Hearing Accessibility

Welcome to Hearing Accessibility! But wait... what is a hearing impairment. When someone has a hearing impairment, it means that they have a difficulty hearing or cannot hear as well as others can. In this chapter, you will be able to find how to interact with a person who has a hearing disability and even some facts. At the end, you will be able to take a test to see how much you learned. Ready? Let's dive in!

Did You Know?

Deaf (with an uppercase 'D') is the social and cultural referral for a group of people who share the same language (such as American Sign Language) and cannot hear, while deaf (with a lowercase 'd') is often referred to the medical field of disabilities.

How to approach a person who is deaf?

Whenever you approach someone who is deaf, make sure to keep these in mind

DO's

  • Do get the attention of a deaf person before speaking to them. This also eliminates confusion between you and the person you are speaking too

  • Do repeat what you said if the person asks you too

  • Do be patient with the person you are speaking too

  • Do speak clearly and in a normal speaking tone like you would to a person who has good hearing

  • Do use facial gestures or act out some things if you can

  • If you're in a crowded or loud place, do move closer to the person you are talking too

  • Do make eye contact and talk face to face with the person

DONT's

  • Don't talk in a loud voice, that just makes it even harder for the person to understand

  • Don't speak slowly. Speaking slowly doesn't help people lip read

  • Don't over-exaggerate your facial expressions, such as your mouth, when speaking

  • Don't say never-mind, that just shows the person that you are excluding them from a conversation

  • Don't cover your mouth while speaking

  • Don't look down while speaking

  • Don't grab a deaf person's hand while they are trying to communicate, whether it is from sign language or anything else (it is considered rude to them)

If you want to learn more on hearing disabilities, make sure to check out the website below (Most of the information is from this website - starkey.com/blog/articles/2018/09/Dos-and-donts-of-communicating - link is attached in the button):

Do's and Don'ts

Technology

There are multiple technologies that can help a person with a hearing disability. Here are such AT's (Assistive Technology)

  • Hearing aids

  • AT Captions and Transcripts

  • Speech Recognition

  • Subtitles/Translators

Famous people with hearing impairments

Bill Clinton Helen Keller Rob Lowe

When you talk to someone who has a hearing disability, make sure to talk in a normal voice. Don't try to overact something that you want to say to them because that makes confusion. Try to be more patient because you might not know what they're going through to try to understand you. If you're still not sold, then try to play a game: Get one person and make them talk to you, but they can't make a single noise. Try seeing the difference between when the person is calm and talks in a normal voice versus when the person is impatient and tries to over-exaggerate mouth movement. Which one would you prefer?

On the bottom, you can click the button to see if how much you have learned!

Conclusion and Quiz

Take A Quiz!