Rotary’s guest speaker for Jan. 21, 2013 was Jayne Glenn, a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Fredericton North. Jayne spoke on the challenges of being hearing impaired and conducted a quick hearing test for the Rotarians in attendance that day, which proved interesting.
Jayne talked about what works for her as a hearing-impaired person herself. She likes people to speak slowly, and she wants to be face to face when talking to someone as she can read their lips/body language. Jayne likes for one at a time to speak when in a room of people, and to limit the background noise.
She demonstrated special equipment called aftershock headphones that help her to hear better. Her talk gave an appreciation of what the hearing impaired experience each day, and how everyone can make the conversation much more meaningful with a little consideration.