14 Tips: A Practical Guide for Effective Communication with Someone who is Deaf or has Hearing Loss

If you or someone that you know struggles with communication due to hearing loss, here’s a practical guide to follow:

1. Only one person should speak at a time.
2. Before you speak, get the person’s attention by waving or tapping them on the shoulder.
3. Face the person. Do not turn away when you speak.
4. Talk in a well-lit setting.
5. Do not cover your mouth or chew anything while talking.
6. Speak in short, decisive sentences.
7. If the person you are speaking to wears a hearing aid, do not assume that they can hear everything you say. Hearing aids help with the hearing that a person still has, it doesn’t restore hearing loss.   
8. Communicate in a quiet area, without too much background noise or other distractions. Go off to a quiet place if you’re in a loud environment.
9. When speaking, ask whether it’s okay to speak at a slow or regular pace. Some prefer people who slowly speak to them, others prefer a regular pace because they read lips. Use gestures and facial expressions to emphasize your message. 
10. When possible, use visual aids. You may point to printed information, or use images to get your ideas across during a business meeting or a healthcare provider’s visit. 
11. Only about one-third of spoken words can be understood by speech reading. 
12. When communicating through writing, remember that some who use sign language may not have good reading or writing skills.   
13. If someone with hearing loss cannot understand you, write a note and ask what the best way to communicate with them would be. 
14. If someone with hearing loss uses an interpreter, look at the person with hearing loss and not at the interpreter. 

If you, or a loved one, are noticing hearing loss please get in touch with us at Pure Sound Hearing for a free hearing test and consultation.

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