First-year medical student Jacob Lowy has moderate-to-severe hearing loss in his right ear.
“I was diagnosed with significant hearing loss in my right ear when I was very young. I’ve learned to advocate for myself every day. But I’m constantly thinking about it, adjusting to the situation, finding the nerve to say something ... Sometimes it’s tiring. And sometimes I’m reluctant to advocate for myself because people don’t always take it seriously,” Lowy reflected.
But he also realizes that when something isn't visible, it’s not always easy to understand. This often happens with invisible disabilities—and it’s not anybody’s fault or due to malicious intent.
“I was a little afraid to reach out to Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD). I was concerned that asking for accommodations would impact my future and my professional goals, so I didn’t disclose my hearing loss when I applied to medical school.”
But eventually he did reach out. And everything fell into place quickly.
“SSD put me in touch with key Medical School faculty, got me an augmented stethoscope so I can turn up the volume to hear heart and lung sounds, and contacted HITS teams for captioning the lecture videos. SSD also helped me set up realtime captioning (CART) during lectures so I can catch everything that’s happening on my laptop. Videos shown during lecture are captioned before I even get there. I also now have a hearing aid, which has changed my life,” Lowy said.
Lowy says that once he made the decision to reach out for accommodations, everything has worked like clockwork. It’s been seamless.
Read more about Lowy's journey on the Health Information Technology & Services website