My Life Without Hearing Blog 6 - Communication Tips

Tips on how to communicate with a deaf person

Deaf people can often feel very isolated in a group of hearing people. I love my family, but I hated family occasions growing up, because I was always left out of the conversation and left wondering what was going. With a little basic deaf awareness you can involve deaf people, and stop them having to experience this.

Learning British Sign Language is great if you want to communicate with a deaf people, but you don't have to be able to sign to be deaf aware. There are lots of ways you can communicate with deaf people, and in this blog I will give you a few suggestions.

1. Get their attention

The most important thing before trying to speak to someone is to make sure you have their attention. The deaf person won't hear you shouting at them, but you can wave or tap them on the shoulder to make sure they're looking at you. Eye contact is very important for deaf people. 

2. Stay a comfortable distance apart

Getting too close to the deaf person can be a little intimidating, and makes it hard for them to lip read or see your facial expressions or body language. 

3. Good lighting is important

As deaf people rely on being able to see you, it will be difficult to communicate if it is too dark. However, if it too bright that can also be a strain on the eyes. Don't stand with the light (like a window) behind you, as your face will be in darkness, making it very difficult for the deaf person to see you. 

4. Be aware of background noise

If the person is hard of hearing it may be more difficult them to hear you if there is a lot of noise in the background.

5. Don't assume the person can lip read

Speak slowly and clearly when talking to a deaf person, but please be aware that lip reading isn't very accurate, and relies on a lot of guesswork by the deaf person. This is because some words make very similar lip patterns, or because of other factors such as accents or facial hair which make it more difficult to see a person's lip pattern clearly. It's also very tiring for the deaf person to try and lip read everything that is being said. If the person struggles to understand through lip reading, you can try to say it another way and rephrase instead of repeating the same words over and over.

6. Use gesture

Even if you don't know the official British Sign Language signs, you can still use facial expressions and gesture to help the deaf person to understand. You all know how to gesture 'drink' or 'eat', for example, and all of these visual clues will help the deaf person to understand what you are trying to say. 

7.Draw or write

When I was growing up my father would often draw pictures to communicate, and it can be a very useful way to get your point across. You can also write down what you want to say, but try to stick to simple English, as for many deaf people British Sign Language may be their first language and they may not be confident using complex English.

8. Most importantly - BE PATIENT

If you are patient and are willing to try different tactics to communicate it will be easier for everyone. It can be very upsetting for a deaf person when someone says "Oh forget it!" or "I'll explain it to you later" when they want to be involved in the conversation. Being a little kind and patient can make all the difference to someone and can make them feel included. 

9. Learn British Sign Language 

Learning to sign even the basics will really help you to communicate with deaf people. Just knowing how to finger spell can help. 

You never know; you may fall in love with sign language and want to continue learning at the higher levels. It's a very useful skill that can be great as a hobby and help you to connect with new people, or can become a new career opportunity; the choice is up to you. 

Join me next time when I will talk about the how accessing media has changed for deaf people with the use of subtitles and interpreters.