From the beginning of school in 1968 to her work here at Consumers Energy Bee Hale has beaten the odds and advocated for equal treatment. Listen as she shares her story of overcoming her disabilities to live her life.
From the beginning of school in 1968 to her work here at Consumers Energy Bee Hale has beaten the odds and advocated for equal treatment. Listen as she shares her story of overcoming her disabilities to live her life.
Bill Krieger (Host)
Hello, everyone and welcome to mi u us a wellbeing podcast. It's another wellbeing Wednesday here at Consumers Energy. And I'm your host bill Krieger. Today, my guest is B. Hale, she's a customer service representative here at Consumers Energy. So be, if you'll Introduce yourself, we'll get the conversation started.
Bee Hale (Guest)
Hi, my name is Barb Hale, I go by B, I've worked for consumes energy for 29 years in the customer service department. upwards to about, I'm gonna say 15 years ago, I was on the phone. After that time I was doing most of the paperwork in email, the company is back then I cannot hear well enough to be able to take an emergency phone call or understand customers over the phone. So basically, my my duties right now are limited to paperwork in.
Bill Krieger (Host)
Okay, so if you could kind of talk a little bit about so when you first start working for consumers energy, you were in the call center, you were working the phones, and then something happened were you experienced some hearing loss.
Bee Hale (Guest)
Um, I started in consumer, I started on the phones just like a regular customer service representative. And then in 2000, after I had had foot surgery, I started to get tendinitis, which is a constant buzzing in your ears. You get used to it after a while, but it still gets to be annoying from time to time, depending on what the barometric pressure is. Higher the pressure, the louder the noise gets. Or if there's a lot of background noise, the head noise gets louder. So it makes it very difficult to understand people in 2004 and want to see a specialist that that then deals directly with just ears in hearing issues. At that time, he had discovered that that was a tumor attached to the hearing nerve from my left ear. At that time, he decided that we would just watch it because it was supposed to be a quote, slow growing tumor, which ended up actually doubling in size in two years. So at that point, he had to remove it. And I have two choices, I could either have it surgically removed or I could have it. But I want to call it shot radiation. The problem already with that is I was a little bit nervous, because it had less than half a percent chance of getting a brain tumor from the radiation. And then 45 years old, they did not have enough data from reading the radiation treatment to actually be able to back that up. That would not have any trouble with any type of brain cancer. Later on in life. Most people in this situation are usually 65 and older. So being 45, I had an extra 20 years there that they had no no information. So I opted to have the surgery and have it surgically removed. Now because the left ear was always my primary ear because I could not hear out of the right year. This was very important that I tried to preserve the hearing in that ear. So what he did is he tried to leave a little bit of the tumor to preventing disturbing the nerve itself. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. And I lost all of my hearing over the left ear which meant that I then had to wear a hearing aid and right here so that I was able to understand people because without my hearing aid I'm completely deaf. I mean 95% so after the surgery, I had a lot of head pressure and felt like I was wearing bathing Yep, I my brain and I had a lot of migraine headaches for two years. So to your point the tumor started growing again. Only this time it was going around the nerve and then out like an actual tumor. The problem with this is if the if it ever got to the point where it hits the facial nerve, which is part of the three nerves that are are combined with the balancing of the hearing and hearing Here's the facial nerve, I was like I had a stroke. And we didn't want that to happen either. So what that meant is I had to actually go back and have the Gamma Knife surgery done. It's not invasive, but it's very, very technical, I have to be able to pinpoint it exactly as far as where they're going to shoot the radiation, to be able to bless that tumor, and kill it to the point where it's not going to grow anymore. After that point, I mean, almost immediately, I no longer had the head pressure, I no longer had migraines, I no longer have the dizziness. So that took care of my lesson long there is go ahead and take the risk if you need a gamma knife first, and avoid the surgery altogether. But it's 2020 hindsight. At that point, or the year before, we had determined that I could not hear well enough to be on the phone. And that's when they took me off the phone. So in 2005, I believe, is when I started doing paperwork. Now luckily, because I had been here long enough, which would have been
13 years at that point, I had enough background, and enough experience and enough training, that I was able to move on and just do the paperwork in email. At that time, we had email for both presidential customers, in our business customers, we are now women, most of our on emailed to our small business customers that have any questions in regard to their bills, or if they need any adjustments, or move in.
Bill Krieger (Host)
I wanted to ask you many times when we think of things that we call disability are differently abled, we think of things that we can see like someone may be in a wheelchair, or they may walk differently, or they may look differently. But in your case, with hearing loss, that's not something that people can necessarily see. So how is that impacted you through through your life through this period of time where you've had the hearing loss, and may not be able to hear as well as you used to,
Bee Hale (Guest)
you usually have to remind people that I can't understand them unless they're facing me so that I can read their lips. That's been extremely difficult over the last year with everybody wearing a mask, it's basically very difficult for me to understand what people are saying and let's say enunciate very clearly and speak up to the point where I can actually understand them. Because I don't have a speech impediment with my hearing. Hearing loss, a lot of people forget that I can't hear them. And that becomes a problem as well. So I have to I have to be I've learned to speak up and be able to tell people that I I can't hear you unless you're looking at it's very hard for me to understand anything that is transmission is transmitted electronically. That would be phone, a microphone, speaker, anything that I cannot see, or I can hear you are connected to your lips. So I can't read your lips. And I can't understand what you're saying.
Bill Krieger (Host)
And, you know, that was a challenge for us to do this podcast, we were talking about this. And fortunately, within teams, we can use the transcript service so that you can see what I'm saying. And we don't necessarily have to be face to face. But not a lot of people know that within teams, there is the service that will transcribe your speech so that those who are hearing impaired can see what you're saying. So that's been very helpful. For me, that's something I learned through talking with you.
Bee Hale (Guest)
Yeah, a lot of people aren't aware of the fact that that the closed caption does work on teams, and it works out very well, especially when we have a lot of virtual meetings now because everybody's working from home in a call center. So it's nice that I can be able to understand what everybody's saying in a meeting. Without having too much difficulty. I kind of hesitate to go back to the office and have to sit in a room with everybody. Because I won't be able to see some people when they speak if you're in a large table in several people entertainment. So for me it's to my advantage to be able to use teams in almost any instance when it comes to me. And yeah, so I had a couple of things similar Seto actually asked me how how to set it up so that they can they can let other people know. Now, as people age, their hearing kind of decreases. And once you get to the point of like 60, you don't actually, you don't actually realize how much hearing you have lost between the time you're 16. And when you retire. And this comes to an advantage, because you'll be able to use it to captioning as well. You don't have to be 100% Deaf to me, too to be using. Because caffeine, I know I use the closed captioning on my TV at home, that I can understand what you're saying on TV. And then a lot of times that bothers people because they don't like to see the word happiness underneath them. But after a while you get used to it. And it almost becomes second nature.
Bill Krieger (Host)
Well, and that's also good to know, very easy to set up on it on a TV, as you know, the month of October is disabilities and employment month, but also, our employee resource group capable, has their annual conference, the abilities in Action Conference. And so I want to talk a little bit about your experience prior to consumers energy. And when we talked before we actually went all the way back to 1968, when you had started school, and something else, the audience and maybe even some of the folks that you work with may not know is that you also have cerebral palsy. And because of that, and because of the way that we treated people who were different, back in the in the 60s and early 70s, even before that, normally someone with cerebral palsy and other conditions would have been institutionalized, but you had a different experience. So could you talk a little bit about your experience when you were a child and what happened with school?
Bee Hale (Guest)
Sure, um, when I was with I have an older brother and an older sister, so they went to the same elementary school that I went to. So my mother was a mother, which meant that she went in and help the teacher when Ed Harvey sort of the teacher needs some assistance. You know, with help, some of the students should go in and help. So um, I was usually around the school. And so the principal got to know me quite well. Now, in 1968, they were so encouraging that this was able to be sent to school over on the eastern side of the state, my parents did not want to send me with this. So I'm at that point, the principal of the elementary school that I went to, was extremely confident, in fact that I would be able to keep up with the rest of the kids, because my disability isn't really that my disability is limited to from my hips down. So most of it is coordination and muscle muscle coordination, and walking. So as far as my cognitive skills, I am just as normal as anybody else. So she didn't have a problem with the school district, the school district in the school board, didn't want me to serve school, because I was disabled. While she kind of overrode that, and decided that I would be able to go to school just like anybody else. So I started kindergarten in 1968, which is four years before mainstreaming started in most schools. So you might say, I was a four one on the mainstreaming issues. My kindergarten year, my teacher did not want me in her class, she did not want to have anything to do with my disability. And she didn't have any idea how to handle anybody with a disability. So it took her a while but because my disability was not very severe, it was easier for her to adapt to them. And I think that was a learning process for her. So it didn't end up being that bad. But it was still the fact that I had that barrier, where she was not wanting to make any combinations. That's when we found out that I did have a hearing problem with my right here. She didn't want anything to do, man. She didn't care where I sat in the room. My mother had specifically put a note in my in my school file that said, I had to sit up at the front of the class on the right hand side to a game without any problems. No, she didn't want anything to do with that. Now my first grade teacher was totally the opposite because she had a handicap song. So she was willing to work with me, she understood that I had limitations, and that there may be some things that I needed help with. But she also truly mean just like any other student in the class. So that was my that was like night and day compared to kindergarten. So going through school, it was kind of hard for teachers to be able to adapt to me, because in elementary school, I could not go outside. So I had to stay inside. So the teacher usually had to come up with a project for me to work on. While the rest of the kids were outside. Sometimes it was a little more difficult than others, depending on what she needed done. That's when my creativity came into play, I have to recreate some of the poster board game room, or making flashcards or whatever she needed done that, you know, it was a little bit busy work that she didn't have time for. So over the years, and
the teachers had learned, what I couldn't, couldn't do, and what my limitations were. And in most part, I didn't have that many limitations. As far as my school was in the fact that I was in a very good school. After elementary school, I had a hard time adjusting to middle school. Because everybody there just like any, any, any other studio was no exception, there was no any soft treatment, you might say, I was just like any other kid, and they want to get adjusted to. So Middle School for me was not fun. It was more of a struggle to get through to find my own identity, and accept who I was, at that point is being handicap. And it did take me probably the rest of my school life. From sixth grade until I graduated. Before I understood that having the teachers in elementary school kind of treat me differently. Because of the fact that I had a handicap may have not been the best. In my interest. as I progressed on interview, into middle school in high school,
Bill Krieger (Host)
I want to go back a little bit. When we were talking about grade school and starting out in school. There's something that kind of struck me here, and it's that your particular disability did not did not impact your cognitive function. You were just like any other student when it came to that, but it sounds like really, it wasn't a limitation that you had it was the expectation or limitations that teachers would place on you because they were uncomfortable with you, because it's not something that normally happened in school was to have someone who was differently abled. How did that impact you? Because it's not you it was really, it was really about them.
Bee Hale (Guest)
I think in that in that aspect, I did very well, because I adapted to that I was not easily offended by somebody that wasn't comfortable with me being around, I just let it roll off my back. Because I figured there's a lot of people that don't have any content with a disabled person on a day to day basis, and it gets to be very uncomfortable. They don't know how to react to this person. They don't know how this person's going to react to them. They don't know how to treat this person, do they need to be a little more careful with them? Are they fragile? Are they going to understand what you're saying? There's a lot of things because people just don't understand this ability. And each disability is a little bit different. So you know, the only way you're going to learn what to expect from this disabled person is to ask them, you need to be lowest sensitive to what you're asking, but not too sensitive. trying to think of an example. I mean, I had an old lady that I used to work with. And she would not stay in the room with me alone. If there were other people in the room, she was okay with that. But if everybody else got up and went back to work, and it was just me and her, she wouldn't get up for me every single time because she didn't know how to handle or how to talk to me as a normal person. Because I had this disability. And to me, I kind of found that I found that a little bit funny, because I'm just like any other person. There's no other there's no other difference when you're talking to me. I mean, yes, I can't walk. I can't if you were to take a walk down that hallway, it's gonna take me a little bit more time than it does and when you're frustrated. But if you're just gonna sit here and talk to me, no matter what your basis, just like a regular conversation. There's no limit. There's no barrier, as far as I could see, as far as me understanding what you're saying, or for me to be able to talk to you and have you understand what I'm saying.
Bill Krieger (Host)
So If we think about when you were back in middle school, which, okay, middle school is difficult enough? Because kids, for whatever reason, sometimes kids in middle school aren't very friendly. But as you made it through middle school in high school, do you think that as well as you being a, really, honestly a pioneer in mainstreaming, do you think that maybe you taught people some things along the way, about yourself and about themselves?
Bee Hale (Guest)
Yeah, because the kids used to teach me in elementary school about being treated differently than than them. Because I was disabled. And by tablet at the middle school, the kids that I went to elementary school with, I was just not a kid that didn't bother them at all. I didn't have that much problem with with kids, kids usually adapt pretty easily. And it's kind of funny, because if you run into a smaller kid, like a toddler, they'll come up and tell you, why do you work for me? And then my mom goes, Well, don't ask her that. It's like, No, that's okay. They're young, they need to learn this stuff. I don't have a problem with answering it. Or is it but Nicole says that, I might get a little more offended? Depending on how they asked the question. If they asked me what my disability is, that's fine. But if you're gonna ask me why I walk funny, and you're an adult? I don't think that's an appropriate question.
Bill Krieger (Host)
I can completely understand that your children are amazing, because they're not afraid, sometimes to ask those hard questions. I know there are many times when my children were younger, where they would ask questions, maybe not how I would have asked them, but people were always understanding because they were kids. And they just they just wanted to know there was no ill intent there at all. They just curious, I guess. But you're right, as an adult, there may be a much better way to ask those questions.
Bee Hale (Guest)
You know, now that I know that I'm transgender, transitioning into a wheelchair, I don't think it's that hard anymore, because there are more and more disabled people out in public, where people are used to seeing people in public in wheelchairs, or walkers or with braces. So today isn't quite as hard to transition into, as I get older, as it would have been when I was younger. Because even the adults when I was younger, when I used to have seen disabled people, and that made them more uncomfortable, or the wrong line from from 1960. Until now, I'm going to say there's been a lot of progress in people accepting and disabled people in general. And then some cases, they accepted more personal on a personal basis, depending on who they are, and how well Am I get to know the person nowadays, I think it's much easier to accept a disabled person than it was back in the 60s.
Bill Krieger (Host)
And you really grew up all through all of those changes. And I can imagine what you have seen in all those different areas, some good and some bad but but mostly good changes throughout the years. So be we are coming up to the end of the podcast on these conversations tend to go a lot faster than then you think that they are the time flies. But before we go, is there anything that you would like to share with the audience? Sure.
Bee Hale (Guest)
Don't be afraid of a disabled person just because they look different, or they have the voice that you're not used to give to normal person before you judge them as more than likely they're going to be just just normal people just like you, they just have a few more challenges than you knew. And they have learned how to overcome those challenges to make them like a little bit easier. And to make it a little bit easier for you to be more comfortable. If you have a question, don't don't hesitate to ask the question. Just remember to ask it in a more tactful way than being straightforward.
Bill Krieger (Host)
All right. Well, thank you for sharing that with the audience. And thank you for talking about your life because it's it's been very interesting hearing about some of the differences and also some of the ways that we're all the same. I appreciate you taking the time today to be on the podcast. And I look forward to doing this again sometime in the future. Thank you.
Bee Hale (Guest)
You're welcome, man. Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to do this. To let people know, disability and learn any different than any other person. It's just a little bit more challenging.
Bill Krieger (Host)
And thank you to the audience for tuning in today. Remember, you can subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcasting platform. And be sure to take a few minutes and fill out our survey to let us know How we're doing that can be found at HTTP, colon slash slash bi T dot L y slash me, dash y o u dash us. And remember to tune in every Wednesday when we talk about the things that impact your personal