Adjusting to Disability: Navigating the Progression of Hearing Loss Disability With Self-Compassion

Abstract

Management and organization studies have begun to recognize the embodied, relational, and structural challenges that disabled employees encounter in the workplace. However, existing research has primarily focused on employees with already established disabilities, limiting our understanding of how employees cope with the onset and progression of an invisible disability. To address this gap, our study examines the experiences of 50 UK-based employees following the onset of hearing loss. Drawing on the theory of self-compassion, our findings illustrate how they notice the onset of their disability, how the progression of hearing loss makes them feel, and what actions they take to alleviate associated suffering. Our main contribution is highlighting the progression of an invisible disability at work, by revealing nonlinear self-compassion trajectories, and showing how self-compassion fosters advocacy for self and others.