Hearing Loss in the Workplace

How to Cope with Hearing Loss During Training and in the Workplace

Interview with Jochen Müller, a communication coach and life coach for people with hearing loss and founder of Kommunikationsbrücke. He offers valuable advice on careers and career choices and shares his experiences with cochlear implants (CIs).

At a Glance

• Resources for Support in Job Search and Workplace Accommodations
• Connecting with other people who have hearing loss is very important
• Don’t hide your hearing loss—talk about it

Can you tell us exactly what you do?

I’ve been working as a communication trainer and life coach for people with hearing loss for a very long time. Seven years ago, I started my own business, Kommunikationsbrücke, which gave my career a new direction as I approached the end of my professional journey. I’m supported by Renate Enslin, a naturopath specializing in psychotherapy.

Our focus is on seminars, workshops, and presentations covering all topics related to daily life with a hearing impairment. Most of these events take place at the Frankfurt Foundation for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. We are also booked by associations, clubs, groups, and institutions. We are currently offering one-day seminars on the topic “How do I discuss my hearing loss in public?”

Based on your experience, can you share what people with hearing loss or hearing impairment should consider when choosing a career?

My advice for people with hearing loss when choosing a career:I believe that talking to others in similar situations who are already working in their chosen field is an extremely valuable and helpful way to realistically assess one’s own abilities when making a career choice. For example, you can find others in similar situations through social media groups or through the Integration Services.

Personally, I certainly would have been spared a lot of trouble with my career choice—which, in hindsight, was the wrong one—if I had known what negative effects my own hearing loss had on me and my social circle.

Specifically, what are the limitations imposed by the degree of hearing loss? For example, because of my severe hearing loss, I generally needed eye contact and personal attention. However, I hadn’t learned how to communicate that or how to ask for it from my colleagues. This made my apprenticeship as a high-voltage electrician a bit more difficult, but it didn’t stop me. I successfully completed the program.

How can the workplace adapt to hearing loss?

This involves recognizing that people with normal hearing generally have little, no, or incorrect information about the effects of our hearing loss. So it’s not enough to simply provide information about behavioral guidelines for better communication. We also need to “train” people with normal hearing to follow these guidelines.

This means it takes some time for them to understand. This is countered by high work and performance pressures in the workplace. There, every individual must meet the job requirements. Consequently, this means that everyone must function effectively. German companies have had very little experience to date in dealing with employees with hearing impairments. On the other hand, those affected conceal their hearing loss out of fear of social ostracism, discrimination, stigmatization, and bullying.

As a result, I developed a concept for a specialized program, which I was able to implement for the first time in September and November as part of a week-long course for hard-of-hearing employees, organized by the Frankfurt Foundation for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing. These events have been recognized as eligible for funding by the State Welfare Association (LWV) of Hesse and the Integration Office. Four additional week-long courses are planned for next year.

How has your hearing loss progressed over the years? Do you currently use cochlear implants (CIs)?

After using two hearing aids for many years, I’ve been wearing a cochlear implant in my right ear—which had become completely deaf—since 2002. In 2008, I also had a CI implanted in my left ear, which had previously been fitted with a high-powered hearing aid.

Did you have to practice hearing with the implants?

I was curious and excited to hear with my CIs. That way, I could immediately notice even the smallest progress and build on it quickly.

How is your hearing experience with the cochlear implants today?

Actually, it’s good. But I do have trouble with children’s voices because of their high pitch. That makes perfect sense to me. Since I couldn’t perceive high frequencies from the age of four until I first turned on my cochlear implant, they still sound rather unpleasant to me to this day.

But life with hearing loss and cochlear implants has its wonderful sides—if we can accept hearing loss as part of who we are! For me, connecting with, meeting, and sharing experiences with others in the same situation has played—and continues to play—a huge role in fostering this positive outlook.

To wrap things up: How are you spending Christmas this year?

I’m really looking forward to the Christmas season after this exhausting, unusual, and very challenging year! I usually spend Christmas with my siblings in Essen, but this year I’m staying in Frankfurt because of the pandemic. So, for the first time in many years, I’ll finally be able to decorate a Christmas tree I picked out myself, just the way I like it. It’s an old tradition that I cherished with passion until my mother passed away.

You can read more about cochlear implants here. To learn how people with hearing aids and cochlear implants work and build their careers, check out our article: “Succeeding at Work Thanks to Hearing Aids.”