How home working leaves deaf people out of the loop during coronavirus

Working from home is a challenge for many of us, from learning how to communicate with colleagues via Zoom, to acquainting ourselves with the nuances of telephone conference calls. But imagine what it must be like if you are deaf or have difficulty hearing.

Research published on Wednesday by the charity Action on Hearing Loss found that three-quarters of people who live with deafness fear they will be less productive working from home.

Rob Geaney, head of campaigns and public affairs at Action on Hearing Loss, says: “Home working is a huge challenge for people living with deafness or hearing loss. They are at greater risk of further isolation due to social-distancing measures. While many people will use phone and video calls to stay in contact with friends and families and work colleagues, people with hearing loss, especially those who lip-read or use British Sign Language, will be excluded from these interactions.”

Lip-reading requires an individual to concentrate intently on both the movement of the lips and the sound they can hear to piece together what is being said, Geaney explains. This is tiring and many people only get most of what is being said – with contextual clues being used to fill the gaps.

“It is therefore helpful to consider using text boxes or visual presentations alongside video conferences, particularly if communicating numbers or complex jargon,” he says.

In the UK, 12 million people have hearing loss and 65% of working-age deaf people are employed, compared with 79% of the general population. An estimated 24,000 people use BSL as their main language. The Equality Act 2010 obliges employers to make adjustments (like a BSL interpreter or a speech to text reporter) and the government’s Access to Work scheme provides grants for specialist equipment.

“To make the workplace more accessible, face someone when speaking to them, speak one at a time in meetings, and don’t give people a desk facing a wall but allow them to face into the office, so they can communicate,” says Geaney.

“The key thing for home working is that managers should feel able to talk to members of staff about their hearing loss and the adjustments that they need,” he adds.

But the charity’s focus groups revealed a reluctance among employees to disclose hearing loss at work because of embarrassment, stress or fear that it might affect job prospects. One said: “You want to do a good job at work, you do not want anyone to see hearing loss as a weakness.”

“It’s a hidden condition and many staff who have concealed their hearing loss and coped without any support might now need support to find adjustments that work for them,” says Geaney. Similarly, those who had adjustments set up in their place of work might now need new adjustments put in place, such as an amplified telephone or handsets that can be linked to an individual’s hearing aid.

Behaviour changes that hearing colleagues could make include speaking one at a time, muting themselves when not speaking to reduce background noise, having a clear agenda to provide structure and contextual clues to what is being said. For video conferencing it is helpful if the camera is square-on and everyone is well lit from the front. If the source of light is behind the individual then faces might be in shadow.

Action on Hearing Loss research suggests the biggest reason people are without support is that they feel colleagues lack the knowledge to help. Almost half of respondents surveyed said deaf awareness (“information on educating your colleagues or managers”) would help them fulfil their potential, and more than a third said support to manage the anxiety of hearing loss at work would help.

City Lit adult education college in central London holds an annual Deaf Day to raise awareness (although this year’s has been postponed due to coronavirus). Founded in 1919, the college began running lip-reading classes for soldiers deafened in the first world war. Courses specifically for deaf people include BSL, English, maths and digital skills. There are 12 deaf tutors and six who are hearing (but teach in BSL) plus a network of BSL interpreters who offer support in meetings or job interviews. It also provides employment advice to its students in partnership with the Royal Association for Deaf people. A bursary helps low-income deaf students pay course fees and travel.

Mark Hopkinson, head of City Lit’s Centre for Deaf Education, says solutions to better integrating deaf people at work rest on attitudes: “Support in the workplace depends on the organisation and ethos. Are hearing colleagues prepared to help with deaf colleagues?” BSL, in particular, is vital, he says. “Supposing you weren’t allowed to speak for a number of years, [forced] to remain silent, how would you feel?”

English is often a second language for deaf people after sign language. But for Ilyaas Cader, a refugee from Sri Lanka, his first language is Tamil Sign, his second BSL and his third English. “I learned sign language first – that helped me learn the English. I had to learn English grammar, which is different from sign grammar,” he tells me, using a BSL interpreter.

Cader, 45, won a City Lit centenary award last year for outstanding achievement. He is a children’s mental health worker in a specialist NHS unit for deaf children, and says his career is largely due to his time at City Lit. Without the specialist classes and support to get a job, he says, “I definitely wouldn’t be working in mental health where I’m using my skills and my challenging experiences – barriers, emotional struggles, lack of access – to be a role model to children of how a deaf person can succeed.”

Deaf people are twice as likely to have mental health issues compared with hearing people, with communication barriers exacerbating symptoms like depression. There are also communication barriers for deaf people receiving mental health support. BSL interpreters are third parties in counselling sessions designed to be one-to-one. This can affect treatment because the counselling can be less intimate.

Cader believes that “audism” (negative attitudes towards deaf people) is deeply ingrained. More hearing professionals using sign language would help, he says.

“If a deaf person needs to go to the doctor, they should be able to have a conversation with the doctor in their first language. And there should be more people like me out there doing the sort of work I’m doing.”