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Health & Nutrition
Tips: Talking to the Hard-of-Hearing
The holiday season is coming round again and there will be
many gatherings of families and friends. Those who come together will include
youngsters, adults in their middle years, and the elderly. Many among them will
have difficulty hearing, including children.
Impaired hearing becomes increasingly common after age 50,
affecting 23% of people aged 65 thru 74; 33% of those in ages 75 thru 84, and
48% of those who are 85 and older. These figures are considered to be
underestimates.
Tips
- Whenever
possible, face the hard-of-hearing person directly, and on the same level.
- Your
speech will be more easily understood when you are not eating, chewing,
smoking, etc.
- Reduce
background noises when carrying on conversations -- turn off the radio or
TV.
- Keep
your hands away from your face while talking.
- If
it's difficult for a person to understand, find another way of saying the
same thing, rather than repeating the original words. Move to a quieter
location.
- Recognize
that hard of hearing people hear and understand less well when they are
tired or ill.
- Do
not talk to a hard-of-hearing person from another room. Be sure to get the
attention of the person to whom you will speak before you start talking.
- Speak
in a normal fashion without shouting or showing impatience. See that the
light is not shining into the eyes of the hard-of-hearing person.
- A
woman's voice is often harder to hear than a man's, because of its pitch. A
woman might try to lower the pitch of her voice when talking to the
hard-of-hearing to see if that helps.
- Speak
slowly and clearly.
- If
the hard-of-hearing person wears a hearing aid, make sure that it has
batteries installed, the batteries work, the hearing aid is turned
"on" and that the hearing aid is clean and free from ear wax.
- If
you know (or if it becomes evident) from which side the person hears best,
talk to that side.
- It
is better to speak directly face-to-face in situations where relatively
diffuse lighting is adequate and lights the speaker's face. This allows the
hard-of-hearing listener to observe the speaker's facial expressions, as
well as lip movements.
- Persons
with hearing impairment can also benefit from seating themselves at a table
where they can best see all parties (e.g. from the *end* of a rectangular
table).
- Announce
beforehand when you are going to change the subject of conversation. Doing
so might avoid an unfortunate "faux pas" by a hard-of-hearing
listener.
- Sometimes
hard-of-hearing persons have "good" or "better" sides --
right or left -- ask them if they do. If they indicate a preference, direct
your remarks to the "good" side or face-to-face, as they wish.
- Check
to see that a light is not shining in the eyes of the hard-of-hearing
person. Change position so that you are not standing in front of a light
source such as a window, which puts your face in shadow or silhouette and
makes it hard for the hard-of-hearing person to *speech read*.
- Avoid
abrupt changes of subject or interjecting small talk into your conversation,
as hard-of-hearing listeners often use context to understand what you are
saying.
- If
the hard-of-hearing person wears an aid, trying raising the pitch of your
voice just slightly. If the hard-of-hearing listener is not wearing an aid,
try lowering the pitch of your voice.
- If
all else fails, rephrase your remarks or have someone whose voice is
familiar to the hard-of-hearing person repeat your words.
- Don't
talk too fast.
- Pronounce
words clearly. If the hearing-impaired person has difficulty with letters
and numbers say: "M as in Mary", "2 as in twins",
"B as in Boy", and say each number separately, like "five
six" instead of "fifty-six," etc. The reason for doing so is
that m, n and 2, 3, 56, 66 and b, c, d, e, t and v sound alike.
- If
you are around a corner, or turn away, you become much harder to understand.
Keep a note pad handy, and write your words out and
show them to the hard-of-hearing person if you have to - - just don't walk away
leaving the hearing-impaired listener puzzling over what you said and thinking
you don't care.
- Many hard-of-hearing are
embarrassed that they can't hear. Many avoid crowds or situations that
make hearing difficult. Certain environments, such as radios, TVs, and
ventilation systems are also a problem for the hearing impaired – especially
for those that wear hearing aids.
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