Dr. Ingrao: (HH) Hello Dr. Sjoblad. I want to thank you for taking a few minutes out of your busy schedule to speak with me.
Dr. Sjoblad: Happy to do so.
Ingrao: I've learned a great deal from your professional publications and contributions to many audiology listservs over the years and wanted to share your story with the readers of HealthyHearing.
Sjoblad: Hope they find it interesting.
Ingrao: Can you give our readers a brief biography.
Sjoblad: I am the middle child of three children in my family born with hearing loss. My loss was discovered by accident when I was approximately 4 and a half years old, after my younger brother was diagnosed. How much things have changed since the late 60s. I wore a body aid from first grade through 4th grade and then graduated to a Behind the Ear style. However, was only fit monaurally until age 14. My loss is progressive, so it dropped from moderate to severe to profound by the time I started college. My siblings and I all attended public schools with no real assistance in the classroom, short of having a front row seat. It amazes me that we got through it, but we had wonderful parents who advocated for our needs in the school system. We were all oral and relied on our residual hearing and speech-reading to succeed in school.
Ingrao: As you know, I have a son who is Deaf and several relatives with hearing loss. How did your hearing loss affect your relationships with friends and family when you were young?
Sjoblad: You know, I have never felt hard of hearing, or even Deaf. I always felt like I just could not hear well. Sometimes I still feel that way, but do find I now tell people Im deaf so they understand better how to communicate with me. I know as my hearing loss progressed, my relationships in school changed, and I was very socially withdrawn. I also know my peers had misperceptions about me that I did not realize until years later (many thought I was a snob, and was ignoring themwhen I really had no idea they were talking to me). This was primarily because I was not open about my hearing loss, and tried to pretend I was normal. I was fortunate I had my brother/sister who understood, and we were a close family growing up, still are to this day. I met my husband Jon when I was in college, and his mom was deaf in one ear, so perhaps it gave him a better understanding of my struggles. My hearing loss has never really been a big issue in our relationship. He probably makes a few more phone calls than the average husband. In fact, he got the call from the doctors office when we were pregnant, rather than meso hows that for an interesting twist.
Ingrao: I know that you started your professional career in business. Can you tell us about that part of your life and how you managed with your hearing loss?
Sjoblad:
I attend Boston College for my undergraduate degree, with a major in Marketing and Business. That is when my interest in audiology was first sparked. My senior year, I researched and completed an honors thesis on the Hearing Instrument Industry and really thought the statistics were dismal. So many people needed hearing aids, so few were wearing them. At that moment, I wanted to change the world. However, it was not quite that simple. I approached many different manufacturers about the skills and experience I could bring to their company, but none wanted to consider hiring someone with out a technical background in audiology. Even my own audiologist told me I probably could not earn an audiology degree because of my hearing loss. I was disappointed, but not defeated. I had a career in business for 8 years, and learned a lot of valuable skills.
I think face-to-face communication is very important in business. When I worked for General Dynamics in TX, I had to put on a hard hat and go out to the assembly line to talk to the supervisors face to face about how to help solve their problems. I think most people welcomed the more human interaction, than always using the telephone. This was also back in the day before email and Instant Messaging (IM), but I had a very computer savvy colleague, who helped me figure out a code for everyones computer that I could essentially send them a message that would flash on their screen when I wanted to ask them a question. Keep in mind, this is back in the early 1990s, so it was novel, and no where near as fancy as the IM setups we have today. But it was a great solution that enabled me to do my job in a very noisy factory environment. My other jobs were accounting and bookkeeping, which one can do without much phone work, and marketing as an outside sales representative. I always believe in pulling your own weight, so if I needed a colleague to help me with some phone calls, I would assist them with some of their projects. It seemed to be a good trade off.
Ingrao: How did you make the move to audiology?
Sjoblad: After being a patient for years and watching audiologists work with me, I realized, it did not matter if whether or not I could hear. I could think and I was certain I could learn what I needed to earn an Audiology degree. When we moved to NC in 1994, I met Dr. Jackson Roush at the University of North Carolina. He was the first person who not only thought I could become an audiologist, but was convinced I could contribute to this field, and that my hearing loss would be a positive attribute.
After meeting Dr. Roush, I began the first step toward getting into the field of Audiology. He introduced me with his wife, audiologist Pat Roush, who fit me with my first FM system. I cried when I used it for the first time, and could not believe I was almost 30 years old and had no idea that this assistance existed. The FM system changed everythingand I my thinking changed from working in the industry to working with patients. I really had a knack for audiologic rehabilitation as my patients and I could really relate to one another. My goal as an audiologist is to work with the whole person, not just the ears, and I routinely recommend audiologic rehab and assistive devices for my patients. I know it sounds clich, but I love working with people. Even on days with those challenging patients, I really enjoy helping them.
Ingrao: Now that you're teaching and running a clinic, what additional challenges do you face and how do you overcome them?
Sjoblad: I have a terrific job with wonderfully supportive colleagues. We moved our campus clinic to a new community based clinic two years ago, and though I was the lead person on this move, there is no way it would have come about without the wonderful team of people with whom I work. I love working with students, and hopefully changing the way they think about people with hearing loss. And, being in a training program has its advantages too.the students can do the listening checks on the hearing aids, and can help w/ the Word Recognition Testing if I miss a word. I have been fortunate to be able to tailor my job to my areas of excellence, audiologic rehab, fitting hearing aids and overseeing our clinic. It helps me appreciate all those years I worked in the business field because those skills benefit me now. In the classroom, I usually set up the room for seminar style, which enables me to see every one well, and I usually do not find any problems communicating w/ my students. Im also not shy about letting them know if they are mumbling or covering their mouths when they talk.
Ingrao: I'm not sure how you fit it all in, but a little bird told me you've also been an active member of the Hearing Loss Association of America (formerly SHHH) for many years, and that you're also the President of the Board of Directors for BEGINNINGS for Parents of Children Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Inc. Please tell our readers more about these important groups and your role in each.
Sjoblad: I have especially been involved with BEGINNINGS for Parents of Children Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Inc right now, as that program is really growing. We are working with other states to help them develop similar programming for parents, and this is very exciting. I do believe parental support is crucial for a child with hearing loss. There is so much emotion for parents when they learn their child is deaf or hard of hearing, and they have so many decisions to make. BEGINNINGS helps parents to digest the information and take the steps to ensure their child becomes an effective communicator, in whatever communication modality the family chooses. They have an excellent website for those of you who want to learn more www.ncbegin.com
My involvement with HLAA has been somewhat limited for the past couple of years, as I teach at the same time as my local chapter meets. However, for my Principles of Audiologic Rehab class, I require my students to attend a meeting, and interact with the attendees and report back to the class. The students always say its a valuable experience for them. At our clinic, we also strongly encourage all of our patients to get involved in HLAA. Sharing experiences with someone else who understands really can make it less isolating and empower people.
Ingrao: I want to thank you for sharing your time and story with us.
Any parting advice for people with hearing loss interested in pursuing advanced degrees?
Sjoblad:
Since you mentioned it, Id like to share with the readers that we are very fortunate at UNC-Chapel Hill to have a US Department of Education Training grant which focuses on training minorities who have an interest in pediatric audiology. This includes deaf or hard of hearing students who are interested in working with pediatrics. If you are interested in pursuing a career in audiology, please feel free to contact me to learn more about the training grant and the AuD program at UNC. Or peruse our website at www.med.unc.edu/ahs/sphs
My final advice.Study hard, and dont let a little hearing loss stop you. I think its more important that your heart is in the right place. There are solutions for every challenge one might encounter.
