Communicating with people who suffer from hearing loss
Communicating with someone who suffers from hearing loss can be difficult at times. Wearing hearing aids can help a person with hearing loss understand conversation better. Nonetheless, there are events such as crowded restaurants or stadiums in which hearing aids alone cannot provide sufficient help in following a conversation. In addition, not all hearing loss warrants a fitting of a hearing aid. Therefore, learning a variety of communication strategies will help someone with a hearing loss better understand you. Commonly known as “communication tactics”, they are useful for everyone, regardless if you have a hearing loss or if you wear a hearing aid. Keep in mind communication involves at least two people: a speaker who sends the message and a listener who receives the message. You, as a member of this communications pair, can enhance the conversation by following a few simple strategies:
1. Attention:
Get the listener's attention before you start speaking, for example, say their name. If the person with hearing loss hears better in one ear, go to that side of the person. Also consider lightly touching the listener's hand, arm, or shoulder for attention. Let them turn around and look at you before you start speaking. These simple gestures prepare the hearing loss individual to listen and not miss the start of a conversation.
2. Maintain eye contact:
Face the person who has a hearing loss and make eye contact. You can "see" a person's emotion, joy, confusion, or frustration by observing their facial expressions or body language. Your facial expressions and body language add vital information to the message you wish to be conveyed.
3. Keep your hands away from your face:
When you are speaking, try to keep your hands away from your face. This will produce clearer speech and allow the listener to use these visual cues.
In addition, most listeners can improve their perception by seeing the speaker's face, also known as speechreading. Speechreading helps improve speech recognition. You can “see” many hard to hear sounds. For example, the sound “s” is very hard to hear but can be easily lip read. In addition, it is important not to talk with food in your mouth or chew gum when talking to a person with a hearing loss.
4. Speak naturally:
Speak clearly without exaggeration. You do not need to shout. Shouting distorts words. Try not to mutter as this is very difficult to understand even for people with normal hearing. Use pauses instead of speaking slowly to give the person time to process the speech. Give clues as you change the subject, for instance, saying "next topic or new theme”, allows for people with hearing loss to keep up with the conversation.
5. Rephrase instead of repeating:
If the listener is having difficulty in understanding something you said, repeat it once again. If they still have difficulty understanding, find a different way of saying it. Rephrase sentences with the same meaning. For instance: "Dinner is ready" to "Time for dinner ". If he or she did not understand the words the first time, try to rephrase instead of repeat. Another option is to ask what the person did not understand and simply repeat the sentence or word.
6. Avoid background noise:
Try to reduce background noise when speaking. Turn off the radio or television. Move into a quiet space away from the noise source. When you go to a restaurant or make a dinner reservation, ask for a table away from the kitchen, server stations or large parties.
7. Good lighting is important:
A person with hearing loss can read speech to help them hear easier, so it is important they can see your face clearly. Sit near a light source so your facial expressions and lips can be easily read.
8. Use an app to translate from spoken word to written word or use text messages:
Several downloadable applications allow you to speak on a smartphone and convert your speech to written words for people with a hearing loss to read. For instance, Dragon Dictation. It is a voice recording app that records and converts verbal information into text. The use of text messaging is also an efficient use to complement communication.
Hearing aids give people with hearing loss access to daily sounds in life; however, they do not return the user's hearing to normal. This means that although the user can hear your voice, they may still have difficulty understanding some words. Implementing clear speech, optimizing visual cues are essential. Remember to be kind and patient when communicating with someone with a hearing loss. There may be times when you need to repeat, rephrase, simplify, or write what you are trying to say. If you feel frustrated, try to empathize and imagine how the person with hearing loss feels. At Attune Hearing, we understand the frustration of keeping up with conversation when you have a hearing loss. If the strategies stated above are not helpful for you, give one of our friendly staff a call to discuss alternate strategies or call us to book a thorough hearing assessment to check if you are getting the most out of the world of hearing.
