Hearing Imparied

The term “deaf” refers to a hearing impairment so severe that a person is unable to hear even with amplification.  A “hearing impairment” affects the individual’s ability to learn auditorily, but has some degree of hearing that can be enhanced by use of a hearing aid.  

When communicating with this person, you must remember that they receive messages visually, depending upon lip-reading or manual communication. Many of these individuals are trained in the use of total communication, where a combination of sign language and finger spelling is used. To many, English is a second language; they talk and think in pictures.  Give verbal and non-verbal instructions and praise through expression and gestures when working with a person who has a hearing impairment.  

When Working With A Person With A Hearing Impairment:

• Emphasize non-verbal communication; use facial expressions and gestures to help communicate your thoughts. Demonstrate or act out message; create a picture
• These individuals have varying abilities of verbal skills. If you cannot understand a person, do not get upset or react in a way to make them feel badly. Ask for the statement to be repeated; and if that does not work, ask for the words to be written down or acted out.
• Try to avoid coming up suddenly behind a person who is hearing impaired. Since they cannot hear you coming, they may be startled.
• Remember these individuals cannot look at an object and hear an explanation of it at the same time.