“Let me see your ticket,” the usher demanded at a popular Broadway theater. We (my husband and I and our two friends) were waiting in line so I could pick up an assistive listening device for the show.
“This device won’t work at your seat. You’d be better off using your hearing aids” the cranky attendant barked.
“But my hearing aids won’t be enough. That is why I need the device.” I replied with some confusion. Aren’t the devices supposed to work everywhere?
“This won’t work at your seat,” she repeated.
A moment of silence ensued. The attendant and I stared at one another while I contemplated my next steps. Would I allow her to dismiss my needs this easily? Not a chance.
“Well, I’d like to take one anyway, just in case it is helpful,” I replied. Worst case, I figured I would stick it in my bag to return at intermission.
“Do you know how it works? You will need to remove your hearing aids.” she snarled skeptically.
“Yes, I have used devices like this before.”
“You will need to remove your hearing aids,” she repeated as if I were a misbehaving child.
“Yes.”
Finally, and with much reluctance, she handed me the device and we headed to our seats.
Condescending Attitudes toward Hearing Loss on Display
My husband, friends and I were shocked at her rudeness. I use assistive devices at the theater all the time. None had previously come with a lecture. Coincidentally, the woman standing behind me was seated in the row behind me. Apparently she had a similar experience with the usher but decided not to take the device. She was also astonished by the woman’s attitude.
It turns out that the attendant was correct. The sound quality through the headset was worse than I was getting through my hearing aids, but that was no excuse for her behavior. Instead of copping an attitude, she should have been apologizing for the theater’s false promise of accessibility.
If management knows that the provided listening devices don’t work in certain parts of the theater, why isn’t this noted when we buy our tickets? And more importantly, why don’t they upgrade the system so that it works appropriately? How can they allow their accessibility efforts to fail?
While I love attending theater, sometimes even my best laid plans fail. But there is no excuse for a dismissive and condescending attitude about hearing loss. Can you imagine someone who is blind or who uses a wheelchair being treated this way? Neither can I.
I have reached out to the theater to complain and eagerly await their response. When accessibility fails, perhaps it can become a teaching moment instead.
Readers, are your hearing loss needs dismissed at the theater?
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Very frustrating, Shari. Please let us know if and how they respond. We’re interested.
Will do. Thanks for your interest.
How do you handle using your iphone to adjust your hearing aids at a play or performance. The ushers rove around looking for people who are using their phones, so I don’t adjust my hearing aids during the play to save the embarrassment of being chastised. This is especially true if you are seated in the middle of a row. It’s impossible to quietly explain what you are doing.
It is challenging! One idea is to explain to the people seated next to you ahead of time so they won’t be bothered by a little bit of quick fiddling on your device at the start of the show to get things right. I often do that when I will be using my phone for GalaPro captions and it seems to diffuse any issues. Thank you for your question.
I just don’t go to these venues. With so much on streaming, I don’t feel a need. It is rare that I find a place that has adequate hearing accessibility options. I just don’t have the energy to deal with people like you described. Once I did contact the Convention Center locally and received an unsatisfactory response. Why is it such an uphill battle to get accommodations even in churches?
It is frustrating, but I love the theater so continue to go. Advocacy and education will hopefully lead to change. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Indeed! I often have to wait until the confused usher consults with one or more people and then comes out with an old dusty device that often doesn’t work well enough to do the trick. Recently I went to a lecture at a large, well-endowed museum in my community and asked for a hearing loop. I was directed to someone who gave me earphones when I asked for a loop.
When I complained via email after the visit, I found out that they have loops but the person handing out listening devices didn’t know that. I suggested that they train their employees and volunteers better.
It is frustrating and as you say it all comes down to education and training. Each encounter is an opportunity to advocate for us all. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
Shari,
Some years ago, I attended a production of the play, “Tribes” at the Barrow Street Theater in New York City. I had researched the play in advance and felt confidence that a play about deafness would be accessible to me. Nevertheless, I made sure, when I picked my assisted listening device at the theater,to confirm that it would work, as I’d had problems in the past with the devices malfunctioning. The staff assured me the device would work.
The production was staged “in the round” with large open-captioning screen above the stage. But, when the play started, as I had feared, the ALD didn’t work. Furthermore, the open-captioning devices were only used to translate the sign language used during the play. I sat the the first act, clueless as to what was happening on stage.
At intermission we found a staff member and explained my attempts to ensure the ALD would work, the malfunction and my disappointment that the captioning devices were not used throughout the play. I was so frustrated by this time I could hardly speak. My dear husband stepped up and offered to explain to the entire audience about the ironic situation that had developed: a play about deafness was inaccessible to an audience member with a severe hearing loss.
The small crowd had gathered around us by this time, curious as to what was happening. The theater staff were clearly embarrassed and wanted to fix the situation as quickly as possible. They gave me a new device and a new seat away from my family. I was able to follow along during the second act.
Later, I wrote to the theater to explain what happened, They offered to let us attend another performance of the play but we were leaving town the next day. I have since successfully attended many open-captioned performances at my local theater in Portland, Oregon, but I haven’t been back to the theater in New York. I had done everything I could to ensure an enjoyable, accessible experience and yet the theater failed me.
How ironic! I think I saw that production as well and was astonished how they used the captioning! Good for you for expressing your needs in the moment and helping them to understand and do better for next time. Baby steps…
Years ago I went to a dinner theater that claimed to have infrared. I checked and made sure before buying the expend tickets for my family. When I arrived and the show began, it wasn’t working. I went to the desk and I was told sorry I can’t help you. We walked out in protest. Of course I wrote an article about it after the owner of the theater told me we are being forced to get this equipment and it’s expensive. I told him I could easily file a complaint with the Justice Dept. After that, he refunded our money, but I never returned to that theater. The part that bothered me most was that I mentioned a lot of his patrons were older, and I spotted many hearing aid users when I went there. Didn’t he care to accommodate us? A lot of theaters provide substandard equipment that has awful reception. These theaters need input from persons with hearing loss before deciding which devices work and which ones are just a cheap instrument to meet requirements.
Very disappointing. A lot of it may be a lack of understanding, but you would think they would want to make their patrons happy! Our input is critical, as you say, in the initial setup too. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
Penelope — Our venue has hearing loops installed & we present a wide range of music, theatre, films and lectures, etc. We show a PowerPoint at the start of every concert of upcoming events AND include a slide about the loop and how to access it. If the artist insists I make a stage announcement about “no phones” — however I first let them know that there will be people accessing their hearing devices on their phones (always a surprise to them…) and that they are “exempt”. The stage announcement includes that message. Venues need to be nicely taught that patrons require phones to participate. They don’t know it automatically.
This sounds incredible! I wish all venues were this forward thinking and accessible! Thank you for sharing your best practices.
With the availability of the technology that makes virtually any situation accessible to hearing impaired persons it boggles the rational mind that situations such as you describe even exist. Technology, sadly, has yet to address idiocy and stupidity – terms I try to avoid when dealing with this issue in my own experience, but if the shoe fits . . .
In my own case, I have determined that there are some situations that I will sadly avoid. It is instructive that recently I have taken to using a cane when I go out specially in pubic places. This is to deal with persistent vertigo stemming from my CI surgery seven years ago. I have already had a few falls and one broken arm. What I have found is that others see my cane and “make way” for me. These are the same people who must be reminded to look at me when addressing me. I suppose the best we can do is to keep in keeping on.
Thanks Shari
So true! Keep on keeping on is the name of the game. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
I now have two c.i.’s and they have made a major difference . I now have 80% hearing which is as good as many of my friends have with no hearing devices. but one disadvantage of them is that some of the sounds they pick up, such as shopping carts banging together , go right to my inner ear and make me dizzy. Once I realized what causes it, I just live with it. It is worth it to hear so much better.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I am so glad they are working well for you.