The Challenges Faced By People With Hearing Impairment/Deafness!

People suffering from hearing impairment or deafness face many challenges every day. They have problems in expressing themselves properly and responding to the people around them. This constant struggle may cause social and mental issues. While cochlear implants have improved the hearing of some people, many in the deaf community still rely on sign language for communication.

Here are some problems that make life more challenging when things are not audible.

Public announcements

A very common problem among the hearing-impaired people is the inability to hear public announcements. Public addressing systems in the railway stations and airports that notify us about the boarding or information about train delay are not audible to the deaf people.

Being startled easily

People having hearing issues are easily surprised when somebody approaches them from behind. This is because they are unable to hear the vibrations on the floor when somebody is approaching them. They suffer from constant “jumpy” feeling.

Verbal communication

People usually talk slowly when they are interacting with a hearing-impaired person, to communicate effectively. But as people with deafness have trained themselves to understand the words when spoken at a normal rate, talking slowly can hinder their lip-reading. This makes it harder for them to understand.

Interacting in the dark is difficult

Communicating in the dark or dimly lit places is a huge problem for people with hearing difficulties. This is because they rely on visual stimuli, sign language and lip reading for communication.

Support for people with hearing problems

The first step to help someone with hearing ailments is to take them to a specialist. They might be prescribed hearing aids or cochlear implants. Apart from these, you can take the following steps to communicate properly with them – 

• Speak at a normal rate and do not exaggerate your lip movements

• Always maintain eye contact

• Keep your mouth uncovered while speaking. Use their name while talking to get their attention

• You can use simple sentences to convey what you want. Rather than repeating the sentences, rephrase the statements.

• When talking to a person with hearing issues always make sure the place is well lit and has no distracting background noise. 

People with hearing troubles might isolate themselves and suffer from anxiety or depression. So, always support them emotionally and do not let them feel lonely.