How to stay at home during the holidays with hearing-impaired parents?
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Senior trainer of Ostar Hearing Aids
Graduated from Mackay Medical College in Taiwan
Has been invited to join an international team of audiologists
for listening exchange activities
Difficulties communicating with hearing-impaired parents can lead to misunderstandings and frustrations on both sides, and even lead to family disharmony.
How can I better communicate with my hearing-impaired parents when I go home during the holidays?
Attention
Face the hearing-impaired patient directly and keep eye level with them as much as possible. You can call the other person's name first to attract their attention.
Speak clearly, but don’t yell
Keep your hands away from your face so the listener can see the other person’s face, speak as clearly as possible, not too fast, and don’t yell.
Turn off the radio or TV to reduce background noise
When communicating with hearing-impaired patients, you can turn off or turn down the volume of radios, TVs and other playback devices. Provide a relatively quiet listening environment so they can hear better. You can also use gestures to help the listener understand.
Express it in another way
If the hearing-impaired patient still doesn’t understand what you are saying after repeating it, you can use another way of expression.
Be more understanding and patient
Please note that even with hearing aids, hearing-impaired people may have difficulty understanding speech. Therefore, hearing-impaired patients need more understanding and patience.
Communication is a two-way process. Smooth communication is actually the joint responsibility of the listener and the speaker. Therefore, when the other party cannot hear clearly, don’t rush to blame the other party! Repeat it several times, effective communication is the most important.
END
Translated from Hearing Australia – Communicating with someone who has a hearing loss.