When Angie Fuoco of Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy attended the Leadership Training Institute in January, she brought her Caption Companion speech-to-text device along. This 5” x 8” tablet transforms spoken language into readable text for people who can’t hear well and those who need or prefer to read for understanding or to follow along.
Past DG Johnny Ahern saw value in the device and proposed that the District order one to use at District meetings and events. It arrived and is available for use. Angie, an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator, recommends the device for clubs too.
I did a Q & A with her to help us become more accessible clubs. Here’s our conversation:
Penny: What’s most important as we think about the accessibility of our club meetings?
Angie: I’d start with hearing. It’s important for understanding and connection. Helen Keller said: “Blindness separates people from things; deafness separates people from people.” And as hearing people, which most of us are, it’s our main communication sense.
Challenge yourself in a meeting sometime. Close your eyes. Can you still follow along? Most likely you’ll be able to, but if you can’t, you may want to get your hearing checked. (Sometimes as we lose hearing, we rely on lipreading and don’t realize it.) Open your eyes. Put your fingers over your ears, pressing hard (or remove hearing aids if they’re in). Friends turn into talking heads. It’s like you’re there, but not. You miss all or most of what’s said.
Penny: I’ll try that sometime! So, you wear hearing aids. Don’t they correct your hearing?
Angie: I wish! Hearing aids are just aids. They don’t correct hearing; they amplify sound. They don’t make sound clearer as glasses or contacts make what we see clearer. They work best at six feet or less. In many situations, hearing aid users need listening assistance. But in every hearing situation, our communication partners’ kindness and patience are needed.
Hearing with hearing loss is like trying to see what’s on the road through bright headlights in a dense fog. Or piecing together sentences in a bowl of Alphabet Soup. Hearing syllables or babble. Trying to decipher which consonant it was—t or d; p or f—as the words swiftly keep moving. When done over long periods in a day, it’s exhausting—physically and emotionally.
Penny: So, it’s not all on you, is it? We have some responsibility to help you hear, don’t we?
Angie: Yes! I was sad at first to lose most of my hearing, but I have gained new appreciation for the interdependence of us all. That’s one of many benefits of having a disability. You can connect with people in new ways and sometimes at deeper levels.
Hearing especially, is the interdependent sense. We always need a communication partner (except when we do self-talk, but that’s not usually audible). And the greatest joy is when others ask and don’t assume what I need to hear them and then do it!
Penny: So how does this Caption Companion help in meetings?
Angie: The Caption Companion is great because it works with or without Internet or power connection. I use mine for meetings where I’m more than the best range for hearing aids—no more than six feet from a speaker. It’s the first and so-far-the-only device certified by the Global Alliance for Speech-to-Text Captioning. It comes with a SmartMic for accuracy and flexibility and can also be connected to room microphone/audio systems. And if more than one need speech-to-text, it can be connected to a larger screen for room displays.
Penny: That’s accessibility for many. So how do we make our clubs more accessible?
Angie: I recommend clubs advertise accessibility they have now and work to increase it. And remember, much of hearing accessibility is behavioral. So, for the technology part:
If a room has an induction loop or assistive listening system, ready it and ensure fresh batteries before meetings. Have a person available who knows the system.
Get a Caption Companion with $50 off and advertise it! Allow one person to use it as needed or hook it up to a larger monitor to display captions to more who need them.
Display AI-generated captions in webcasts, at hybrid meetings, and during presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides software.
Click on the CC button to display captions when showing YouTube or other videos.
And what we all can do:
Appoint a meeting leader, other roles, and note them in agenda and meeting notes.
Send agenda and any words/speech that will be read in the meeting ahead of time.
Keep control of the meeting. Limit background noise, interruptions, and multiple people speaking at one time. Use transitions. Repeat twice, then spell or rephrase.
Repeat topic often and give cues as it changes (e.g., “Next we’ll be moving on to…”)
When laughter comes, our auditory processing speed slows. Others laugh before we can “get” punch lines and captions get garbled. Repeat jokes for us, please.
These kinds of behaviors are the loudest kindnesses we will ever hear!
Penny: Thank you, Angie. This sounds a lot like the Service Above Self of Rotarians.
Angie: You’re welcome, Penny. Yes, it’s serving our fellow Rotarians. And when word gets around and advertised that clubs offer hearing help for members and guests, more people will want to come to your club and hear, understand, and join—and feel like they belong.
- Angie Fuoco, Membership Chair of Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy, is also the International Liaison for Association of Late Deafened Adults, a ChurchEar board member, and member of Audible Talkers Toastmasters, a fun, online speaking and camaraderie club for people with and without hearing loss. You may reach Angie at angiefugo@gmail.com.