Today@Dal

What It’s Like is a series launching for Dalhousie Accessibility Week, one that provides members of the Dal community with an opportunity to share their first-person perspective on living with a disability. People are welcome to share with their name or anonymously.

Submitted by Tricia Cole:
 

Tell us a little about yourself and your role here at Dal. 

I am Tricia Cole, a Simulated Patient Educator (SPE) at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick in Saint John.

Similar to SPEs at the C3LR within the CHEB, we recruit, train and manage simulated patients (SP) for the Skilled Clinician Program for local undergraduate medical students. We also manage all aspects of the Volunteer Patient Program (VPP).

What do you wish people knew about your disability?

Effective communication skills are essential to this role, and that has been a challenge as I have moderate to severe bilateral, neuro-degenerative hearing loss. This, coupled with the use of face masks, have exponentially increased the number of misunderstandings, errors and embarrassment on my part as I am no longer able to read lips.

What accessibility changes would have the biggest impact on your experience here at Dal?

The hearing devices prescribed cost over $4,000 and the technology is not able to overcome the impairment. I was fortune to have been granted a one-time subsidy to cover 50 per cent of the cost. Unfortunately, these devices will only last 3-5 years and my health insurance coverage will not be enough to replace them.

I am concerned that future access to hearing devices will be impossible and to my knowledge, there are no systems in place at Dal for assistance or support. Will l become ineffective in this workplace? Will this jeopardize my career? Is anyone listening? I am trying to, but I just can’t hear and it's exhausting.

Previously in this series:
 

You can find all entries collected here.

Interested in sharing your own experiences?

We'd love to hear from you. Please take a look at our questions below and how to submit them. Please note that you can choose to remain anonymous if you wish. (Note: names will be visible to individuals receiving submissions by email).

Our questions for you:
 

• Tell us a little about yourself and your role here at Dal. (Note: If remaining anonymous, this prompt can be skipped — or, simply share as much detail as you feel comfortable doing).
  
  
• What do you wish people knew about your disability?
  
  
• What accessibility changes would have the biggest impact on your experience here at Dal?

If you’re interested in sharing your experiences navigating university life with a visible or invisible disability, please contact us at today@dal.ca with answers to the above questions or to set up a short interview.