Caring Citizens,
Ellen Lafargue, Director of Audiology, CHC
We were dismayed to learn of the New York Police Department's ban on the use of hearing aids by all officers, including its veteran officers. NYPD policy, as reported last week in the New York Times, disallows the use of hearing aids because they are perceived to be vulnerable to mechanical failure. As a result, officers with hearing loss are required to forgo amplification on the job.
It's difficult for us to imagine any professional being told not to use something so obviously essential to job function - particularly those professionals charged with protecting the public.
Modern hearing aids are useful, reliable, and unburdensome. The logic behind going without, simply because they may fail to work, is unfathomable.
Sadder still is forcing officers out of their jobs because of a hearing loss suffered on duty as a result of gunshot, subway, or crowd noise.
We struggle enough to remove the stigma from using hearing technology and to help our clients whose workplaces refuse to accommodate their hearing loss.
This is a bewildering policy unworthy of New York's finest. We hope they take swift action to correct it.
Read NYT article
Sincerely,
Ellen Lafargue, Au. D., CCC-A
Director, Shelley and Steven Einhorn Audiology Center
Center for Hearing and Communication
