Hard of Hearing / Accomodations? (Walmart)

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I have a weird mixed background and have different job leads I can consider. The main one regarding this topic is I may have a shot at Overnight Stock at Walmart. I asked someone I know who works who said that if you keep up, you might be able to listen to music with one earbud so you can still hear the intercom.

This made me think of my weird hearing issues and that I generally have a hard time understanding things like Intercoms, Walkie-Talkies, or CB Radios. I think this issue also cost me a job trying to do phone tech support(happened before I saw an Audiologist who confirmed my hearing loss). I have been issued some hearing aids, but I don't think they're very helpful. Everyone says I'm being stubborn and just need to wear them to 'train my brain', but I don't like them. I have trouble understanding conversation in crowds and just don't see how boosting the volume would help.

In general, I wondered if anyone else has had much luck dealing with big companies and issues like this. It's a little awkward, because I never brought this up during the interview because when I went to a previous job fair, I did mention it and they didn't offer me a job.

I know a little about Walmart. either I've worked there or know someone who does, let's just say that

If you're a steady eddie type worker and you're supervisor is a reasonable person, it might work out.

My advice, DO NOT disclose during the hiring process. I say this because it's not a central to the job, and they might shy away.

If a supervisor fusses with you the first time, just say "I have hearing issues." Say it plainly. If you're a good worker, they'll likely cut you some slack.

There's plenty of work to be done. Don't wear yourself out. At the beginning, just work at a good medium pace. As you get more experienced with the physical skills, maybe medium fast. Please don't go faster than that. Might risk injury, plus it risks embarrassing you're co-workers and there's no need for that.

Occasionally, if they're are two different types of things to stock in the same area, quickly switch between the two tasks to stay fresh. Good steady work. You don't want a supervisor to see you just standing around.

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My main knowledge is with the registers and the front, but I'm on friendly terms with some stockers.

I think there's something called Sensory Processing Disorder, and I think there's a lot of overlap between that and the Aspergers-Autism Spectrum.

On vision, I think some of us on the Spectrum see the world a little like a Pablo Picasso painting. We can see just fine, but trying to differentiate different things in the visual field, that can be a challenge. And notice this will usually not be picked up in a school vision test. We can see a letter on the wall. And what direction an E is pointing, we can usually pick up on that just fine, for it's a very simple task.

And with hearing, well, the school test where we raise our hand when the tone starts and lower our hand when it stops, it's a simple task, able to do just fine. It's listening for a single sound in an otherwise quiet environment. But focusing on a conversation in a noisy environment, where a bunch of other people are talking, quite a bit more challenging. When someone is talking with me and I want to really understand what they're saying, I will sometimes look slightly to the side. Some people understand and don't mind at all. Other people seem put off. 'I have a sensory processing issue' I might start experimenting with this. Just something very short and matter-of-fact. And on a later occasion, if it feels right, maybe the fuller story that I'm most likely on the Aspergers-Autism Spectrum, self-diagnosed, and that's how I feel comfortable at this stage of my life.

I know someone who is deaf and works in a noisy warehouse. I suppose it might actually be an advantage if the place is so noisy that people normally wear hearing protection--she is great at lipreading.

Last edited by BTDT on 17 Aug 2016, 7:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

This reminds me of when someone points at a box they want me to get on a shelf that is full of boxes. I can't tell wtf box they'r pointing at. I look at them puzzled or reach for the wrong one and their response is "No, no! Over there!" pointing. I cannot perceive an imaginary line that extends from their finger to the correct box.

Also, as for my hearing, the Audioligist said my right side hearing is worse than my left, so I would naturally turn my left ear forward like that if I'm trying to hear better. He also thought it was unusual for me to have uneven hearing loss without an injury to explain it.

I'd recommend posting this on http://www.alldeaf.com/ to get better help and advice. The Deaf Community is sort of like the Autistic Community where people think we are being rude when we are not they have their deaf supremacists there like how you have your autistic supremacists here.

Only things different there is no self diagnosing so I don't remember going there claiming your autistic or have another disorder and are not.

Have you tried ear defenders? Even simple headphones with noise cancelling feature of any kind might do.

I have similar issue - I can't understand conversations in crowded rooms and I am good got with speakers/phones. It takes a lot of effort to stay focused on what the voice in speaker says.
And I find my old headphones very helpful. They are nothing more than cheap, foldable headphones of this kind:

That stopped giving sound one day so I removed the cable and the inside mechanism from them (filing the space with some sponge so it won't make echo) and now I am using them as my "hearing aid".
They lessen the volume of surrounding sounds and make weaker sounds unhearable therefore I can focus on speech better.

Using them might be an issue because they say you can listen music with headphones covering one ear and those cover both but since you don't actually have to listen to music in them and they make you actually hear the intercom better there is no problem I guess. You can call it your "hearing aid" if someone asks.

I was even able to use the empty headphones at a lesson in school. It felt awkward but I was already having a sensory overload and the noise in classroom made me unable to hear the teacher nor focus on anything else so it was either this or a meltdown/shutdown. Noone except my closest classmate said anything about that. And even he let it go after I said: "Too noisy". I don't know if my headphones bothered the teacher but he said nothing. And I suppose he realized that I become able to actively participate in the lesson again after putting my headphones on (I am usually very active but during sensory overload I suddenly get silent).

BTW. Walkie-Talkie is something I absolutely can't use. It's one big buzz and nothing more. I can get some single words but that's it.

war earplugs reduce overall noise.

might serve some of the same function but be less obvious

That's fine that he thinks it's unusual. But then he needs to take the next step and focus on experimenting and trying different workarounds.

It sounds like you have a very good workaround of turning your left ear forward. If someone asks or raises an eyebrow, perhaps just a straightforward, 'I hear better with my left ear.'

I'm not saying they're necessarily out there, but if you were to find two additional methods, that would give you a bit of a repertoire.

Well, I got it and I start tomorrow.

I'm hoping that during the night shift I can just get into the task of unboxing and shelving and not have a reason for someone to page me on the intercom.

Congrats on the new job!

Thanks. The job is kind of meh and some of the coworkers are kind of annoying, but I think I can deal with it for now and bring in some money. I guess I can try putting in time until I can hope for a promotion or transfer to something I like better.

In the meantime, I'm studying programming on the side and interested in Python.

in my job as cashier, I often use my 15 minute breaks and my lunch for some fast Internet surfing

This often makes the work more interesting as it kind of gives me things to think about.

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And I'm going to try to turn over a new leaf and move heaven and hell and start getting there just a couple of minutes early. Which I'm not real good at!

That! And people either think you're stupid or not listening and it's like no for God's sake I don't know what you're pointing at. It's caused tons of frustration in my work and personal life.

So far it's a really tedious job, but I can handle it and start getting my s**t together financially.

Sometimes on the intercom, I make out the common phrases like "Attention all Associates" then I don't know what, then someone's name, then a number I assume they're supposed to call.

It seems unlikely they'll need to page me personally in this job on the night shift, so I think I can do this for a while.

During the night, I'm also paying attention to the outside vendors who come here and whether I might apply to them eventually, but for now I'll put in time at Walmart to try and improve my work history.

This hits close to home for me. I was doing a phone tech support job. Call centers are nightmares for those with sensory processing issues. I also have far above average mid range hearing and far below average high and low range hearing. The only way I was able to perform this job was to have an earbud--playing music in one ear. My employer made a rule against cell phones so I had no way to mitigate the cacophony around me. I didn't own and ipod. Earplugs just make me feel like I'm hearing sounds from underwater. I tried to work without my accommodation, after requesting an accommodation which they refused. In the end I wasn't able to get out of bed and became pretty suicidal. It's hard being called a liar when you have a disability. I was able to collect unemployment for 'constructive discharge.' And I sued them.
But what is most disgusting about this situation is that they told me that an earplug would work. I really wanted to know how they got inside my brain to make that determination. My one earbud playing Pandora on a phone I paid for did not cause them any undue hardship--and that is the legal standard for refusing an accommodation.
Another insult was when the HR manager told me I shouldn't have told my supervisor, my manager and the general manager. She wanted me to be ashamed. Why should I be ashamed of doing a great job with an accommodation? An this was really about hearing, not like I was coming in saying I had genital herpes.
Oh and I was accused of lying for not disclosing the hearing issue when hired, when in fact I had, in writing to the same three managers. And I did this job for exactly one year before they pulled the rug out from under me.
So big corporations and accommodations? Set your expectations low.
And hearing aids don't work for all types of hearing loss...such as mine. Maybe they don't help you either. If you ramp up the volume on everything, it won't help you block out the background noise causing the problem.
Let me know how this has turned out for you.