What is the best
way to communicate with someone who has hearing loss?
Although each person may have their own communication needs
and preferences, there are some things you can do to improve
communication no matter what the situation. The most important
rules for good communication include:
- Make sure you have the other person’s attention
and are face-to-face
- Speak clearly and more slowly, but do not shout or exaggerate
your mouth movements
- Rephrase rather than repeat if something is not understood
- Verify understanding when in doubt by having the other
person repeat back to you what they heard
Isn’t it true that people with hearing loss automatically
become good lipreaders?
No. While people with hearing loss do rely more heavily
on gestures and facial expressions to understand meaning,
people vary widely in their ability to speechread. Even with
practice, research shows that only 3 out of 10 words in English
can be speechread clearly. Hard of hearing people often take
speechreading classes to increase their understanding of a
conversation but need to use it with a number of other techniques.
And, a person’s ability to speechread effectively can
depend greatly on lighting, how stressed or tired they are,
the position of the speaker and several other factors over
which they may have no control.
Is American Sign Language really that different from English?
American Sign Language, or ASL, has been recognized internationally
as a distinct and fully developed language, having unique
linguistic characteristics and grammatical structure. It is
not merely “simplified English”. For many deaf
individuals who use ASL as their native language, English
is truly a foreign language to them, and if they have not
been raised or taught to be bi-lingual, they may struggle
to read or write in English. This difficulty has nothing to
do with their intelligence or abilities, but is simply the
result of a language barrier.
Isn’t it always better to speak louder to someone
with hearing loss?
No. Many hard of hearing people report that they can “hear”
but cannot understand the words people are saying because
they may have a high frequency hearing loss and can no longer
hear consonants, which are the keys to clearly understanding
speech. (Words such as blue, shoe, true and too all sound
like “oo” to a person with a pronounced high frequency
hearing loss). Often, shouting only serves to distort the
sound of your voice and makes it even more difficult for a
hard of hearing person to understand what is being said. Enunciating
without over-exaggerating mouth movement is often more effective
than shouting at a person with hearing loss.
Do you have a question about hearing loss?
If so, email the Webmaster with your question
and it may be chosen for inclusion on this page.
|
