About the Show:

Three summer students, Catherine, Jason, and Kaelan discuss the many issues of the hearing loss community, interviewing authors, comics, and CHHA staff.

Behind the Scenes:

Getting the chance to work for the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association (CHHA) will forever be a dream for me. After two months of getting nowhere with summer job applications and interviews, I was surprised yet thrilled to receive an offer, considering this was the first time I would work for a federal organization.

It was not until I met my supervisor, Gordana, that I realized why I was hired. Despite my limited job experiences, it was my newfound hobby of producing podcasts that caught her eye. As she had planned on producing a summer student podcast with their interns but lacked the experience to do so.

The main challenge was how to make an audio platform accessible for those with hearing loss. It was something that required a lot of conversation about the form of the podcast. Was it going to be purely audio with transcription? A video podcast? Or animation? After much deliberation on the limitations we had, it was decided that an animated or visual podcast, one that combines photos, text, and audio was the winner. Perhaps a pure video format would have been the most accessible, as it would have guaranteed the ability to read lips and facial cues. However, due to the lack of video editing expertise to effectively edit both audio and video without jarring jump cuts, the idea was scrapped.

Production:

The Speak Up! Podcast had six episodes, five main ones, and one farewell; episodes that were produced on a tight schedule of every two weeks or so.

Gordana entrusted me to lead my fellow interns, James and Kaelan in the production of the podcast. I taught them how to interview, as well as create chemistry as hosts. I lead in the formation of a script, topics, and finding people to interview.

After the initial recording, it was my job to clean up the audio, compile the segments, and create the animations, visuals, and text that was added to the youtube video. Afterward, I would send the raw zoom transcription over to Jason would clean it up and form the captions.

Episodes:

Episode 1: Accommodations at University

Episode 2: Living with Hearing loss in a Pandemic

Episode 3: Accessible Comedy Shows

Episode 4: Cochlear Implants & Self Acceptance

Episode 5: Accessible Public Spaces

Episode 6: Farewell

Where are we now?

It has been an entire year since I worked for CHHA, and while this summer I will not be returning to be their podcast producer, I hope they continue the podcast. Speak Up is more than just a podcast, it is a platform to which so many individuals with hearing loss can relate and where the rest of society can become more aware of the issues that plague this community.

It was an honour to have been a part of the few that kick-started the project, lets’s see where it goes next.