Businesses Support Deaf Awareness Week

It is Deaf Awareness Week (1-7 May 2023) and RNID, the charity suppor ting people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus are calling on ever yone to be deaf aware!

People who are deaf or have hearing loss have individual communication needs and you should ask how best you can communicate with them

RNID is encouraging people to use E A R to help them remember simple tips they can use to make communication easier :

ENVIRONMENT – reduce background noise or move to a quieter area And make sure the room is well lit if the person relies on lipreading

ATTENTION – use simple gestures such as pointing, waving or a light tap on the shoulder to get someone ’ s attention Face the person you ’ re speaking to so they can lipread, and speak to them, not their interpreter or anyone else with them

REPEAT AND REPHRASE – if someone doesn’t understand you, tr y repeating what you said or rephrasing it in a different way If this doesn’t work, you could write it down, or speak to a friend or relative if they ask you to

Following E A R can make the difference between your friend, family or colleague being par t of the conversation or left struggling on the side-lines

For suppor t or information, please visit rnid org uk