First Session of People with Disabilities in Switzerland

On Friday, March 24, the very first “Behinderten Session” (Session of People with Disabilties) took place in the Swiss parliament. A unique and historic event, of which I was privileged to be a part.

This day was a special session of the Swiss Parliament with exclusively elected parliamentarians with disabilities. In advance you could apply for this as a candidate Parliamentarian or as a guest.
Because I do not like to promote myself (yet), I prefer to promote others or certain topics, and because out of more than 200 prospective candidates only 44 could be chosen for which you had to have an association or newspaper behind you anyway, I applied as a guest.

Last Friday was the day. Being able to walk around the beautiful Bundeshaus in Bern was just a treat. The historic building looks beautiful and impressive, as you can see in the pictures.
What was equally impressive was that everywhere you looked or walked you encountered wheelchairs, assistance dogs and white canes.

Not even that long inside, I was asked by a friendly lady from Swiss radio for a short interview, to which I agreed and answered her questions about my opinion and reason for being there.

The organization of this day was excellent. The only downside was, that the distributed induction aids did not work equally well everywhere. Probably downstairs in the hall you had good reception, but upstairs on the spectator tribune unfortunately not. Following my gut feeling, I luckily brought my own induction aid, called Rogerpen, and was able to follow the debates via lifestream with – delayed – subtitles. There were also sign language interpreters and there was even a sign language interpreter present.

The content of the debates was very strong and powerful, and the chairman of the day, himself in a wheelchair, wished that people would also keep such exemplary time schedule in the daily debates.
The result of the debates was a resolution that was presented to the 1st and 2nd Houses of Parliament, calling for more active and visible participation of people with disabilities in politics, that people with disabilities should be able to exercise their right to vote better and more freely, and in general be better integrated into society.
Of course, wonderful words, but this is only the beginning. Now it is a matter of putting those beautiful words into practice. And in this, unfortunately, Switzerland is lagging a bit behind. For example, the UN Commission on Disability has already criticized Switzerland for not speeding up the UN decision, which was ratified in 2014.

To give another small example: in the Netherlands, people with a hearing impairment have the option of requesting about 30 hours of private interpreting, for volunteer work, birthdays, courses, and so on.
Here in Switzerland, you can only request interpreting hours for work and/or study. For everything outside of that, including volunteer work, you have to pay for a sign language or text interpreter yourself or the association you are active for.
That this hardly ever happens in practice, of course, because sign/text interpreters are far too expensive, may not come as a surprise.I have experienced this myself, as president on the board of a hearing-impaired association. Interpreters are just not affordable, even for a membership gathering.

Besides all the overwhelming visual impressions, the atmosphere on the Session that day was militant and enthusiastic. The 44 chosen Parliamentarians/Speakers were greeted with applause, and when the Session was over, all Parliamentarians were met with thunderous applause.
Afterwards there was an aperitif with opportunity to exchange experiences and thoughts with each other. Again, several interpreters walked around, and everything was well organized.
This day, this special Session received a lot of attention in the Swiss media, but for my taste it could have received even more attention.
In any case, this day ensured that people with visible and invisible disabilities took center stage and their voices were heard. This was the intention and now let’s hope it does not remain just to fine words but also deeds will follow soon.

Voice Development

http://all-free-download.com/free-photos/download/singing_children_197509_download.html
Author: Tonny Watanebe

As a child I have always been fascinated by voices. Whether they were singing or speaking voices, they intrigued me, or not. For me it is so fascinating what you can do with a voice and what influence this may have (see also https://hardofhearingweb.wordpress.com/2017/02/05/voices/)
Once I attended a Voice Workshop and I was so enthusiastic that I wanted to take lessons after this workshop. Unfortunately this was not the right time for me and I had to postpone this wish.

After the loss of my mother, last year, I started to focus more on the question “what is important to me in my life?” and suddenly the Voice Workshop popped up again. I finally signed up for September last year, but unfortunately had to cancel due to my accident and broken shoulder.
Fortunately, this year dates became available and … yesterday was my first lesson.
Of course all the Corona measures were taken during this lesson: mask, airing and keeping distance. Only those who spoke or sang took off their masks, the rest of us kept the masks on until it was our turn.

For me, someone who only sings along with music when there is really no one around to hear it, this was a very exciting event. I always assumed that I did not have a good voice and that I also sang out of tune, but yesterday this turned out to be not that bad: both the teacher and the fellow students were positive and constructively critical.
According to the teacher it was very striking that I can recognize and use all tones well, despite my severe hearing impairment.
When I think about it, it is indeed remarkable and I have no clear explanation for this.
I did have a good language development, because I only became hearing impaired at the age of 17/18 and my hearing loss increased slowly in the early years, only later did it accelerate. But nowadays I really wouldn’t know what something sounds like “naturally” and really don’t know how I got the pitches. But apparently they are there and I am very happy about that now!

However, this course is not just about me (learning) to sing, singing is great but it is about more: I can also develop my speaking voice.
Because I regularly speak in front of groups, I want not only the message but also my voice tobe clearly understood and this is also something I can work on in the course.

In short: of course I don’t imagine myself to be Freddy Mercury or Agnetha and Frida from ABBA, but secretly I enjoy the fact that I can, no, even múst, sing to their and other music.

Raising awareness

Dear readers, some time ago I wrote here that I give workshops as a moderator for an organisation of and for people with a disability or impairment. Among other things, this organisation organises awareness projects for adults and also at schools.
In the meantime, I have already had the opportunity to give a number of workshops for adults, who mainly work in the service sector. This is something I particularly enjoy doing.

This time, it was my turn to give a guest lesson to a school class of 9-12 year olds. This guest lesson had actually been planned almost a year ago, but had been postponed due to COVID-19. Yesterday was the day.
Since I have no children myself and hardly any experience with children in general, let alone pedagogical experience, I prepared myself thoroughly for this activity.
Armed with a plan that included sufficient variety, my own experience, a little theory, a short video film, a number of questionrounds and some objects that I had brought with me to visualise the ear, a hearing impairment and various aids, I nervously set off. Would I manage to get and keep the children’s attention? Would I really be able to convey to them what it is like to have a hearing impairment? And, not the least of my worries, how would the children react to me and my story?

I left on time and arrived at the bus stop from where the school was about 5 minutes walk away, but at first I could not find the school at all. With some help from my contact person at the organisation, I finally managed to get to the classroom just in time. This stress did not make me feel relaxed at all though.
With a “good luck then” I started right away and apparently nobody noticed my nerves, except for me.
After introducing myself in sign language and without voice, I continued without sign language but with voice and told something about myself. Then came the questions. Lots of questions and especially good questions. The children turned out to be very curious and interested in what I had to say. The story and the variety seemed to go down well and they loved the things I brought, like my vibrating alarm clock, which they were allowed to look at and try out during a break.
The guest lesson went by very quickly and fortunately there was no trace of impatience, agitation or disinterest.

Today, I can still feel the relief that everything went well. Nothing compares to having 15-20 pairs of critical and honest children’s eyes on you as a layperson. Relief, especially given my fear of public speaking, which I have struggled with all my life. Blackouts, complete loss of direction, stage fright, simply not daring to speak, all as a result of being bullied throughout my school years.
After my school period, I have done much, very much, to overcome this fear. From courses on “Speaking in Public” to deliberately seeking out opportunities to do so. With my heart in my throat, that is.
Today, I can safely say that with this guest lecture yesterday, a now almost 35-year slow road to self-conquest has ended and been crowned. That makes me a little proud.

Are you afraid of being open about your hearing impairment, of how those around you might react? Start talking about it. It is always difficult to begin with, but you will see that it will become easier and easier, because no experienced master has ever fallen from the sky.

School and career choices for young people with hearing impairment

During this time of the year, schools and other educational institutions are usually stressed out because of examinations or exams.
The questions “Which education do I choose?” or “Which profession suits me?” have either already been clarified or will be clarified in the foreseeable future.

This is an exciting and decisive time for all young people, during which they can take their first steps on the professional path individually and (hopefully) in free choice.
For many hearing impaired young people, when choosing a school or a job, there is usually a further crucial question: “what education or work can I do with my hearing impairment?”

Although this choice of profession or training lies a long time behind me, I knew at that time exactly what I wanted to do, namely to study history. I certainly did not want to become a teacher, but I had a diplomatic career in mind. That the diplomatic career didn’t work out and my life took a different course, I couldn’t guess at that time and that’s another story :-). And this story has nothing to do with my hearing impairment.
Fact is that I had made my choice before my hearing loss occurred and my hearing impairment has never stopped me from my education and career choice.
I was even quite shocked when I was advised not to volunteer at the shelter about 13 years ago. I wanted to take dogs for a walk, but the dogs could get aggressive and I might not hear this. Even with cats I might not hear the hissing … But since I had cats myself, I could at least refute this argument in no time.

In schools and educational institutions young people used to be told quite often: “forget it, you can’t do that with your hearing impairment”. One had the choice to accept it or to fight it.
Fortunately, today’s generation of hearing impaired people is much better educated and has more opportunities in the labour market. But that does not mean that there are no obstacles at all …

Sure, some professions demand a lot from a hearing impaired person, but in my opinion this is no reason to avoid these professions. I know enough hearing-impaired people who, for example, work in professions that require a lot of communication.
This requires above all a measure of self-confidence and self-knowledge. Self-confidence to assert oneself and reach ones goal. Self-knowledge to know what you need for your communication and to be able to communicate that to the outside world.

For this reason, for the young hearing impaired person, the important professional questions should not only be: “what do I want and what can I do” but also “what do I need to realize my education/profession”.
Readers who have been following me for some time now know that I emphasize independence and self-confidence for people with hearing impairment.
The better I get to know myself, the better I know what kind of communication I need for myself and can share this to others.

At this point, I would like to encourage all oncoming students, trainees, employees – and all others – to ask themselves not “WHAT can I do?” but “HOW can I do it?”, and wish you all a good start in your professional life

Home

Dear readers, I hope you are healthy and well! Like everyone else, I too feel the consequences of the Corona Virus, but try to adapt as well as possible.

When the situation was not yet so tense, I went to visit my mother in the Netherlands. During the week and a half of my visit, the situation became more serious from day to day and I started to worry about my return flight. All the more so because my return flight was rebooked by the airline. When I tried to contact by phone the airline where I booked my flight, I could not get through. Since my mother does not have a phone with Bluetooth, I was forced to use the phones speakers, which in practice meant hours of “waiting music”. This melody is still playing in my head at the moment …
When the day before my return flight, even after I already checked in online, my return flight was cancelled again, but this time without alternative, I started to feel a little nervous. I could not reach the airline online, because they only stressed to call them for rebooking. Then I tried Facebook and sent them a message. And the airline actually answered within a few hours, but luckily I had found a Dutch phone number of the airline before, which I tried. After half an hour of waiting, including the irritating waiting music, it finally worked out and I could change my flight. As it turned out later, it was just in time.
I immediately told the airline employee I talked to on the phone that I was hearing impaired and asked if he could speak calmly and clearly. After that it was quiet for a few seconds, but he did his best, although I still had to ask for repetition a few times.

Here you can see two pictures of an almost empty airport. I was the only passenger at the security. It was a little spooky…

But I have come home safely again and will stay at home and indoors for the time being!

As you probably noticed, I have tried to reach the airline in different ways. For people who are deaf or so severely hearing impaired that they can’t make a phone call, a message that you have to call this or that phone number when you have to change your reservation is of course frustrating. In such situations you see all the more that hearing impaired people are often forgotten. Therefore I would like to give you some tips.

* Many companies, institutions and authorities can be reached online, by email, chat, Whatsapp or via Facebook Messenger.
If nothing else works but to phone, then:
* there are various technical aids that can support you on the phone, like Bluetooth devices that can be connected to hearing aids/CI. There is also Skype, Whatsapp Video, and Facetime.
* There are different providers, such as Google, who subtitle the voice on Skype Video or other video apps. Unfortunately I don’t know about the quality of the subtitles.
* If also the technology is not sufficient, then there are still different interpreter services with which you can call independently. I will mention here some:
https://www.sorensonvrs.com/svrs
https://www.signvideo.co.uk/signvideo-for-deaf-employees/
https://rosesignlanguage.com/call-deaf-people/

Yet, in these times of (self-)isolation, I would like to offer you also corona-free topics in the near future … But for now, stay independent, creative, healthy and at home!

Guests

Source: Rheinfall Schaffhausen, Picture of the  author

Last week we had two teenagers, 17 and 15, visiting. Although we know the two, sister and brother, from birth and we see each other at least once a year, it is different to accompany them for a week without their parents, all the more because we are not used to children, let alone teenagers … And exactly this was the intention to get to know us a little better and to spend a nice time together.
On beforehand I already had some thoughts about communication, especially because I would be “on route” on my own for 2 days with the two of them. Although both of them know that I am hearing impaired, whether the communication would work over a longer period of time was a nice challenge for me.

But now I can tell you that we not only survived the week very well, but also had a wonderful time! Had fun, combined with lots of walking and travelling with public transport through Switzerland. Both of them were especially pleasant and easy to care for guests, which, as I have heard, is not a matter of course for teenagers.
And the communication also went without a hitch! At the beginning I just told them that  in communication it was important for me that they should not talk too fast and preferably clear. And that’s exactly what they did. When they talked to me, they even looked at me, talked a bit slower and more clearly. They also repeated things as if it were a matter of course.
In short: they accept my hearing impairment as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Although it sounds a bit biased (and of course it is 🙂 ), I can only say that they can serve as examples for many good hearing adults.

Education and environment have a huge influence on the children’s development, but they are no guarantee that they will grow up to be people who accept other people for who they are. But as an old proverb says, “Young learned, old done”, it is important to sensitize the young generation. That they learn early that people with an impairment or a disability are not different from other people, but are themselves.
That with mutual respect and a little consideration for each other one can live together excellently.

In this context, a few months ago I registered with ProCap, the largest association of and for people with disabilities in Switzerland, for a sensitisation project in schools, training institutes and companies and I am already looking forward to the many encounters.

And our young guests? We have delivered them to their parents in good health and are happy that they would like to return next year. The invitation stands.

 

Disclaimer

Recently, in the Netherlands, a chain of hearing aid acousticians has let themselves be talked about with an advertisement, unfortunately in a negative way. The video and the accompanying pictures show an elderly lady in front of an acoustics store, and the same lady leaving the store as a teenager.
According to acoustic chains, they want to reach the target group of elderly hearing impaired people who often wait too long with a hearing aid. But this shot goes all the way to the back.
First, you don’t get 50 years younger and slimmer with a hearing aid, otherwise I myself would have been beautiful and slim for about 35 years. Secondly, hearing impairment has no age limits.

Such an advertisement once again reinforces all clichés, taboos and stigmatizations about hearing impairment and hearing aids in one. I wonder why this has to be so.
Of course I understand the attempt to reach a certain target group, but this target group (or others) could also be approached quite differently. For example, I have in mind a slogan like “Our hearing aids are too good to hide”, or “We love hearing aids that can be shown”, or “Hearing aids don’t care about age, but about functionality“.

As I have written before (in the article “Showing your colours”), most hearing aid advertisements send a completely wrong signal that the prejudices of people with good hearing (hearing impaired people are old and you have to be ashamed of a hearing impairment or wearing hearing aids) are only confirmed and destroy all attempts at inclusion.

Why don’t acousticians and hearing aid manufacturers invest in advertising that is more realistic and still allows them to present their hearing aids well?
No, dear acousticians and hearing aid manufacturers, with a hearing aid “the world doesn’t open up” and you can’t take part in table discussions again in comfort. With a hearing aid you can at best understand a little better again, but once you are a hearing impaired person you may become a somewhat better hearing person wearing a hearing aid, but you will never be a good hearing person.

Actually, advertising for hearing aids or acoustics needs a disclaimer, just like advertising for medication. In the same way as “Our hearing aids are aids and not miracle cures. If in doubt, ask your ENT doctor or acoustician”.

Such a disclaimer would not only be fair, but would bring reality much closer. Unfortunately, I do not see any change in advertising in the near future, so I am considering whether it would be worthwhile to launch a campaign that should include a disclaimer in hearing aid advertising.
What do you think, dear readers? I am happy to receive your feedback.

What’s in a name?

Recently I read a discussion about the question of whether there was a general covering name for (people with) a hearing impairment.
Now names are as old as a society, a trend and a fashion. In the past, for example, deaf people were called “deaf-dump”, which was a common term in those earlier days. The “dumb” stood for “not being able to talk (properly)”.
Nowadays we have unpleasant associations with this term and “dump” can also be referred to as “non-intellent”. This, in one breath with deaf, could indicate that the person who uses the term “deaf- dump” thinks that someone who is deaf is also not intelligent, which is of course completely wrong. That is why we are now opposed to this term.

I myself have used the term “hearing impairment” in my blogs. By this I mean people with any form of hearing impairment. In Dutch I used a similar term. It has recently been pointed out to me that this term is also perceived as unpleasant. A more common term proves to be “auditief beperkt (auditory impaired)”.
It was also found that not everyone with hearing impairment feels impaired. Since I write my blogs in 3 languages, mostly in German and then translate the text into Dutch and English, it is quite possible that my rejected term came from the German equivalent.
Nonetheless, I have taken note of it and have now replaced it in «auditory impaired».

However, with the above-mentioned discussion of names in mind, I did think about this further. What is indeed a general, opaque name for someone with a hearing impairment? Now there are as many variations in a hearing impairment as in a name and so it is not easy to give an answer to this, if there is an answer at all.
Personally, I think “people with a hearing impairment” sounds the most sympathetic. We are talking about people here and those people have a hearing impairment.
But apparently there are also people with a hearing impairment who do not feel impaired at all.
Recently, I read somewhere the term “people with an auditory challenge” which, in this case, would be a better term. Challenge sounds in any case more positive than impairment and equally covers the load, also for people who do feel impaired.
And whether you hear less with one ear or both ears, or even hear nothing at all, I think it is justified to say here that this will present more or less challenges in life to every person with a hearing impairment. Whether you are old, young, signing or spoken language oriented, we all face our own challenge to deal with our impaired hearing.

That is why as from now I would like to introduce the term «people with an auditory challenge» and «auditory challenge». It may take a while to get used to it, but that will be my personal challenge … And if I make an error once and a while, to err is human after all, then please help me reminding this!

Signal dog

Source: http://www.stichtingsignaalhond.nl/

In my blogs, I regularly write about technical aids that support better speech and hearing understanding.
Today I want to highlight a living tool that is hairy and has four legs: the signal dog.
Almost everyone is familiar with the guide dog, a dog “in progress” that warns its blind or partially sighted boss or female of obstacles.
However, there are also dogs that are specially trained for the deaf and hard of hearing, signal dogs. This was unknown to me until 10 years ago, until I started accompanying a client who was training a signal dog.

The dog signals sounds at home, but can also be taken by his owner to work, the shop, on a trip, to conferences and the theatre. Some examples of sounds that these dogs can signal are: the doorbell, telephone (including text messages or whatsapp), being called by someone, objects that the owner unnoticed drops.
Sometimes it is sufficient if a signal dog as a pet mainly signals sounds in the home environment. Then he doesn’t have to go withhis owner everywhere. Such a signal dog is called a ‘light dog’.

Of course, all signal dogs, like guide dogs for the blind, are trained by special training. Puppies are selected for this training and when they are old enough they start their training in a playful way, until they are old enough for the more serious work.
When the signal dogs are at work, they wear a special jacket with a clearly visible logo, so that it is clear to everyone: this is a special dog. They may not be disturbed by others, for example by stroking them or appealing to them, because then they lose their concentration of work. They have to watch out for their owner and be alert to their owner’s commands.
In their spare time they can be like all other dogs, play, laze and enjoy.

The intensive cooperation between the signal dog and its owner also creates a deep bond with each other. Therefore it is also important that, when someone starts with a signal dog, there is a good click between dog and owner. And in many cases, the signal dog also has a social function for his owner and can provide coziness at home. Both owner and dog are initially supervised by a trainer in teaching commands and in dealing with each other.

A signal dog has a very valuable contribution to the life of its hearing impaired owner, a value that is often wrongly underestimated.
For those who are considering a signal dog or just want to know more about signal dogs, information can be found for example under https://www.dogsforbetterlives.org/hearing-dogs/

Social contacts

Source: Pixabay

Recently, the question was raised somewhere whether other hearing impaired people are also avoiding more and more social contacts when their hearingloss gets worse.
My answer to that was brief and succinct: no, I certainly do not avoid social contacts. I try to balance social contacts and moments of rest. Where this is not possible, I make a conscious decision.

How I make a conscious decision depends on the questions: what do I need and what do I want? Depending on every situation, everyone should ask themselves these questions so that one is aware that there are options at all.
I will explain this with an example: I planned my week very precisely, appropriately and well-balanced. But here comes a request that is difficult to ignore, let us say an unexpected and urgent task or meeting within the scope of my work on the Executive Board. It would fit in my calendar, but actually I had planned to take a break. What do I do in this case? I look at what has priority for me at the moment, whether I really need to be retired or whether the Executive Board task is more important at that moment. And then I decide. When I decide to take on the board task, I look at how I can take a break in my week elsewhere and do it where I can.

And what can you do when your best friend asks you to have a drink or go to the theatre, and you’re actually too tired to go? You want to come with your friend, but you also need rest. What’s important at that moment?
Of course, communication in a theatre, birthday party or pub is especially stressful for the hearing impaired. On the other hand, it is also important to keep communicating with your social environment.
Many people with impaired hearing decide to retire and prefer to avoid going out of the house. This is not only a pity, but also endangers one’s own health.
Instead of staying away from contacts or events, it is better to take short breaks. If you are a smoker, it is easy to install a smoke break. For example, I myself go to the toilet a little more often and for a longer period of time at birthday parties. But maybe you can just go outside the door. Or make an appointment with your host(ess), that you can withdraw briefly in a quiet room.

Please do not avoid social contacts because this is too strenuous. Instead, inform your contacts about your hearing impairment and what you need for communication. This is not only better for your own well-being, but also for that of the other hearing impaired people, because information is knowledge and knowledge contributes to understanding.