Questionnaires. I wore the earplugs while I was watching a movie with my roommate. We watched When a Stranger Calls.

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1 Name _J S Questionnaires I wore the earplugs while I was watching a movie with my roommate. We watched When a Stranger Calls. I wore them for the whole movie, which was about an hour and a half. 3. Did you or others notice any difference in your hearing and your ability to communicate? Yes, in my hearing My hearing was affected, I could not understand a lot of words and kept on getting confused on what the plot of the movie was, I also had some trouble telling if my roommate was making a comment or if the movie was talking. Well, I don t know if we used this for my problem or not, I ALWAYS watch the television with captioning on, so we had the captions on, so it was a little bit easier to follow then if I didn t have the captioning on, but we also turned the sound up on the television and I didn t let my mind wander, if I did that, then I would miss something. I think my roommate thought that I was crazy because I was watching a movie with ear plugs in my ears but after I explained to her the assignment, she just kind of shrugged, luckily she shares my love for captioning and loud stereo while watching the television. Yes, I was very eager to remove the ear plugs, they had been bothering my ears since I put them in, I was constantly trying to get used to them and be comfortable with them in, it never happened. I am not sure. I think for my sake, not really. Maybe it would have been more useful if I chose a different activity. I didn t really do anything differently than I would have done; I turned the captioning on and raised the volume, so I didn t learn anything new. Name _A T I attended the UF Homecoming Pageant wearing earplugs. I used bright orange foam earplugs. (The ones usually found when people are flying in airplanes.) I wore these earplugs for two hours. 3. Did you or others notice any difference in your hearing and your ability to communicate? Yes. Introductions for each contestant were announced through a microphone, and I sat in the second to last row in the Phelps Center. My problem was not hearing the announcer, but friends around me who were whispering in my ear. Also, the audience was a rowdy crowd consisting mostly of UF sorority students. With both the noise from the crowd and the sounds from the speakers, I could hardly hear the music playing in the background for each contestant.

2 Considering I could hardly hear when my friends were whispering in my ear, my communication skills were somewhat off. It helped that when one of my friends was trying to talk to me, she touched my arm. She told me that I responded with a louder voice and suggested that I replied softer. I did not really use mechanisms to compensate for my hearing problem. When I could hardly hear my friends whispering, they did not want them to repeat their selves in a louder voice. It did frustrate me to miss out on the small talk amongst them in regards to the contestants. My friends did not react differently to me because I explained to them why I was wearing earplugs. I could tell they were getting frustrated because I was not readily able to hear them talk. In a place like an audience, people really don t like to repeat themselves when others are close by. Yes. I removed the ear plugs towards the end of the pageant. Immediately after removal, I could feel the arena much louder than I was used to. It was not soothing to hear a bunch of sorority girls screaming and cheering. I am glad that for most of it I was wearing earplugs. I felt that this hands on experience was a good way for me to get a taste of what it would be like to hear with a different threshold sensitivity. I would say that it was useful, but in no way comparable to someone who is hearing impaired. I really could not imagine what that might feel like. Name: C E Several girls were sitting in a room watching DVDs of my favorite TV show in my sorority house, so I joined them in the room wearing headphones with no music. This is a very typical activity, which involves tons of conversation as well as watching the show. I wore the headphones for a little more than an hour, because I forgot about them until someone else reminded me I still had them on. 3. Did you or others notice any difference in your hearing and your ability to communicate? It was not particularly difficult to communicate, but there were some aspects that were more challenging with the headphones on. As you can imagine, in this situation, several girls speak at one time, and the speaker changes quickly. If I was not looking directly at the speaker, I found it more difficult to distinguish between different voices while wearing the headphones. It was also hard to understand the television if the room was not completely silent again, a difficulty distinguishing between sounds. Besides having my friends raise the volume on the television, I didn t use any special mechanisms to compensate for this problem. I did, however, ask them to repeat themselves on occasion. It was also very difficult to keep myself from instinctively removing the headphones when I missed something said, or I wanted to hear the television more clearly.

3 First, they wondered why I was sitting in the room with headphones that were not connected to anything. After I explained, they started to ignore it for the most part. By the end of the hour, however, a couple of them were somewhat annoyed by my requests that they repeat themselves, which led them to finally remind me the hour, and my experiment, was over. Like I said, I basically forgot I had them on my ears. I m sure if I had used real earplugs, and there had been more of an impairment, I would have definitely been eager to remove them. The most useful part about this exercise was that it showed me what a hearing impairment might do to your ability to distinguish between sounds, because that was the main thing I noticed any kind of change in. Name: S M During what activity did you wear the earplugs? I went to an alternative rock concert with some friends. 2. How long did you wear the earplugs? For the opening act, approximately one hour Did you or others notice any difference in your hearing and your ability to communicate? Yes If yes, describe how your communication was affected. It attenuated the sound of the musicians voices and instruments, but I could still understand and appreciate the music. Talking to my friends was made only slightly more difficult by the earplugs. Mostly, communication was affected by the loudness of the music. What mechanisms did you use, if any, to compensate for your temporary problem? I read my friends lips and hand gestures, mostly pointing to people in the crowd or on stage and making comments about them. Basically, the same as I would have had my communication only been impaired by the loud music. Describe the reaction of the people you were with. They originally stared at me because it was odd for me to be wearing earplugs at a concert; especially because I am such a music enthusiast and love to hear bands play live. However, after I explained the point of the assignment they understood and were more comfortable. They did become frustrated with my hearing loss while wearing the earplugs, but after the concert was over also wished that they had also worn them because their ears were hurting due to the loud music of the concert. Were you eager to remove the earplugs? Yes because they were uncomfortable to wear and I wanted to communicate more easily with my friends between sets. I didn t put the earplugs back in for the second band because they affected the sounds of the music. Was this exercise useful? Why/Why not Yes, it proved to me how using earplugs in a loud sound environment, such as a music concert, can help reduce ear damage, because my ears didn t hurt nearly as bad as they usually do after a concert. Name E H

4 I wore the earplugs while cooking and then eating dinner with my roommates. 1 hour 3. Did you or others notice any difference in your hearing and your ability to communicate? I definitely noticed a difference in my hearing ability. I noticed that I kept asking what? and I had trouble hearing what they said, especially when my back was turned. It was hard to communicate while cooking, because we were all not facing each other at all times. I kept turning around and asking them to repeat what they said, and it was very frustrating. I relied on lip-reading as well as the little I could hear to help me understand what I couldn t hear. They were getting frustrated because I kept asking them to repeat themselves and eventually they started just talking amongst themselves. I was very eager to remove the earplugs so that I could communicate how I am used to. The exercise was very useful because it helped me walk in the shoes of a hard of hearing person and gain the experience of what it is like to be hearing impaired. Name R D 1. I put cotton balls in my ears while I watched television with my husband. 2. I wore the earplugs for the hour required and no longer! 3. Yes 4. My experience was very weird. I could hear the television very clear but the speech from my husband was somewhat muffled and when I spoke the sound was muffled. 5. I would ask my husband to repeat himself. I actually had to turn the television down. The sound was annoying me at times. 6. No reaction really. My husband knew that I was completing a school assignment. 7. YES. I was very uncomfortable with them in my ears and the muffled sounds were driving me crazy. 8. This exercise was useful. I have a great appreciation for my good hearing. I have an even better appreciation for those with hearing loss. Name K M I wore the earplugs while I was watching TV and trying to have a conversation with my roommate. I wore the earplugs for one hour. 3. Did you or others notice any difference in your hearing and your ability to communicate? There was a huge deficit in my hearing and my ability to communicate with others.

5 It was hard for me to monitor the intensity level of my voice and receptive communication was extremely difficult. In order to compensate for my temporary hearing loss, I sat close to my roommate and I had to focus on her face to be able to pick up on any nonverbal clues that might make communication a little easier for me. I had to turn off the TV until I finished my conversation with my roommate. Once I finished my conversation and went back to watching TV, I turned the captions on. I was frustrated by the way the captions are sometimes delayed or scrambled in a way that makes it hard to understand. I spent so much time trying to read the captions that it made watching TV and unpleasant task. My roommate was aware of why I had to wear the earplugs, but I do not think other people would have been as understanding. She eventually got frustrated with the conversation and ended it. Also, she felt awkward because I was looking intently at her face the entire time. I was very eager to remove the earplugs at the end of one hour. It was frustrating not being able to listen to two things at one time. Also, I found that the things I had once found enjoyable, such as watching TV and talking, were hard work with a simulated hearing loss. This exercise was useful because I feel that now I will be more understanding and eager to help the hearing impaired population. I still cannot imagine what it must feel like to live like that all of the time or to have an even worse hearing impairment, but I do have a better understanding of the struggles that people with hearing impairments face on a daily basis. Name L R 1. During which activity did you wear the ear plugs? Watching an hour long episode of Nip Tuck on television. 2. How long did you wear the ear plugs? For one hour 3. Did you or others notice any difference in your hearing and your ability to communicate? Yes, my two roommates and I noticed a difference. My roommates were reacting to the show by laughing or acting surprised. I was just sitting there because, although I understood the basic idea of what was going on in the episode, I didn t quite catch every word. So, when something funny or emotional occurred, I had no reaction to it at all. 5. What mechanisms did you use, if any, to compensate for your problem? I kept on asking my roommates what was going on in the television show. It started to aggravate them though, and they didn t enjoy the show as much as they usually would because I kept interrupting the flow of it. My two roommates thought it was interesting when I first told them that I was going to watch an episode of Nip Tuck with ear plugs in because they know how much I love the show. After I continuously asked them questions about what was going on, however, they became very uninterested.

6 7. Were you eager to remove the ear plugs? Yes. I was happy to remove the ear plugs and watch the episode again. 8. Was this exercise helpful? Why/why not? I thought it was helpful. As an individual with perfect hearing, you don t think about what it would be like to have difficulty doing certain easy activities, like watching television. Name M P 1.During what activity did you wear the earplugs? I was watching TV, talking with neighbors, talking on the phone and eating. 2.How long did you wear the earplugs? About an hour. 3.Did you or any others notice any difference in your hearing and your ability to communicate? No one else noticed I was wearing earplugs, but I noticed because my voice seemed louder and everyone else s was lower. 4.If yes, describe how your communication was affected. I had to keep asking people what? And on the phone I could really tell how much the volume decreased. 5.What mechanisms did you use to compensate your temporary problem? I don t think that I used any compensation 6.Describe the reaction of the people you were with. No one really noticed I was wearing them until I took them out. I think I was sitting close enough to everyone so I didn t have much of a problem hearing anybody speak. 7.Were you eager to remove the earplugs? I was eager to remove them because I had cotton balls in my ears and it became a little bit itchy. But I didn t realize how much hearing I lost until I took them out and everything was so much louder. 8.Was the exercise useful? I think it was useful cause I realized how easy it is to get use to a hearing loss. After an hour of wearing earplugs I really didn t feel like my hearing was affected but when I took them out everything was much louder. Name L F 1. I wore earplugs while watching a movie in my bedroom with my two roommates. 2. I wore the earplugs for about an hour of the movie. 3. Yes, once I put on the earplugs I noticed the movie sounded much lower, and I had to raise the volume instantly. I also could not really hear myself talking very well; I had no control over my tone. By the expression on my roommates face I knew that I was either speaking loudly or too softly. Hearing my roommates also become much harder, I had to ask them to speak louder. 4. As mentioned above I had to raise the volume and ask my roommates to speak louder, both of which were an inconvenience for them. 5. In order to compensate for the hearing loss, I raised the volume on the T.V. and moved closer to both my roommates as well as the T.V.

7 6. My roommates felt uncomfortable with the level of the volume, they felt it was too loud. They also found it strange that I asked them to repeat everything they said in a louder tone. They also seemed confused when I could not get the right tone in my voice, I would speak loudly and they would let me know I was yelling, and so I would speak lower but could not get the correct range. 7. I was very eager to remove the earplugs, and the second I did I realized how loud the T.V. was and how loud I was asking my roommates to speak. It was a very uncomfortable experience. 8. Yes, I believe that this experience was helpful. It showed me a small glimpse of what its like to really have a hearing loss, and how uncomfortable it is to not have complete control of your surroundings, when it comes to hearing. Name _D R A conversation with my boyfriend Only one hour 3. Did you or others notice any difference in your hearing and your ability to communicate? Yes, definitely I could not understand my boyfriend. I could hear that he was saying something but I kept asking him to repeat himself a lot. 5. What mechanisms did you use, if any, to compensate for your temporary problem? I had to look at him when he was talking he couldn t be looking in the other direction because I was trying to read his lips. Also, I had to have him very close to me. My boyfriend was getting really frustrated toward the end because I had asked him to repeat himself so many times. Most definitely Yes, because now I know when I m talking to older folks why they ask me to repeat myself all of the time. I also know not to look away or walk away while talking to them. Name E L I went to lunch with my sister and watched an episode of Grey s Anatomy afterwards with her 90 minutes 3. Did you or others notice any difference in your hearing and your ability to

8 communicate? Absolutely. I could not understand my sister or the waiter during lunch unless I concentrated on their lips and had them talk up a bit. While watching Grey s Anatomy I got frustrated because I love the show, knew the episode but couldn t clearly hear all the words. 5. What mechanisms did you use, if any, to compensate for your temporary problem? I used lip-reading and what little sign language my sister knew to help me communicate during my restaurant experience. I placed captionings on during the tv show I was watching and raised the volume. I think my sister became frustrated but understood. The waiter seemed annoyed that I was seated at his table with earplugs since I could normally hear. Yes! I couldn t wait to watch Grey s Anatomy without captions! I believe it was since it gave me insight into the frustrations that come with hearing disabilities. Name R F SPA4302- Hearing Loss Simulation I wore my earplugs during a road trip on Friday from Gainesville to Orlando (1). This trip lasted about an hour and a half (2). I noticed that it was harder for me to hear what my friends were saying in the front seat, and after a while they said they noticed that I was being quiet (which is unusual for me). I could hear myself really well, but I couldn t hear my friends when we were talking at the same time because my own voice was so loud. My friends voices sounded muffled/softer to me, but I could still understand it for the most part with the radio off. The radio was also on during the majority of the trip though, and that made it harder to understand my friends because of the competing stimuli. The radio covered up my friends voices (3, 4). I noticed that as the trip went on, I started sitting forward to try and catch all of my friends conversation in the front seat (5). I finally got tired of leaning forward and trying to be a part of the conversation, so I gave up and read my book instead. My friends are familiar with me wearing earplugs in loud places like clubs and football games, so they didn t really think that this experiment was odd (6). I was eager to take the earplugs out; I was getting bored and I wanted to be able to interact with my friends without having to concentrate so much (7). This was a useful experiment, mostly because it helped me understand what hearing loss is like in everyday situations (8). I realized that we take our hearing for granted, and it would affect almost every aspect of our lives if it were permanently damaged. Name: M G Questionnaire I watched television and made a meal while I was wearing earplugs. I wore the earplugs for a total of sixty minutes.

9 3. Did you or others notice any difference in your hearing and your ability to communicate? Both my roommate and I noticed a difference in my hearing and ability to communicate. I noticed that when my roommate was speaking to me I had to repeatedly ask her to speak louder. Also, my roommate noticed that I in turn was speaking louder. While watching television I had to turn the sound level up higher, so I could hear the program. While making a meal I stood close to the stove in fear that I would not hear the pot boiling when my meal was complete. I noticed frustration and some annoyance from both my roommate and I. Communication was frustrating because I would continually ask her to speak up. Watching television together was annoying because I needed the volume high in order to hear the program and having the volume at that high of a level was bothersome for my roommate. Yes, I was very eager to remove the earplugs. When I took the earplugs out I was surprised to notice such a difference in my hearing. Yes, the exercise was useful because by the end of the activity I really had a new appreciation for my intact ability to hear. Name K W I wore earplugs while watching TV today. The earplugs were in my ears for an hour during my favorite show, Project Runway. Since I was at home, my communication was not as impaired as it would be in a public area. My roommates did start talking to me a couple of times. Because they were behind me, I knew they were talking but could not really understand what they were saying. I had to turn around and watch them talk to me. After a while I think that they just didn t bother talking to me anymore. They thought that it was annoying to have to repeat everything. The talking was even harder to hear because the volume of the TV was turned up so loud so that I could hear it. It blocked out all the other noise around me. It was weird because all of my attention was directed at listening to the TV. It took so much more energy straining for ever word. My roommates thought that it was a neat activity but, like I said, thought it was annoying that they had to repeat everything. I was so ready to get the earplugs out. It was such a weird feeling to not be able to hear as clearly, It really shows how much you take good hearing for granted. It was a good activity and it was enlightening to know how people with hearing impairments feel. Name T R 1. I wore the earplugs while watching the FloridalTennessee football game on Saturday night. 2. I wore the ear plugs for a little more than an hour which was the second quarter and through halftime. 3. My hearing was extremely muffled. When I spoke to others, I was told that I was yelling and extremely loud. The environment I was in was very loud though, however, so I was still able to hear majority of what was being said, just at a different level. 4. There was still communication, but it was at a slower pace than normal in the sense that it took me an extra second to comprehend what people were saying and for me to realize that I was not speaking at a normal level when everyone else could hear me. 5. I did not use any mechanisms to compensate for my problem, because the environment was loud enough where I wasn t truly missing out on anything important. 6. The people I was with were wondering why I speaking so loud and then they adjusted their speech towards me once they realized the purpose. 7. I was extremely eager to move the earplugs because it got very annoying to not be able to comprehend how I normally do. I am very lucky to have normal hearing, and the earplugs were very bothersome at a certain point.

10 8. I think this exercise was useful because it gave you a taste of what true deaf people deal with each day. It is something I do not want to have happen to me, and if it did it would have a huge impact on my life. However, I learned that people care about their friends and would adjust their communication skills in order to better my hearing. Name E W 1) I wore the earplugs during a movie I \atched Saturday night. 2) I wore the earplugs for the first hour of the movie. 3) I did notice a difference in my hearing because I wasn t able to hear the movie as well and I tried to turn the volume up but my sister said it as too loud. M) sister noticed a difference in my hearing because I kept asking her what was being said. 4) My communication wasn t really affected except for the fact that I was talking a little louder than usual and asking more questions than I should have. 5) The mechanisms I used was sitting real close to the TV and trying to turn the volume up as loud as my sister could tolerate it. 6) My sister was a little annoyed because I asked her a couple of times what was going on or what was being said. 7) Yes I was eager to remove the earplugs because I was able to clearly understand the last half of the movie. 8) Yes it was useful because now I know what it is like to have a hearing loss. I feel like I know what my mom is going through because she has a little bit of a hearing loss and I felt like her during the movie with the asking too many questions. Hopefully I will become more cautious so I do not develop a hearing loss when I am older. Name C V I wore the plugs at a concert in Orlando at The House of Blues. I wore them for two 30-minute intervals at the concert. 3. Did you or others notice any difference in your hearing and your ability to communicate? Yes, it was very different hearing everything and my ability to communicate was altered. It was a little hard to understand what the others were saying to me. And the lyrics was not clear. I started to look at the person s lips when being spoken for. I also leaned in closer to have them speak directly into my ear. At first the people I was with were making fun of me and calling me a dork, but after I gave them a little insight on how damaging the concert was, the eased up. I also noticed that the people I was with were pretty much yelling at me to understand them. I was not eager at the beginning, but after having to lean in on every conversation to hear what was being said to me, I was ready to take them out. Also, when my favorite band came on stage, I wanted to take them out so I could hear them clearly. Yes, I thought this exercise was very useful. It gave me a realization on how fortunate I am to have normal hearing.

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