Abstract
While about 17% of the adult population have significant hearing loss,
we remain under-represented within academia outside of the field of Deaf
Studies. One primary contributor to the leaky pipeline is lack of
mentorship due to the difficulty of deaf and hard of hearing academics
in recognizing one another. Hearing loss among non-signers is seldom
obvious. Consequently, non-signing deaf and hard of hearing academics at
predominantly hearing institutions often remain isolated without
guidance on how to manage the myriad of communication challenges facing
academics, such as teaching, leading group meetings, addressing
questions at conferences, participating in discussions at professional
meetings, and serving on grant proposal panels. Adequate solutions are
often not available from our hearing health care providers nor from
disability services offices, which are mandated and designed to serve
undergraduate students. However, the success of all academics depends on
mastering these different communication challenges. To fill the
mentoring gap, we have started a blog by and for academics at all career
stages with some degree of hearing loss called, “The Mind Hears”. This
title derives from the Victor Hugo quote “What matters deafness of the
ear when the mind hears, the one true deafness, the incurability
deafness is that of the mind.” The goals of the blog are: To provide a
forum for crowd-sourcing ways to minimize our challenges and share
strategies for thriving in academia with hearing loss. To foster a
network of deaf and hard of hearing academics who promote hearing
inclusive strategies at universities. Through this blog we hope to reach
deaf and hard of hearing academics all around the world, and thus reduce
isolation in our community and build a community toolbox of resources
and ideas. Hearing loss is variable and can affect us in many and
different ways – but through this shared blog we hope to provide
something of value to all of those who visit and contribute to our
discussions.