If you know someone in your life who is hard of hearing, you’ll be glad to know that there are things that you can do to help you better communicate with them.
Because many of the things that you might instinctually try to do when you think someone is having a hard time hearing you actually aren’t very helpful, it’s good to know what tricks you can try when speaking to your elderly loved one in their senior living community or someone who’s lost part of their hearing.
To help you know just what can be done, here are three tips for communicating with someone who’s hard of hearing.
Be Aware Of Background Noise
While this doesn’t really have anything to do with the way that you communicate, it’s good to know that if there’s a lot of background noise taking place when you’re trying to speak with someone who’s hard of hearing, it can be a lot harder for them to hear what you’re saying or focus on what you’re trying to communicate to them.
When there’s a lot of noise in the background as you’re trying to talk to someone, it can be incredibly hard for them to filter out that noise and listen to what you’re saying to them. So if you notice that there’s a lot of background noise when you’re trying to talk with someone that you know is hard of hearing, it’s best to either eliminate that background noise or go somewhere that’s going to be quieter.
Speak Face-To-Face
When someone has a hard time hearing people when they speak, they will start to rely more heavily on reading lips and the facial expressions of someone as they communicate. But if they can’t see your face when you’re speaking to them, they won’t be able to use these tools..
With this in mind, when you’re talking to someone you know or suspect of being hard of hearing, it’s wise to make sure that they can see your face as you’re speaking to them. While you don’t need to slow down too much or overly enunciate your words, just being able to see your face can help get the right things communicated.
Rephrase Using Different Words
If someone that you’re talking to asks for you to repeat yourself because they didn’t hear what you said, the way that their hearing is affected might cause certain words or tones to not be heard as clearly. So rather than just repeating the exact same thing again, try rephrasing what you said using different words. This way, if they can hear certain sounds better, this might give them a better chance of catching what you’re saying.
If you want to more easily communicate with someone that’s hard of hearing, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you do this.
