Communication Strategies for the Hearing-Impaired

Communication can become a challenge if you're hearing-impaired or speaking to a person who is hearing-impaired. In either case, both individuals should be aware of the way they are speaking and listening, in addition to the environment in which they are speaking. Hearing-impaired individuals must tell people that they have hearing difficulties, and should suggest methods of effective communication. Establishing the ground rules is essential.

Environment

• Before you start a conversation, be aware of your environment. Is there a lot of background noise that will interfere with communication? Is each person facing each other? Are there any peripheral distractions that will prevent one person from concentrating on the conversation?

  Choose a quiet, intimate environment for your conversation, where neither person will be distracted by extraneous loud noises. Communication with another person is enhanced when the listener can observe the facial expressions and gestures of the speaker. Try to have the speaker speak in a well-lit area. This will help the listener see the person's face. Make sure that any light in the room is illuminating the speaker's face and not blocking the listener's view of the speaker. Only speak when you can see the other person's face and he can see your face. Avoid speaking in different rooms or far away from each other. Try to only speak to one person at a time rather than a group of people.

Communicate Problems

• If you are missing large chunks of the conversation and can no longer follow what is being said, tell the speaker that you are having trouble. Tell her the part of the conversation that you heard, and then ask that she repeat the rest of the conversation. It is helpful to have someone else near you to assist you with the flow of conversation if you are having trouble hearing and cannot ask the speaker directly to repeat what she is saying. Don't pretend that you have heard or understand anything that you haven't; this will only create future communication problems for you and the speaker.

Enunciate

• If you are speaking to a person who is hearing-impaired, begin the conversation by saying the person's name. This prepares the person for a discussion, and allows him to focus his attention on you. Pronounce your words clearly and speak slowly. Make sure that you are still speaking naturally and not exaggerating your facial expressions or shouting. Speaking too loudly and speaking unnaturally will change the way your mouth moves, and will affect the way the listener interprets your words.

  Avoid using a lot of hand motions near your face, since these can be distracting and make it difficult for the listener to concentrate. Use simple sentences and try to insert pauses. In this way, the listener can catch up to the conversation and you can make sure that he has digested the information before moving on to other topics.

Patience and Persistence

• Both listeners and speakers should try to remain patient throughout the conversation. Make sure you are never speaking over each other; each person should take turns speaking to avoid confusion. If you are speaking to a hearing-impaired person, don't repeat the same phrase if you're trying to describe something that she is having trouble grasping. Instead, try to say the same thing in a variety of ways, so that you don't get frustrated repeating the same thing, and she has more opportunities to understand what you are saying.

  Speakers should constantly repeat important facts or particulars of the conversation before moving on to a different topic. Avoid changing topics often. If there is pertinent information being exchanged, like a future meeting time and place, both the speaker and listener should repeat the information to each other. Write down important points or concrete information like meeting places, times and directions, so the person will have a written record.