{"id":27211,"date":"2021-01-27T08:27:59","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T12:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urelles.com\/how-to-build-an-inclusive-company-for-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-employees\/"},"modified":"2025-03-25T12:53:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T16:53:46","slug":"how-to-build-an-inclusive-company-for-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urelles.com\/en\/magazine\/inclusion-en\/how-to-build-an-inclusive-company-for-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"How to build an inclusive company for deaf and hard-of-hearing employees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How many hard-of-hearing or deaf people are employed in Canada?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Finding statistics on which all the associations agree is rather difficult!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

V\u00e9ronique Leduc<\/a>, professor at UQAM’s Department of Social and Public Communication, gives the following figures: in Canada, data show that 40% of adults aged 20 to 79 have a mild or more severe hearing loss, and between 4% and 12% identify themselves as deaf or hard of hearing (Canadian Association of the Deaf 2012; Institut de la Statistique du Qu\u00e9bec 2013; Caron 2003; Pinsonneault and Bergevin 2006; Statistics Canada, 2016).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim Auclair<\/a>, a web communications consultant, is deaf and hears with a cochlear implant. In recent years, she has become a spokesperson for people with communication challenges similar to her own. She explains their reality on the job market and offers concrete solutions to employers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to adapt work for deaf people<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kim explains that many hard-of-hearing or deaf people don’t mention it on their CVs for fear of the obstacles it might create for an employer. For the same reasons, they often don’t ask for accommodations, forcing the employee to adapt to the workplace, instead of the other way around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And once on the job, the deaf or hard-of-hearing person isn’t necessarily going to be more forthcoming. Instead, they’ll find ways of getting around situations, such as<\/p>\n\n\n\n