Last month, Mattel released a Barbie doll with hearing aids. She wears a floral dress, pink boots and has her hair in a ponytail. Two over-the-ear hearing aids are visible.

The assistive devices might seem like small accessories to some people, but they speak volumes to the hard of hearing and deaf communities.

“I am excited about that Barbie,” said Amy Hart, president and CEO at the Center for Hearing & Deaf Services Inc. “It shows kids with hearing aids that they have something that is representative of them — and that it is cool to have hearing aids.”

The doll is more than a toy. It can help to make people with hearing loss, especially young people, feel more at ease, more accepted, Hart said.

Courtesy of Mattel Mattel introduced a Barbie doll with behind-the-ear hearing aids in June.  

Creating an inclusive environment has been the mission of the Center for Hearing & Deaf Services for a century. Located in the original Eye and Ear Hospital in Pittsburgh’s Uptown, it also has a location in the Greensburg area — which opened in 1985 — and an Erie location that opened last year.

The center provides a variety of diagnostic, rehabilitative and supportive services for children and adults who are deaf, deaf-blind and hard of hearing. The official 100th anniversary was in 2021 but, because of the pandemic, the center chose to celebrate all year long in 2022.

“We have lasted so long because of our adaptability,” said Patricia Joan Maurer, director of marketing and development for the center. “There is a sense of community here.”

The center continues to be at the forefront for those with hearing loss: It created the first program for deaf individuals addicted to drugs and alcohol, and it continues to provide resources and assistive devices, such as flashing smoke detectors and vibrating alarm clocks.

For the past 10 decades, people have been getting their hearing checked at the center.

A key service is the life skills program, which teaches adults who are deaf and intellectually disabled to live as independently as possible. They learn to cook and ride a bus. They work on computers and interact through classes provided by a smart board. They go on outings to farmers markets, museums, libraries and baseball games.

They create art.

Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review A painting made by a client at the Center for Hearing & Deaf Services is on display at the headquarters in Uptown.  

On a recent Monday, clients were playing the card game UNO. They were smiling and having a good time. One of them shared her thoughts on the art class. Three of her paintings — a flower, a ladybug and an Easter egg — were displayed on the wall. She said the life skills program makes a big difference in her life.

“The goal is to have them experience new things,” program coordinator Amy DeLuce said. “I love working with them. I learn so much from them.”

Pandemic challenges

Just as the past two years have been challenging for everyone because of the pandemic, there have been additional hurdles for this community.

“Imagine if on top of the quarantine and having to wear a mask and social distance, you also had trouble hearing,” Hart said. “That adds to the stress level and could cause anxiety.”

The center raised funds from United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the FISA Foundation to partner with Global Links to acquire clear masks, Hart said. Most people read lips even though they don’t realize they are doing that, and wearing masks can muffle sounds for everyone.

Hart said the number of clients was down because people were staying home because of the coronavirus.

In 2019, they had 9,693 clients and performed 70,334 services, compared to 5,803 for 52,329 service hours in 2020.

Hart said they adapted by doing video interpreting and virtual programming.

Being able to pivot to something such as clear masks and online services is what the center was founded on, said Robert Macik, director of the Hempfield office and its life skills program. Over his more than four decades of employment, he said if they believed in a program they would introduce it and find funding after the fact if they had to.

“There is a need for these services,” Macik said. “And some people aren’t aware this is here for them. It is unlike any other organization of its kind. I like the variety that HDS has to offer, and I love helping other people who need another way to communicate. If you can’t communicate, you can feel isolated.”

The center supplies interpreters — people who can translate speech orally from one language to another — for the hearing impaired as well as for immigrants and refugees with limited English proficiency. In the past year, the center has helped 312 immigrants and refugees. They can assist with document translation, including forms needed to start physical therapy, brochures and information about various health conditions, and discharge papers for people leaving the hospital.

The center provides in-school interpreting for Intermediate Unit 1, Ringgold, California, Ferndale, Albert Gallatin, Norwin, Peters Township, Forest Hills and, soon, Indiana. It provides services to Pitt, Carlow, IUP, California University of Pennsylvania — now Penn West — Seton Hill University, Duquesne University and several technical schools.

“Interpreters ensure people have communication access,” Hart said. “This is vital to make sure people can communicate with and understand their doctor, their child’s teacher, the DMV, the courts — anywhere where people need to access information. “

There tends to be an assumption that people with hearing loss can read lips, but even the best lip-readers only get 50% to 60% of what is being said, Hart said. The staff at the Center for Hearing & Deaf Services is trained in American Sign Language. They work with organizations such as the National Association for the Deaf, Hearing Loss Association of America and Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.

“The same with writing notes back and forth,” she said. “ASL is not English with your hands — it has its own word order and syntax and is based on French. With foreign language, there is a tendency to use family members to interpret. This is not a good practice as family members can tend to edit. The interpreter makes sure that the individual has all of the information shared.”

Hearing appointments

Hart said 19% of people younger than 30 have some measure of hearing loss, and that number is growing. She said it is, for the most part, noise-induced — having earbuds blasting music is an example. Just like people schedule regular appointments with their dentists and eye doctors, a checkup with an audiologist would be good to determine a baseline for a person’s hearing.

“Some people think if you admit to hearing loss you are old,” Hart said. “Hearing loss can affect your quality of life. Living with untreated hearing loss can lead to other situations such as depression. That can be terrible, the isolation.”

Today’s televisions are built with support for closed captioning, which displays the audio portion of a television program as text on the screen. The center collaborated with Canonsburg-based closed captioning company VITAC Corp. to push for captioning on local news broadcasts.

VITAC founder Joe Karlovits had the vision that all television content, not just broadcast networks, should be accessible. He owned a court reporting firm and went on to secure a contract with CBS to do closed captioning. He met with the then CEO of the Center for Hearing & Deaf Services and KDKA, which became the first local station in Pennsylvania to provide closed captioning.

“I have seen the growth of the Center for Hearing & Deaf Services over the years,” said Karlovits of Ohio Township. “They trusted me. They are a wonderful organization.”

Courtesy of the Center for Hearing & Deaf Services Old hearing aid technology.  

The center has a rich history of service to the deaf and hard of hearing community in the Pittsburgh region, according to Steve Farmer, CEO of the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Edgewood.

“HDS provides a critical bridge through its interpreting services to help facilitate communication between hearing and deaf and hard of hearing individuals,” Farmer said. “This service has benefited our students, alumni and staff.”

The center provides training in deaf culture, among other topics, “helping those in our community better understand and appreciate the importance of accessibility and awareness,” Farmer said.

Awareness and inclusion

Creating awareness is one reason Mattel introduced the Barbie with hearing aids. The doll is available at retailers for $9.99.

“We are committed to continuing to introduce dolls featuring a range of skin tones, body types and disabilities to reflect the diversity kids see in the world around them,” said Lisa McKnight, executive vice president and global head of Barbie and Dolls at Mattel.

She said it is important for kids to see themselves reflected in products and to encourage play with dolls that don’t resemble them to help them understand and celebrate the importance of inclusion.

“As an educational audiologist with over 18 years of experience working in hearing loss advocacy, it’s inspiring to see those who experience hearing loss reflected in a doll,” said Dr. Jen Richardson, a leading authority in educational audiology. “I’m beyond thrilled for my young patients to see and play with a doll who looks like them.”

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