Reading the contributions in this volume, which focus on the
literary and historical implications of disability, readers may
have wondered about such implications for modern life in an
academic setting. In any case (and thankfully!) the editors did.
When they asked me if I would be willing to contribute to this volume, they
offered me the choice between an academic contribution and a more personal
approach, which I chose. I am truly grateful for this opportunity to raise
awareness and perhaps also encourage dialogue between people with and
without disabilities.
Since this is a personal account, it seems appropriate to provide at least
some details of the perspective and the biography from which it derives: I am
now in my mid-thirties, born and raised in Germany, and I have been
profoundly deaf for as long as I can remember. I received my first pair of hearing
aids at the age of four and then was raised with spoken language. At that time,
access to sign language was not offered to children of hearing parents in most
cases. It was not until many years later, when I had lost what was left of my
residual hearing and received a cochlear implant (an electronic prosthesis that
replaces the function of the inner ear and stimulates the auditory nerve), that I
began to learn German Sign Language (DGS). Since then, it has become an
important part of my daily communication. Unfortunately, I am still not fluent
in it. Although it may seem counterintuitive after these preliminaries,
languages have always fascinated me and influenced my academic education. I
have studied Scandinavian Studies, Finno-Ugric Studies, and Medieval German
Literature, and graduated with a doctorate in 2020, although I had already
decided to leave academia by that time. Before the doctorate, I had completed
a diploma in public administration and became a civil servant, and I am
currently working on issues related to disability and education. It is important
to emphasize again that the following account is based on my specific set of
experiences. Other people’s experiences may be very different, as they depend
on many different factors such as the severity of the hearing loss, upbringing,
access to language and general education, willingness to compensate, and so on.
I have also included some of the experiences and observations of people I know.
But I think it can be said that even with the support of the most advanced
technology available, hearing loss has a major impact on an individual’s
everyday life, and this is certainly true for academic education and perhaps
even more so for an academic career. Therefore, I will begin with an overview
of the challenges that people with hearing loss may face in their studies, as some
of these challenges also apply to early career researchers. I will then focus on
teaching and conferences as typical examples of academic settings.
Five years ago, a survey conducted by the Studentenwerk, a national non-profit organization for student affairs, showed that about 11% of students have
a disability, most of them invisible (Poskowsky, Heißenberg, Zaussinger, and
Brenner 3–5). While most of these figures include neurodivergent people and
people with mental health problems, this also applies to people with hearing
impairments. University buildings are often not suitable for people with
hearing loss, i.e., most rooms are large and empty, resulting in poor acoustics.
Listening comprehension is further limited in such environments. The very
essence of studying, the in-depth mental examination of what is being heard in
lectures or courses, is greatly reduced by the increased cognitive effort required
to compensate. Background noises such as rustling paper or whispering
classmates are highly distracting and add to the mental load. Compared to other
students, those with hearing loss must invest more energy in post-processing
to process lectures adequately.
Technical solutions often require extra time. Interpreters (either written
or sign language) need to be organized, paid for, and scheduled. In Germany,
the cost of interpreting services is usually covered by the authorities, which
requires several applications and often a lot of waiting until a positive decision.
However, these services are frowned upon by fellow students and/or teachers
because they raise (unnecessary) privacy concerns. Sometimes, digital
infrastructure (such as wireless networks) can also be a barrier to remote
interpreting services. Lost connections and poor data transmission can
seriously affect the comprehension of a lecture.
Teaching also presents several challenges, most of which are related to the
aforementioned acoustic surroundings in university buildings. However,
teaching virtually during the pandemic lockdown had some advantages that I
had not anticipated. Most videoconferencing tools allow for automatic live
captioning, which is very helpful in understanding what is being said. While not
perfect, they make up for some of the disadvantages of video calling, such as the
reduced ability to lip-read parts of what is being said. The chat feature also
helped me understand the students’ questions. It was much easier for me to
respond to questions written down in the chat box because I could focus on the
content of the question rather than having to understand it acoustically first.
Academic conferences serve as important forums for the exchange of
knowledge, ideas, and research. However, despite their overarching goal of
inclusivity, some academic conferences fall short in providing accessibility for
people with hearing disabilities. The barriers faced by people who are deaf or
hard of hearing can prevent them from fully participating in these events,
ultimately limiting the diversity of perspectives and voices in academic
discourse. Typically, there are many different accents and dialects to be
understood at conferences, often in a second or third language, which adds to
the problem of mere acoustic understanding for non-native speakers.
Fortunately, I have noticed a growing awareness and willingness to be more
inclusive, e.g., presenters may be willing to share their manuscripts and even
do so in advance. If presenters do not (yet) feel comfortable sharing their
manuscripts, it is also possible to agree on the confidential use of presentation
manuscripts. In these circumstances, they are only used to help deaf or hard-of-hearing people read along during a presentation. However, communication
barriers extend beyond the presentation room and affect networking
opportunities and informal discussions. Social interactions at conferences are
crucial for building professional relationships and collaborations, but people
with hearing impairments often face challenges in fully participating.
So, what can scholars do to make courses, conferences, and scholarly work
more inclusive of Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, and more generally to
provide spaces that are welcoming to all? Fortunately, there are some relatively
simple ways to overcome the silent challenges, and the reader may have already
incorporated some or most of them into their academic routine. While none of
these suggestions will negatively impact people without disabilities, some of
them can benefit everyone:
-
Turn on live captioning during video calls and schedule enough breaks.
Those who do not want to see the captions can easily turn them off, but
for those who need them, they can be a game changer. Breaks are
essential to recover from longer periods of listening.
-
Most universities have guidelines for accessible teaching and learning.
These are very helpful tools for getting information about specific
disabilities and how to create accessibility at a short glance. They also
provide contact information and resources for further reading.
-
If you are asked to wear or place a microphone for a hearing aid near
you, please do so. These microphones do not record what is said, but
transmit the audio signal directly to hearing aids or implants, greatly
improving the wearer’s understanding. Because of the way they work,
they do not produce the distracting echo that some ordinary sound
devices do.
-
Do not deny access to technologies such as speech-to-text or sign
language interpretation. These services are essential to help people
with hearing loss understand what is being said. Interpretation is
offered live or as a remote service that works through an on-screen
display. For remote services to work, the presenter needs to wear a
microphone like those used for hearing aids. For use within the
European Union, these services must also comply with European data
protection laws.
-
At conferences, lectures, and seminars, consider making your
manuscript available to those with accessibility needs in the audience.
Since the purpose is to help people with hearing impairments read
along with your presentation, you can ask them to return the script
after the session.
-
When organizing a conference, look for additional smaller rooms with
better acoustics where people can converse. Often the central
networking events, such as the conference dinner, are held in large
halls with dim lighting. In addition to poor acoustics, such settings
reduce the possibility of lip-reading, making conversations difficult to
impossible. If available, one or more additional smaller rooms can help
alleviate this situation.
Although this list may seem quite specific, the effectiveness of these
suggestions depends very much on the individual setting, the personal and
medical situation of the person, and the general circumstances. This brings me
to what I believe to be the most effective action: communication. In order to
find out what the overall needs are on all sides, it is crucial to have an open
atmosphere that allows individuals to freely express their needs and find
solutions that work for everyone involved. Open communication should work
both ways, by which I mean it should be possible to talk about one’s own
insecurities about understanding and addressing these needs. Only by talking
about mutual needs and available resources is it possible to overcome barriers
together. I was fortunate to have always had understanding people around me
and a generally open atmosphere like the one mentioned above during my time
at the university. If this short report and list can contribute to a little more
awareness and inclusiveness in academic settings, I would be very happy.