Ways to Interact With Deaf People

A deaf person is usually defined as someone with a significant hearing loss. Someone may be deaf as a result of injury while before they were born, as a result of an accident, disease or as part of the aging process.The deaf can be divided into those who were deafened before they acquired spoken language, or the pre-lingually deaf, and those who were deafened after they acquired language, or the post-lingually deaf. Some people may also have been deafened while they were young and in the process of learning to talk.

Sign Language

• Those who are pre-lingually deaf very often use sign language as their primary language. Sign language is a not a literal translation from spoken English. Rather it is a language in of itself with nuance, separate grammar rules and great expressive capacity. Sign language varies from place to place. American Sign Language or ASL differs from British Sign Language and French Sign Language. Word order is not the same in both languages. If you routinely work with someone who is pre-lingually deaf and relies on sign language as a primary means of communication try to learn a few words of sign language.

Working With an Interpreter

• Someone who uses sign language as a primary means of communication may have an assistant to translate for them if they work extensively with the hearing world. When communicating with a deaf person who has an interpreter, try to look at the signer directly. Address your questions to the person who is signing. Do not address the sign language interpreter as if their client was not in the room with you. Many deaf people are very adept at reading body language and will notice if you do not attempt to speak to them. They may also be able to read lips.

Lip Readers

• Lip reading is another skill many deaf people use. Lip reading is not easy. Very often it consists of a series of educated guesses. If you are interacting with a person who is using lip reading, try to speak as clearly as possible. Enunciate each word. Do not speak too quickly. Do not speak too loudly or loudly enough so that others can hear you from far away. Some deaf people may still have a residual sense of hearing that makes them sensitive to loud noises.