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Search results for: HEARING DEVICES
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A Device for Measuring Auditory Brainstem Responses to Audio
PublicationStandard ABR devices use clicks and tone bursts to assess subjects’ hearing in an objective way. A new device was developed that extends the functionality of a standard ABR audiometer by collecting and analyzing auditory brainstem responses (ABR). The developed accessory allows for the use of complex sounds (e.g., speech or music excerpts) as stimuli. Therefore, it is possible to find out how efficiently different types of sounds...
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Distributed System For Noise Threat Evaluation Based On Psychoacoustic Measurements
PublicationAn innovative system designed for the continuous monitoring of acoustic climate of urban areas was presentedin the paper. The assessment of environmental threats is performed using online data, acquired through a grid ofengineered monitoring stations collecting comprehensive information about the acoustic climate of urban areas.The grid of proposed devices provides valuable data for the purpose of long and short time acoustic climateanalysis....
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Multimedia System for Environmental Noise Monitoring. [Multimedialny System Monitorowania Hałasu Środowiskowego]
PublicationIntroductionNumerous reports relating to noise threats in Poland indicate that they occur commonly. The noise has an enormous impact on the health and life quality of the human beings. Noise pollution in Poland is greater than in others UE countries, moreover it has been increased recently. Taking into account 2002/49/WE directive related to the control and assessment of environmental noise a necessity of monitoring these threats...
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Adaptive Personal Tuning of Sound in Mobile Computers
PublicationAn integrated methodology for enhancing audio quality in mobile computers is presented. The key features are adaptation of the characteristics of their acoustic track to changing acoustic conditions of the environment and to users’ individual preferences. Signal processing algorithms are introduced that concern: linearization of frequency response, dialogue intelligibility enhancement, and dynamics processing tuned up to the users’...
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Multimodal human-computer interfaces based on advanced video and audio analysis
PublicationMultimodal interfaces development history is reviewed briefly in the introduction. Examples of applications of multimodal interfaces to education software and for the disabled people are presented, including interactive electronic whiteboard based on video image analysis, application for controlling computers with mouth gestures and the audio interface for speech stretching for hearing impaired and stuttering people. The Smart...
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Akustyczna analiza parametrów ruchu drogowego z wykorzystaniem informacji o hałasie oraz uczenia maszynowego
PublicationCelem rozprawy było opracowanie akustycznej metody analizy parametrów ruchu drogowego. Zasada działania akustycznej analizy ruchu drogowego zapewnia pasywną metodę monitorowania natężenia ruchu. W pracy przedstawiono wybrane metody uczenia maszynowego w kontekście analizy dźwięku (ang.Machine Hearing). Przedstawiono metodologię klasyfikacji zdarzeń w ruchu drogowym z wykorzystaniem uczenia maszynowego. Przybliżono podstawowe...
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The influence of time of hearing aid use on auditory perception in various acoustic situations
PublicationThe assessment of sound perception in hearing aids, especially in the context of benefits that a prosthesis can bring, is a complex issue. The objective parameters of the hearing aids can easily be determined. These parameters, however, do not always have a direct and decisive influence on the subjective assessment of quality of the patient’s hearing while using a hearing aid. The paper presents the development of a method for...
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Assessment of the Effectiveness of a Short-term Hearing Aid Use in Patients with Different Degrees of Hearing Loss
PublicationThe study presents evaluating the effectiveness of the hearing aid fitting process in the short-term use (7 days). The evaluation method consists of a survey based on the APHAB (Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit) questionnaire. Additional criteria such as a degree of hearing loss, number of hours and days of hearing aid use as well as the user’s experience were also taken into consideration. The outcomes of the benefit...
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Pursuing Analytically the Influence of Hearing Aid Use on Auditory Perception in Various Acoustic Situations
PublicationThe paper presents the development of a method for assessing auditory perception and the effectiveness of applying hearing aids for hard-of-hearing people during short-term (up to 7 days) and longer-term (up to 3 months) use. The method consists of a survey based on the APHAB questionnaire. Additional criteria such as the degree of hearing loss, technological level of hearing aids used, as well as the user experience are taken...
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Determining the noise impact on hearing using psychoacoustical noise dosimeter
PublicationThis research study presents the designed noise dosimeter based on psychoacoustical properties of the human hearing system and, at the same time. evaluation of time and frequency characteristics of noise. The designed noise dosimeter enables assessing temporary threshold shift (TTS) in critical hands in real time. In this way it is possible monitoring the hearing threshold shift continuously for people who stay in the harmful noise...
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Observing its long-term effects on a short-term, multi-day evaluation of the effectiveness of hearing aid use
PublicationThe main objective of the research study was to develop a method for evaluating the effectiveness of hearing protection with hearing aids tailored to the needs and prevailing conditions in the acoustic environments where the elderly most often reside. The method was also intended to estimate the benefits of hearing aids and allow prediction of such an effect based on a short-term trial. It is noteworthy that a short-term evaluation...
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A study on signal processing methods applied to hearing aids
PublicationThis paper presents a short survey on current technology available in hearing aids with a focus on digital signal processing techniques used. First, factors influencing the hearing aid effectiveness are introduced. Then, examples of the present DSP methods and strategies are provided. Also, a description of current limitations of hearing aids and future trends of development are shown. Finally, the notion of computational auditory...
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Combining MUSHRA Test and Fuzzy Logic in the Evaluation of Benefits of Using Hearing Prostheses
PublicationAssessing the effectiveness of hearing aid fittings based on the benefits they provide is crucial but intricate. While objective metrics of hearing aids like gain, frequency response, and distortion are measurable, they do not directly indicate user benefits. Hearing aid performance assessment encompasses various aspects, such as compensating for hearing loss and user satisfaction. The authors suggest enhancing the widely used...
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Automated hearing loss type classification based on pure tone audiometry data
PublicationHearing problems are commonly diagnosed with the use of tonal audiometry, which measures a patient’s hearing threshold in both air and bone conduction at various frequencies. Results of audiometry tests, usually represented graphically in the form of an audiogram, need to be interpreted by a professional audiologist in order to determine the exact type of hearing loss and administer proper treatment. However, the small number of...
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A new methodological approach to the noise threat evaluation based on the selected physiological properties of the human hearing system
PublicationA new way of assessment of noise-induced harmful effects on human hearing system is presented in the paper. The method takes into consideration properties of the selected physiological human hearing system. On the basis of the hearing examinations and noise measurements results and psychoacoustical noise dosimeter performance the new indicators of the noise harmfulness were proposed. The evaluation of the proposed indicators were...
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Development of an AI-based audiogram classification method for patient referral
PublicationHearing loss is one of the most significant sensory disabilities. It can have various negative effects on a person's quality of life, ranging from impeded school and academic performance to total social isolation in severe cases. It is therefore vital that early symptoms of hearing loss are diagnosed quickly and accurately. Audiology tests are commonly performed with the use of tonal audiometry, which measures a patient's hearing...
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Detecting type of hearing loss with different AI classification methods: a performance review
PublicationHearing is one of the most crucial senses for all humans. It allows people to hear and connect with the environment, the people they can meet and the knowledge they need to live their lives to the fullest. Hearing loss can have a detrimental impact on a person's quality of life in a variety of ways, ranging from fewer educational and job opportunities due to impaired communication to social withdrawal in severe situations. Early...
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A Novel Method for Intelligibility Assessment of Nonlinearly Processed Speech in Spaces Characterized by Long Reverberation Times
PublicationObjective assessment of speech intelligibility is a complex task that requires taking into account a number of factors such as different perception of each speech sub-bands by the human hearing sense or different physical properties of each frequency band of a speech signal. Currently, the state-of-the-art method used for assessing the quality of speech transmission is the speech transmission index (STI). It is a standardized way...
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Evaluation of excessive noise effects on hearing employing psychoacoustic dosimetry
PublicationResearch results regarding the noise impact on hearing applying the concept of the Psychoacoustic Noise Dosimetry (PND) are presented. The general characteristics of the PND algorithm are discussed. Additionally, the results of hearing examinations conducted in the laboratory conditions are shown. The main objective of the research was to determine the time needed for the Temporary Threshold Shift to reverse. The results were used...
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Loudness Scaling Tests in Hearing Problems Detection
PublicationThe number of people using portable audio players has increased significantly over the recent years. This implies the rise in the number of people having hearing loss problems. Therefore, there is a need to find appropriate procedures that simplify the process of the hearing problem detection. Investigations performed show that audiometric tests may not be sufficient to assess hearing in young people. Contrarily, the obtained results...
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the assessment of the noise-induced harmful effects based on the properties of human hearing system
PublicationA new way of assessment of noise-induced harmful effects on human hearing system is presented in the paper. The method takes into consideration properties of the human hearing system. The pro-posed method determines the cumulative impact on hearing system produced by the excessive noise. Based on the predicted effects of the noise exposure, the new types of noise indicators were developed. The evaluation of these indicators was...
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The noise-induced harmful effect assessment based on the properties of the human hearing system
PublicationA new way of assessment of noise-induced harmful effects on human hearing system is presented in the paper. The method takes into consideration properties of the human hearing system. The pro-posed method determines the cumulative impact on hearing system produced by the excessive noise. Based on the predicted effects of the noise exposure, the new types of noise indicators were developed. The evaluation of these indicators was...
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Contactless hearing aid designed for infants
PublicationIt is a well known fact that language development through home intervention for a hearing-impaired infant should start in the early months of a newborn baby's life. The aim of this paper is to present a concept of a contactless digital hearing aid designed especially for infants. In contrast to all typical wearable hearing aid solutions (ITC, ITE, BTE), the proposed device is mounted in the infant's bed with any parts of its set-up...
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Methods of Improving Speech Intelligibility for Listeners with Hearing Resolution Deficit
PublicationMethods developed for real-time time scale modification (TSM) of speech signal are presented. They are based onthe non-uniform, speech rate depended SOLA algorithm (Synchronous Overlap and Add). Influence of theproposed method on the intelligibility of speech was investigated for two separate groups of listeners, i.e. hearingimpaired children and elderly listeners. It was shown that for the speech with average rate equal to or...
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System oceny efektywności użytkowania aparatów słuchowych (Hearing aid use effectiveness evaluation system)
PublicationCelem rozprawy jest opracowanie metody oceny efektywności protezowania słuchu przy użyciu aparatów słuchowych, która pozwoli w łatwy sposób poddawać ocenie korzyść z użytkowania protez słuchowych w najbardziej typowych sytuacjach akustycznych. Przedstawiono genezę podjętych badań i na tej podstawie zaproponowano cele i tezy rozprawy doktorskiej. W pracy w pierwszej kolejności zawarto przegląd dotyczący rodzajów ubytku słuchu...
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Multimedia services applied to noise and hearing monitoring and measuring
PublicationThe goal of this chapter is to show a research study related to processing of data acquired by the multimedia services engineered at the multimedia systems department (MSD) of the Gdansk University of Technology. This concerns a survey on noise threat employing the multimedia noise monitoring system (MNMS) and hearing tests performed by the "I can hear. . . " system. The obtained results of the noise measurements revealed that...
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Investigation of Noise Threats and Their Impact on Hearing in Selected Schools
PublicationNoise measurements conducted in selected schools in Gdansk area are presented in this paper. The main aim of this research was to determine noise threats at schools. Some objective measurements of the acoustic climate were performed employing a noise monitoring station engineered at the Multimedia System Department, Gdansk University of Technology. Simultaneously, subjective noise annoyance examinations were carried out among pupils...
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Investigation of noise threats and their impact on hearing in selected schools - a pilot study.
PublicationNoise measurements conducted in selected schools in Gdansk area are presented in this paper. The main aim of this research was to determine noise threats at schools. Some objective measurements of the acoustic climate were performed employing a noise monitoring station engineered at the Multimedia System Department, Gdansk University of Technology. Simultaneously, subjective noise annoyance examinations were carried out among pupils...
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Efficiency of Artificial Intelligence Methods for Hearing Loss Type Classification: an Evaluation
PublicationThe evaluation of hearing loss is primarily conducted by pure tone audiometry testing, which is often regarded as golden standard for assessing auditory function. If the presence of hearing loss is determined, it is possible to differentiate between three types of hearing loss: sensorineural, conductive, and mixed. This study presents a comprehensive comparison of a variety of AI classification models, performed on 4007 pure tone...
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Waveguide model of the hearing aid earmold system
PublicationBackground The earmold system of the Behind-The-Ear hearing aid is an acoustic system that modifies the spectrum of the propagated sound waves. Improper selection of the earmold system may result in deterioration of sound quality and speech intelligibility. Computer modeling methods may be useful in the process of hearing aid fitting, allowing physician to examine various earmold system configurations and choose the optimum one...
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Waveguide model of the hearing aid earmold system
PublicationBackground The earmold system of the Behind-The-Ear hearing aid is an acoustic system that modifies the spectrum of the propagated sound waves. Improper selection of the earmold system may result in deterioration of sound quality and speech intelligibility. Computer modeling methods may be useful in the process of hearing aid fitting, allowing physician to examine various earmold system configurations and choose the optimum one...
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Fitting the mobile device characteristics to the user's hearing preferences
PublicationA method for fitting the mobile computer audio characteristics to the user's hearing preferences is proposed. The process consists of two stages: calibration and dynamics processing. During the calibration phase the user performs a loudness scaling test giving their response regarding the perceived loudness. The dynamics processing made on above basis sets the loudness to the most comfortable level. The processing accounts both...
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Acoustics - new services for urban planning, research and education
PublicationThe main purpose of the presented design is twofold, namely: providing detailed information about the noise threats that occur every day in city areas and preventing the noise induced hearing loss especially among young people. An experimental system designed for the continuous monitoring of the acoustic climate of urban areas was developed and implemented within the PLGrid Plus project. The assessment of environmental threats...
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Time-scale modification of speech signals for supporting hearing impaired schoolchildren
PublicationA study of time scale modification algorithmsapplied to hearing impaired schoolchildren supporting ispresented. Variety of algorithms are considered, namely:overlap and add, two variations of synchronized overlapand add, and the phase vocoder. Their effectiveness as wellas real-time processing capabilities are examined.
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Introduction to the special issue on machine learning in acoustics
PublicationWhen we started our Call for Papers for a Special Issue on “Machine Learning in Acoustics” in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, our ambition was to invite papers in which machine learning was applied to all acoustics areas. They were listed, but not limited to, as follows: • Music and synthesis analysis • Music sentiment analysis • Music perception • Intelligent music recognition • Musical source separation • Singing...
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Real-time speech streching for supporting hearing impaired schoolchildren
PublicationA study of time scale modification algorithms applied to support hearing impaired schoolchildren is presented. Variety of algorithms are considered, namely: overlap-and add, two variations of synchronous overlapand- add, and the phase vocoder. Their effectiveness as well as real-time processing capabilities are examined.
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Frequently updated noise threat maps created with use of supercomputing grid
PublicationAn innovative supercomputing grid services devoted to noise threat evaluation were presented. The services described in this paper concern two issues, first is related to the noise mapping, while the second one focuses on assessment of the noise dose and its influence on the human hearing system. The discussed services were developed within the PL-Grid Plus Infrastructure which accumulates Polish academic supercomputer centers....
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Difference in Perceived Speech Signal Quality Assessment Among Monolingual and Bilingual Teenage Students
PublicationThe user perceived quality is a mixture of factors, including the background of an individual. The process of auditory perception is discussed in a wide variety of fields, ranging from engineering to medicine. Many studies examine the difference between musicians and non-musicians. Since musical training develops musical hearing and other various auditory capabilities, similar enhancements should be observable in case of bilingual...
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Zastosowanie spowalniania wypowiedzi w celu poprawy rozumienia mowy przez dzieci w szkole
PublicationThis paper presents a time-scale modification algorithms that could be used for hearing impairment therapy supported by real-time speech stretching. In this paper the OLA based algorithms and Phase Vocoder were described. In the experimental part usability of those algorithms for real-time speech stretching was discussed
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System Supporting Speech Perception in Special Educational Needs Schoolchildren
PublicationThe system supporting speech perception during the classes is presented in the paper. The system is a combination of portable device, which enables real-time speech stretching, with the workstation designed in order to perform hearing tests. System was designed to help children suffering from Central Auditory Processing Disorders.
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Engineering Challenges in the Design of Cochlear Implants
PublicationHearing aids such as cochlear implants have been used by both adults and children for a long time. In addition, cochlear implants are used by patients who have severe hearing loss either by birth or after an accident. This paper aims to investigate the engineering challenges bounding the design of cochlear implants and present its possible solution...
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Tinnitus Therapy Based on High-Frequency Linearization
PublicationThe aim of this work was to present problems related to tinnitus symptoms, its pathogenesis, hypotheses on tinnitus causes, and therapy treatments to reduce or mask the phantom noise. In addition, the hypothesis on the existence of parasitic quantization that accompanies hearing loss was recalled. The paper contains a description of experiments carried out with the application of high-frequency dither having specially formed spectral...
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Computer-Supported Polysensory Integration Technology for Educationally Handicapped Pupils
PublicationIn this paper, a multimedia system providing technology for hearing and visual attention stimulation is shortly presented. The system aims to support the development of educationally handicapped pupils. The system has been presented in the context of its configuration, architecture, and therapeutic exercise implementation issues. Results of pupils’ improvements after 8 weeks of training with the system are also provided. Training...
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Assessment of hearing in coma patients employing auditory brainstem response, electroencephalography, and eye-gaze-tracking
PublicationThe results of the study conducted by Tagliaferri et al. in 12 European countries indicate that the ratio of registered brain injury cases in Europe amounts to 150-300 per 100 000 people, with the European mean value of 235 cases per 100 000 people. The project presented in the paper assumes development of a combined metric of patients’ state remaining in coma by intelligent fusion of GCS (subjective Glasgow Coma Scale or its derivatives)...
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Supercomputing Grid-Based Services for Hearing Protection and Acoustical Urban Planning, Research and Education
PublicationSpecific computational environments, so-called domain grids, are developed within the PLGrid Plus project in order to prepare specialized IT solutions, i.e., dedicated software implementations and hardware (infrastructure adaptation), suited for particular research group demands. One of the PLGrid Plus domain grids, presented in this paper, is Acoustics. The article describes in detail two kinds of the acoustic domain services....
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Auditory-visual attention stimulator
PublicationNew approach to lateralization irregularities formation was proposed. The emphasis is put on the relationship between visual and auditory attention stimulation. In this approach hearing is stimulated using time scale modified speech and sight is stimulated by rendering the text of the currently heard speech. Moreover, displayed text is modified using several techniques i.e. zooming, highlighting etc. In the experimental part of...
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Preliminary Identification of Quantitative Factors Determining the Duration of Court Proceedings in Commercial Cases
PublicationPurpose: The aim of the article was to identify factors that are linear combinations of the variables under scrutiny that affect the duration of court proceedings. Design/Methodology/Approach: This research was conducted on commercial cases, based on the Principal Components Analysis (PCA). The original variables were grouped into factors that are correlated with each other. The Kaiser Criterion (own value >1) was chosen as the...
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XVIII Międzynarodowe Sympozjum Inżynierii i Reżyserii Dźwięku
PublicationThe subjective assessment of speech signals takes into account previous experiences and habits of an individual. Since the perception process deteriorates with age, differences should be noticeable among people from dissimilar age groups. In this work, we investigated the difference of speech quality assessment between high school students and university students. The study involved 60 participants, with 30 people in both the adolescents...
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Audio codec employing frequency-derived tonality measure
PublicationA transform codec employing efficient algorithm for detection of spectral tonal components is presented. The tonality measure used in MPEG psychoacoustic model is replaced with the method providing adequate tonality estimates even if the tonal components are deeply frequency modulated. The reliability of hearing threshold estimated using psychoacoustic model with standardized tonality measure and the proposed one is investigated...
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Self-advocacy of a person with a disability in the dual role of paid worker and volunteer: Theoretical considerations and a case study
PublicationThe changing models of disability influence the way people with disabilities participate in social life, and how they can transform their life and environment. Such participation may take the form of work and volunteering, as well as participation in self-advocacy movements. This paper aims to explore how a woman with hearing impairment perceives her dual role as a regular worker and voluntary self-advocate within one organization...