Working with Deaf People If you have ever wanted to pursue a career where you work with those who have hearing problems, then you are in luck. There are multitudes of ways in which you can help those who cannot hear. While the details might differ depending on where you wish to live and what sort of schedule you’d like to keep, there are many ways you can get involved with the deaf community in a professional sense. We have listed some of the more common job opportunities here to get you started.
Teaching An individual who can teach deaf people will always be in high demand. This job requires not only teaching experience, but also the ability to communicate effectively through sign language. Teaching often covers many areas of learning and you will not only have to know them yourself, but also be able to translate these concepts into sign language and transmit them to your students. If you think you’d be interested in teaching the deaf, you should know that you will need to earn a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in deaf education. It also wouldn’t hurt to take classes that orient and inform you about the specifics of deaf culture, so that you can better connect with your students.
Interpreter Interpreters provide an invaluable service to deaf individuals. While some deaf people are experienced lip readers, there will inevitably be occasions when having an interpreter will make things run a lot more smoothly. Interpreters can either be hired by institutions like hospitals or churches to help deaf people who may require their services, or they can actually be hired by deaf people to accompany them and provide translation services wherever they may go. Interpreters can be valuable in the workplace, helping deaf individuals communicate with others whenever a captioned telephone service isn’t readily available. It is important to note that in order to be a good interpreter; you must be excellent at understanding the deaf culture. Your job will usually require you to understand not only what deaf people are signing to each other, but the subtext and emotions behind it. Furthermore, you will be expected to respect deaf culture and make sure that your presence and actions are not offensive to deaf people in any way.
Counseling Deaf people have to deal with a lot of hurdles in order to successfully integrate into society and sometimes they can benefit from the help of a counselor. A counselor can do anything from assisting in the development of vocational skills to helping a deaf person decide which career path they want to
pursue. Schools and universities often employ counselors for those with hearing disabilities in order to ensure that deaf students have the resources they need to succeed. Working with deaf people can be a fulfilling calling in life. If you feel like you would like to pursue jobs in in this area, start researching now in order to get started.