Hearing assistance tech breaking down barriers

Media release: Hearing assistance technology breaking down barriers to learning at NorthTec

48-year old NorthTec Information Systems student Allan Tamati is taking to his studies with new enthusiasm thanks to a device which enhances his ability to hear his tutor.

Allan has lived with a hearing disability since birth and has struggled to keep up in a classroom environment because he has to focus on trying to hear what is said rather than on processing information and responding to it.

When he enrolled with NorthTec this year he didn’t request any special assistance but once classes began he alerted his tutor to his difficulties, with hugely positive results.

“It was a natural response on the part of my tutor to assist me,” he said. “I usually don’t ask for assistance because I don’t like to be the centre of attention, but I realised that I’m paying money for my course and if I don’t get the information I will fail it.”

NorthTec’s Student Success team provided Allan with an Easy Listener receiver and his tutor with a transmitter attached to a lapel microphone.

By wearing earphones which receive a direct sound signal from the lapel microphone worn by his tutor Allan can now clearly hear what the tutor says from anywhere in the room, even when the tutor’s back is turned.

“I haven’t used an aid like this before. It immediately made a lot of difference. I can hear the birds and sounds that are out of my hearing range. It really brought a smile to my face!”

Although Allan owns two hearing aids he has felt very self-conscious about using them, particularly in public. “I tried a hearing aid a few years ago. I went into the bathroom and turned the water on and just stood there listening – I’d never heard that sound before.”

After using the Easy Listener hearing device in the classroom he’s now willing to try another system that will allow him to hear both the tutor and his fellow classmates. “When the other system was first offered to me I said I didn’t want it but now, after using the Easy Listener, I’d like to give it a go.

The ability to hear his fellow students’ questions and to keep up with the exchange of information in the classroom will be a liberating experience.

“It takes a lot of concentration for me to hear things and by the time I get around to processing the information I’ve been left behind. I’m left with a few key words which I try to pick up and make sense of when I’m at home. I spend a lot of extra time studying after hours to try and keep up.”

Allan says that the frustration of being left behind and the level of concentration required for him to be able to hear can by hard. “It’s very frustrating to be patient. It’s also embarrassing to participate in a conversation and make a comment that’s got nothing to do with what’s now on the floor.”

There’s no doubting Allan’s commitment to his studies. He commutes from Kaikohe to NorthTec’s Raumanga campus in Whangarei five days a week and is firmly on the path to joining the workforce in his new profession.

“I want to still be working when I’m 65. I’ve been a house husband for nearly 30 years and now it’s my time to change the possibilities that are open to me in the future and to improve my chances of being employed.”

After a lifetime living with a disability that can be very isolating Allan is ready to realise his potential in a new setting. “I feel I could have gone to greater heights if my hearing had been better. Computers allow me to be intelligent but to work on my own.”

NorthTec’s Disabilities Officer in Student Success, Jill Thomson, said that another student in Allan’s class will soon be using an Easy Listener receiver. “Two receivers can be used in connection with the one transmitter being used by the tutor. We are also about to purchase a set for another student in Foundation Studies.” Two hearing systems that allow the student to hear their tutors and fellow students simultaneously are also currently being used by NorthTec students in Social Services and Nursing.

ENDS

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