How to Communicate Effectively With the Deaf and Hard of Hearing It is likely that you know or are close to someone who is deaf or hard of hearing. It may seem like, because these people cannot hear, that they cannot communicate at all. But this idea is quite false. Deaf people may communicate differently than hearing people, but they can still communicate.
How the Hard of Hearing Communicate They communicate physically and visually rather than verbally and audibly. Most deaf people can communicate through sign language, which is a language they speak with their hands. Deaf people can usually also read lips, so that can help them communicate with hearing people and with other deaf people. If you’re struggling to tell if someone is deaf or hard of hearing, you can usually tell by looking to see if they’re wearing a hearing aid or not. The hard of hearing will usually be wearing a hearing aid, but this is not always true. Some of them can’t or simply refuse to wear hearing aids. Completely deaf people will not be wearing a hearing aid. If you want to communicate more effectively with someone you know who is deaf, you do not necessarily need to learn sign language.
How to Communicate with the Hard of Hearing There are other ways you can communicate with those who are deaf or hard of hearing. The first thing you should do when trying to talk to a deaf person is to make sure you get their attention. One of the best ways to do this is through eye contact. If your eyes meet, it can be easier for you to make it clear that you want to talk. If you cannot make eye contact with the person you want to talk to, try lightly tapping them to get their attention. Of course it is not appropriate to poke or prod them, but a light tap is considered acceptable in the deaf community. Usually the shoulder is a fine place to tap someone you do not know very well. Another thing you’ll want to do is to stay in the person’s field of vision. Make sure you’re both standing or you’re both sitting. You want them to be able to see your face and hands as clearly as possible.
If you are inside, make sure there is enough light for them to see you. If you are outside, make sure you position yourself in a place where the sun is not in the eyes and you are not in shadow. The next thing you can do is to start speaking in a normal tone and at a normal volume. If you try to speak more loudly than usual, this will distort your lip movement and make it harder for the person to lip read. Talking more loudly is only effective when the person is hard of hearing, but it still draws attention to your conversation and can make that person feel uncomfortable. If you want to communicate better with someone you love who is hard of hearing, you could go to Caption Call and purchase one of our hard of hearing phones. These phones make it easier for those who are hard of hearing to communicate via the telephone. At Caption Call, we have quite the selection of hard of hearing phones for you to choose from. We want you to be able to communicate as effectively as possible with those whom you love.