Regardless of how old you are or what you do, you are likely to meet someone who suffers from hearing loss. To facilitate conversation, it is important not to begin speaking until you have the attention of the person with whom you wish to converse. Once you have engaged the other person’s eyes, make sure not to turn away or cover your mouth, because hearing-impaired individuals rely on facial expressions and lip-reading to communicate. Speaking of facial expressions, try to use them more than you might normally to convey your thoughts and emotions. Because someone who is deaf cannot discern changes in voice intonation, it helps to use facial expressions to gauge the emotional content of a conversation.
P.S. When speaking to a hearing-impaired person, it is important to speak at your normal rate. Talking too slowly can make it more difficult for lip readers to understand what is being said.
Hearing loss can affect anyone and has a profound effect on our ability to communicate with the people around us. Many modern hearing aids are extremely effective and if fitted well by an experienced audiologist, can make a real difference. To schedule an appointment, please call EAR & HEARING CLINIC. We are registered members of the College of Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists of Ontario. “Hear the Sounds of Life.”