Communicating with the Hearing Impaired

There are so many people who are hard of hearing and hearing loss has been so rampant, that it’s not surprising to encounter someone with the problem. It must be remembered that the hearing impaired has special needs when it comes to communication, considering they cannot hear clearly. If you know somebody with hearing loss, then there are a few things that you must consider if you are going to share a moment of conversation with them.

1. Come close to them and don’t shout from a distance because this will make them feel awkward about themselves or they may not understand you. Also, some people with developing hearing loss develop sound sensitivity that your yell can become excruciatingly loud for them.
2. Speak clearly! Many people fail to discern that hearing loss isn’t uniform in all sound frequencies, as there are usually certainly frequencies that may not be quite audible. This causes problems understanding speech, a problem which is even worsened by inability of most people hard of hearing from understanding certain vowels and consonant sounds. As a result, you must speak clearly and slowly to a person with hearing loss.
3. Don’t engage in conversation in noisy places because the hearing impaired will most likely understand nothing. People with developing hearing loss will have serious difficulty understanding speech in background noise, so having conversations in restaurants and public, crowded places can become a bit troublesome.
4. Never shout in their ears! That’s probably the last thing to enter your mind. Loud shouting in one’s ears can aggravate their inner ear damage.

 
Hearing loss may be accompanied by tinnitus. Latest treatment still includes hearing aids and cochlear implants. 

Tips for making co-workers comfortable with deafness and hearing loss – by Elisabeth Mcgrath – Helium: