What can I do to communicate better with my parents?
Below is a list of suggestions for communicating with someone who is hearing impaired. No, don't use a megaphone. Take them to an audiologist.
- Make sure you have the listener’s attention before starting to talk.
- Make sure that they have their hearing aids in their ears, and that the aids are functioning properly.
- Be sure the hearing impaired person sees you approaching them so you don’t startle them.
- Speak slowly and clearly at a normal loudness level. Do not shout. Shouting may only cause distortion.
- When something is not heard or understood, rephrase what you have said. Do not repeat exactly. Continually repeating the exact words may not help.
- Help the listener by providing visual clues. Look at the listener and keep your hands away from your mouth. Do not talk while chewing or eating.
- Keep the distance between you and the hearing impaired person from 3 to 6 feet for best listening and lipreading. Don’t shout at them from another room.
- Sit or stand so the light is focused on your face, not glaring from behind you.
- Eliminate as much extra background noise as possible for better speech understanding. Turn off the television or radio. Get away from the noisy dishwasher.
- If they have trouble hearing on the telephone, ask them to consult with their audiologist to find out which type of hearing aids work best with the telephone.
Finally, the hearing impaired individual should make sure that they are using appropriately fit hearing aids. They should check the credentials of the person who fit their aids. Do they have a degree in audiology? What degrees in audiology do they have?