Transcript Power Me Up!

Power Me Up!
A CHHA-NL Youth Group Presentation
Speakers
 Erika Breen
 Olivia Heaney
What This Presentation is
About?
 Peer to Peer Conversation
 Sharing of ideas & ‘real world’ tips
 Personal Growth
Empowerment!!!!!
So How Many of Us Are
There?
 Stats
 3/4 of the population has a hearing loss
 2/5 know about it
 Causes?




Loud noises
Genetics
Illness
Ear wax build up
Source 1: http://youth.hear-it.org/page.dsp?page=5114
Source 2: http://youth.hear-it.org/page.dsp?page=5109
So What is
Communication?
The CHHA-NL Youth Group believes that
communication is...



the ideas we are trying to share
our way of sharing these ideas
the responses we get as a result of
sharing them
So What is
Communication?
 A Visual Diagram….
What do I
want to share?
How am I going
to share it?
Does this person
understand
what I am sharing?
Scenario 1
 You are hanging out with your friends.
Everyone is excited and the noise level
begins to rise. You find it increasingly
hard to hear, and you are getting
frustrated.
 Why is this happening?! You’ve told them
many times that you are hard of hearing!
 How do you deal?
Option 1
 Take the bluffing approach.
 What are the positive outcomes of choosing
this option?
 Easy (until you get ‘caught’)
 What are the negative outcomes of choosing
this option?
 Isolation
 Miscommunication
Option 2
 Ask everyone to lower their voices, so
that you can hear.
 What are the positive outcomes of choosing
this option?
 Potential for long term change
 What are the negative outcomes of choosing
this option?
 Requires a lot of energy
 Low chance of immediate success
Option 3
 Get frustrated and tell everyone that you
are going home.
 What are the positive outcomes of choosing
this option?
 Easy
 What are the negative outcomes of choosing
this option?
 Hard feelings between you and your friends.
 Losing out on a social opportunity, and on the
opportunity to assert yourself.
Option 4
 Find a notebook and pen. If there is
something you cannot understand, you
ask them to write it down.
 What are the positive outcomes?
 Ability to communicate immediately
 What are the negative outcomes?
 Impatience on the part of your friends (somewhat
likely)
What TO do
 Ask for clarification if you do not understand
 Be able to open up and talk about your
hearing loss (perhaps even take a
humourous approach)
 Maintain a positive attitude
 Be able to adjust to the environment
 Personal listening systems
 Pen & paper
What NOT to Do
 Get frustrated and blame others
 Bluff – acting like you understand when
you don’t
 Develop a negative “I can’t” mentality
 Choose to not open up and talk about
your hearing loss
 Indulge in self-pity (“poor me; I can’t
hear”)
REMEMBER…….
Our attitudes influences how others react
towards us.
A positive attitude will yield positive results;
a negative attitude will yield more
negativity.
We teach others how to treat us.
Self-Identification
According to the CHHA-NL Youth Group, selfidentification is…
 When we identify ourselves as either having a
hearing loss, belonging to a particular group, or
having any other specific disability.
 Taking charge of our disability and embracing
the challenges and opportunities it involves.
What are the benefits of
Self-Identification?
 Enables us to receive the proper
accommodations for our needs.
 Enables appropriate recognition of our
disability.
 Educates the general public about
hearing loss, and thus strengthens the
bridge between the hearing and the hardof-hearing.
(Benefits of SelfIdentification continued)
 Builds self-awareness and in turn selfconfidence.
 Sets a positive example for other hard-ofhearing individuals who are considering
self-identification.
Why Don’t the Hard-ofHearing
Self-Identify?
 Fear of how people will react
 Lack of knowledge about process of selfidentification
 Lack of confidence
 Lack of knowledge about disability
 Fear of being different
 Negative Stereotypes
 “deaf and dumb”
Best & Worst Case Skit 1
 Scene 1:
 You are at work, and a co-worker is giving
you a task. He or she is in a rush, and
talking to you while walking away. He or she
does not know that you are hard-of-hearing.
What are the best & worst case scenarios of
self-identification that can happen?
Best & Worst Case Skit 2
 Scene 2
 You are going to your first class at
university. Your professor does not know
that he or she has a hard-of-hearing student
in her class. You want him or her to wear
your Personal FM system. What are the best
& worst case scenarios of self-identification
that can happen?
Best & Worst Case Skit 3
 Scene 3
 You need to find someone in your university
class to take notes for you. You do not know
anyone in your class. What are the best &
worst case scenarios for self-identification
that can happen?
Best & Worst Case Skit 4
 Scene 4:
 You have a job interview. On your resume
you did not self-identify. You know that you
should inform the employer of your hearing
loss so that you can have the proper
accommodations. What are the best and
worst case scenarios of self-identification
that can happen?
How bad are the worst
case scenarios?
 Not actually that bad
 Dealing with unsupportive people gives
us an opportunity to teach them about
the importance of accommodating
persons with disabilities. (Human rights
law, etc.)
 It is all about our attitudes
 We tend to over-dramatize the possible
negative reactions
Song – “Power Me Up”
- Song is an overview of the main points of
the presentation.
- Sung to the tune of Neil Diamond’s
“Sweet Caroline”
Questions????
Thank you for your time!
Check out our blog @
www.chha-nl.nl.ca/blog/