If you have a friend or associate who is Hard of Hearing, there are a lot of simple things you can do to help them communicate better. Expect them to do everything they can to hear and understand you, but check out these simple things you can do to help them.
Get Their Attention:
Make sure the Hard of Hearing Person knows you are talking to them. Tap them on the shoulder; wave your hand ; or say their name until you have their attention … before starting the conversation.
Make the Subject Clear:
Establish the subject at the start of the conversation and whenever you change subjects.
Don’t shout:
Raising your voice doesn’t usually help … it’s the consonants that most Hard of Hearing people miss, and shouting only makes the vowels louder.
Don’t exaggerate your Lip Movements:
Speech reading is difficult; only about 30 percent of the sounds are clearly recognizeable. Exaggerating your lip movements just interfers with speech reading.
Use Appropriate Gestures
There are lots of appropriat e gestures that will help anyone you are talking with better understand you. Your head motion can clearly indicate “Yes” or “No” . Shrugged shoulders indicate uncertainty, a pointing finger calls attention to something. All these are examples of gestures that help convey meaning.
Use Appropriate Facial Expressions
A smile, frown, raised eyebrow, or a furrowed brow all convey meaning that can help a Hard of Hearing person to understand what you are saying.
Cut Out Background Noises:
Turn off the television or radio if one is playing. Turn off fans or air conditioners if they are interferring. Hard of Hearing people are usually not able to filter those sounds out to hear your words clearly.
Face the Person You are Talking With:
Even peopl e with normal hearing use speech reading to fill in what they don’t hear. Hard of Hearing People rely on it; the must have a clear view of your face and lips … trim your mustashe … spit out your gum … keep your hands away from your mouth.
Rephrase:
Don’t just repeat when someone didn’t understand … rephrase in simpler words.
Ask for Confirmation:
Hard of Hearing people rely a great deal on context … sometimes they may not understand exactly what is said, but will not interrupt the conversation … hoping that what you say next will clarify what they missed. If what you said is important, ask for confirmation … not just a nod, but enough of a playback to assure that your message was understood.
Don’t Give Up:
Hard of Hearing people really want to hear what you have to say. They will appreciate your perserverance. There is nothing more discouraging than “Never Mind!” or “It wasn’t really important!”.
These words of advice were taken from the Beyond Hearing Web Support Pages
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/4727/bhframe.htm
Some of us may have heard of FM listening systems being used for hearing-impaired children in schools; others may have heard of inductive loop for mobile phones. These and others come under the category of assistive listening devices or ALD in short, which enhances hearing capabilities for persons with hearing loss.
The following is a useful collection of Questions and Answers on ALDs:
http://www.assistivetech.net/at_reports/assistive_listening_devices.php
Here’s another resource that discusses the pros and cons of each type of ALD:
http://ej.gaetc.net/technical/assistive/assistive.htm
Coping Strategies for the Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing (HOH)
It is a noisy world out there for those of us wearing hearing aids. When we need to hear others, we have to take control of our hearing situation because others will not know how to accommodate us. This page is aimed at those deaf/hoh who are oral. We use our residual hearing to hear, and we all lip-read to a greater or lesser extent.
This collection of tips work for many people. To what extent they work for you, will depend a lot on your degree of hearing loss and compensating ability to lip-read.
It is just unavoidable that we need to highlight our disability if we want people to accommodate us. People are generally helpful, though they need constant reminding. It is our own embarrassment that we need to overcome.
If your hearing has gotten worse or you have changed jobs, you may need to tell your colleagues how to communicate with you. You could send them an email like this: http://deafboleh.com/blog/2006/08/27/a-letter-to-colleagues/
Pick your best spot
Arrive early at meetings and sit where you can hear and see best. Sit in the front row at briefings and lectures. If you favour one ear, try to keep the meeting chairman or the main speaker on that side.
We eat with company, typically at hawker centres which are notoriously noisy. Try to choose a seat to favour your better ear. Fast food outlets and medium-priced restaurants are no quieter. If there is a choice, you might prefer sitting outdoors where there is no ceiling and walls to reflect sound and you hear much better. At social gatherings, try to go a quieter spot and call people there to talk to you. It is not possible to participate in the main crowd gathered around the coffee table.
Specify what help you need
People generally want to help but they have to be told specifically how. When meeting people, you could say “I am deaf/hoh. Would you mind speaking a little clearer and slower. I need to face you to hear you. I may need you to repeat yourself sometimes.” Find your own combination that you are comfortable with. When talking with a group, here are some further pointers to tell them:
- Tell them you can miss things if you don’t know who is talking. Ask them to get your attention before they start to talk.
- Tell them that you can’t hear if more than one person is talking at the same time. Ask that only one person talk at a time.
- Tell them that quick topic changes often cause you to lose the thread. Ask that they help you understand the topic.
- Tell them that you read lips, so it’s important for you to be able to see their face.
- It is better to interrupt and remind people politely at the beginning of a conversation, rather than wait to get frustrated after missing a lot. (However, if it is a big meeting, this is going to be difficult so just expect to miss a lot.)
Specify repeats
If you miss hearing something in a conversation, avoid just saying “What?” or “Huh?” Rather, tell the other person what you did hear and then ask him to repeat the part that you missed. For example, say: “You are going on a trip to where?” or “What is the reason again that you cannot come for the meeting?”
Fall back on writing
Email and sms are available for us to fall back on and sometimes they can be a big help. After a work meeting, you could send the other party an email to confirm what was agreed on. Some hard of hearing people who are unable to use the phone fall back on internet chat.
Do not bluff
This tip is important because many hard of hearing people try to hide their hearing loss. This is a BIG mistake. It doesn’t fool anyone, and it can make us look stupid. It is much better to be recognized as hard of hearing than to appear stupid. Most people are happy to help someone with a hearing loss, but less inclined to help someone they perceive as stupid.
Reduce background noise
It is background noise that defines our hearing problem. At a social occasion, ask for the TV or stereo to be turned off. Similarly, in a car.
Use good hearing aids
Make sure you have (and know how to use) the best hearing aids you can get. If you aren’t making reasonable efforts to overcome your hearing loss, why should anyone else try to help?
Never give up
Making the most of our hearing is difficult and takes a lot out of us. It’s up to us to understand what we need and make sure others know what they can do to help. When someone says, “Never mind” or “It wasn’t important”, don’t get angry, explain to them that what they said is important to you.
The writer of this page welcomes any comments or advice.
Gerard Francis
On deafboleh.com forum
Hard of hearing, profound on the right and 60dB on the left with a ski-slope from 2kHz, digital BTE.
This fund was launched in July 2006 by MCYS, and supported by NCSS and WDA. It’s targeted at helping companies implement job redesign, workplace modification, training and integration programmes in relation to hiring persons with disabilities. SNEF is responsible for administering this fund.
For more information, please refer to http://www.sgemployers.com/public/jobredesign1/index.jsp
The National Council of Social Service offers financial assistance in the form of Assistive Technology Fund which subsidizes up to 90% of the cost of device or S$10,000, whichever is lower. This is for students and persons working or about to work in open job market. Conditions apply.
For more information, please refer to the following link:
http://www.ncss.org.sg/ncss/social_services/atf.html
The following article contains useful information about the various types of hearing aids available so that prospective hearing aid user can make an informed decision.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hearing-aids/HQ00812
The following is an informative article for persons with hearing loss. It explores the various supplementary options to hearing with hearing aids, and discusses the pros and cons of each option. Recommended reading for those who want to maximise their hearing experience.
http://www.hearingresearch.org/Dr.Ross/Hearing%20Assistance%20Technologies.htm
