Hearing Loss Matters
Joining in church fellowship : John Barnardt’s story
May
John Barnardt first became known to NCPD when he approached Fanie du Toit to discuss ways in which he could help to make a difference in the lives of individuals experiencing hearing loss, similar to himself, and was encouraged to join a group providing peer support to each other on their hearing loss journey.
John was diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of 2 and received his first behind-the-ear hearing aid 7 years later. He relied on lip-reading throughout his school and university education, receiving his 2nd hearing aid just before he began employment at the age of 27. Gradual deterioration of his hearing over the years resulted in profound hearing loss, until he underwent surgery for bilateral cochlear implants in 2015, with mixed results. Since his retirement to Onrusrivier in 2024, John has committed his efforts to assisting others with hearing impairments to navigate life and their business careers.
An important part of his life was sharing in the joy of Christian fellowship, but the services at his spiritual home, the Dutch Reformed church in Onrusrivier, like most churches, was not ideally accessible and did not make provision for people with hearing loss, making participation extremely difficult. The area is known for being an ideal place in which to retire, and John noticed that a substantial number of community and congregation members wore hearing devices.
He therefore approached the Church leaders to discuss possibilities of improving the sermon experience for hearing impaired persons.
Following a number of discussions with the church leadership, (A WhatsApp group “Ons wil hoor” was formed between John and the Church leaders to speed up communication), John was given a mandate to investigate systems which assist individuals with hearing impairment. A natural choice was to chat to Fanie du Toit around the various options available for this particular need. After considering a number of systems in use globally, the Church Leadership group decided that the induction loop system would best suit this need in a local community in South Africa.
Representatives from NCPD and their Provincial office, the Western Cape Association of and for Persons with Disabilities (WCAPD), met on-site with the church leaders to assess the Church building’s lighting, acoustics & audio systems, as well as flooring to assess suitability of the premises for suitability for those with hearing impairments.
Once these insights were received, investigations could begin as to what specific system would be best suited to the venue. A seasoned hearing system supplier was contracted to install the system in the entire church, including merging it with the current sound system without interfering with that technology. John was the happy “aid- wearer guinea pig” who walked the floor during installation to listen to the impact/sound at various floor locations in the church – the first time he had used the activated “T-coil” function in his cochlear implants.
John said of this experience, “An immediate, although imperfect, audio experience was noticeable. On the second day of “fine tuning” of the new audio loop system, the improvement in sound quality as paired with the “telecoil” function of my hearing aids, was profound!”
On the day after John’s first Sunday service using the loop system, he sent NCPD a cryptic WhatsApp message which said “I am overjoyed! First church service in my entire life that I could follow word for word. THANK YOU to our Lord God who has made this possible.”
The use of technology-based systems to enhance audience-based hearing experience for persons with hearing impairment is in many instances a novel idea for many South Africans – specifically the concept of public hearing assistance that is not merely amplification of sound. This requires much more awareness, amongst the general public and healthcare workers alike.
NCPD’s approach regarding accessibility of venues and services for persons who have hearing loss includes, among others: loop systems, good sound systems, natural lighting, illumination, as well as the reduction of background noise and good acoustics. The Hearing Loss Matters programme focusses on raising awareness amongst faith communities of the many persons with hearing loss who do not attend a place of worship as they cannot follow the service, either in full or in part. There remains a tremendous amount of ignorance in South Africa around the existence of loop systems and their benefits, and given that technologies to address hearing in public places are also changing very rapidly, sometimes healthcare practitioners do not advise their patients that this technology exists as so few venues are looped. On the other hand, other countries around the world are far ahead in the campaigning for and installation of loop systems.
Additional resources: