{"id":1788,"date":"2013-04-11T11:40:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-11T16:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entmidwest.fm1.dev\/?p=1788"},"modified":"2022-12-15T11:41:04","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T17:41:04","slug":"communication-tips-for-hearing-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entmidwest.com\/communication-tips-for-hearing-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Communication Tips for Hearing Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It can be difficult for people with hearing loss to understand conversations, especially when other noises are present.  In fact, even people with normal hearing rely on visual cues or \u201cspeechreading\u201d to help them hear better \u2013 whether they think they do or not!  Here are some things that, regardless of your hearing status, can help maximize your speech understanding ability:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Watch\u00a0<\/strong>the speaker\u2019s face for visual cues; his\/her total expression \u2013 the words forming on his\/her lips will give additional help understanding what is being said \u2013 but take note of the entire expression, as it will give you a clue to what the speaker is saying.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Relax<\/strong>\u00a0while you are speechreading!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Do not try to follow every single word people say;\u00a0get the main idea<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Check the seating arrangement in the room, and then\u00a0seat yourself<\/strong>\u00a0in a seat across from the speaker so that you can see his\/her face.\u00a0 Be sure that you are both in\u00a0good lighting<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Find out the\u00a0topic of the conversation<\/strong>\u00a0right away \u2013 even if you have to ask someone \u2013 the\u00a0context<\/strong>\u00a0will help you figure out the information that may be missed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Move closer<\/strong>\u00a0to the person speaking or have them move closer to you.\u00a0 It is much easier to understand conversation at a close range than to have someone raise their voice across the room.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Keep up\u00a0<\/strong>with your friends\u2019 interests and current events to better enable you to participate in conversations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Your hearing loss is\u00a0NOT<\/strong>\u00a0a secret, even if you hide it well!\u00a0 Your best bet is to let those around you know what they can do to make communication easier for you, and encourage them to help.\u00a0 Make sure they realize not to shout or overly exaggerate their words \u2013 speaking louder does not always help.\u00a0 Speaking\u00a0slightly SLOWER<\/strong>\u00a0usually does help.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Don\u2019t bluff!<\/strong>\u00a0 I can\u2019t emphasize this enough.\u00a0 Don\u2019t risk responding inappropriately; ask people to repeat if you do not understand what is being said.\u00a0\u00a0Nobody understands perfectly!<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. If you understood part of the message,\u00a0repeat<\/strong>\u00a0the part you DID hear and inquire about the part you did not. \u00a0\u00a0Ex: \u201cDo I want to go WHERE?\u201d
    Get out of the habit of just saying \u201cwhat?\u201d \u2013 I even do this at home with my husband and family.\u00a0\u00a0This is a good thing to do no matter the status of your hearing!<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  11. Don\u2019t be afraid\u00a0<\/strong>that people will think you are staring at them while you are speechreading.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  12. Don\u2019t get into the habit of mouthing the words or sounds that you are seeing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  13. Watch\u00a0your own speech<\/strong>.\u00a0 Because you have a hearing loss, you do not always hear correctly what you are saying.\u00a0 This can lead to dropping the ends of your words or slurring your words.\u00a0 Don\u2019t let your own speech get sloppy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  14. Look for\u00a0ideas<\/strong>\u00a0rather than isolated words.\u00a0 Try to take advantage of changes in rhythm, stress, timing, and gestures that indicate the words being emphasized and by doing so, keeping alert to key words.\u00a0\u00a0Nouns and verbs<\/strong>\u00a0are the most important aspects of speech.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  15. Make sure your hearing aids have fresh batteries and are in\u00a0good working order<\/strong>.\u00a0 Your hearing aids should be checked at least once a year.\u00a0 If you do not wear hearing aids, visit your local audiologist to make sure your EARS are in good working order.\u00a0 Don\u2019t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  16. Develop\u00a0patience<\/strong>\u00a0with yourself and others.\u00a0 Be alert, confident, sociable and kind to yourself.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t let your hearing loss run your life!<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  17. Maintain your sense of\u00a0humor!\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It can be difficult for people with hearing loss to understand conversations, especially when other noises are present.  In fact, even people with normal hearing rely on visual cues or \u201cspeechreading\u201d to help them hear better \u2013 whether they think they do or not!  Here are some things that, regardless of your hearing status, can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hearing-loss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entmidwest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entmidwest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entmidwest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entmidwest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entmidwest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/entmidwest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1791,"href":"https:\/\/entmidwest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788\/revisions\/1791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entmidwest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entmidwest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entmidwest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}