior role (which includes many high level meetings etc) I leave you to guess which!
I am profoundly deaf, losing my hearing in my early 20s. Access to Work kindly covers me to have a wonderful electronic notetaker, who comes to provides access to communication for me.
In the office I’m not too bad (desk in a corner, so no-one can walk behind me), everyone emails me (they don’t have any other option!) – however, when I attend conferences – the story is completely different. I am duly fill out my form confirming my access requirements saying that I am deaf and work with a notetaker, who needs access to a plug socket for her laptop. On arrival more often than not I find that we are sat in the furthest corner of the room, away from other delegates – so not a cat in hells chance of being able to lip read 🙁
During activity sessions I have had my pen grabbed out of my hand as I am not able to take notes on behalf of a group.