How to Communicate Effectively with Individuals Who are Hearing Impaired

• May 22, 2024
• Written By Digibionic India

Initially, discussing hearing loss provides numerous avenues to help loved ones recognize their level of impairment. Initially communicating with someone who is hearing-impaired can be challenging and time-consuming, as you may encounter various reactions.

Feeling hesitant to accept hearing loss is common. It can be challenging to recognize hearing loss, particularly because it typically exceeds 25 decibels, indicating a significant hearing issue. Typically, the sound level of speech ranges between 50-70 decibels.

How to communicate with someone who has hearing loss

• Before communicating with the hearing impaired ,you should give a nudge or make them know that you will communicate with them.
• Stand close and directly in front to better observe lip movements.
• Speak slowly to ensure immediate understanding of the message.

It highlights how hearing loss can lead to various medical issues, including social anxiety, as individuals may avoid social interactions and outings due to difficulties in communication, especially in challenging listening environments like noisy conversations with multiple people.

If this condition persists for an extended period, it may lead to depression, cognitive decline, or an increased risk of dementia, similar to the effects of physical inactivity.

Continuous auditory stimulation helps keep the brain active. Therefore, it is vital to encourage friends or family to acknowledge and address their hearing problems.

These hearing aids can compensate for the hearing loss of individuals with hearing impairments by transducing external sounds to the wearer. For those experiencing hearing impairments, vocabulary and sentence comprehension can be restored by more than 70% to 80%, enabling effective communication.

In the long run, continuous auditory stimulation can help reduce age-related diseases such as dementia. Wearing a hearing aid is akin to wearing glasses. It is advisable to undergo a hearing test, ear canal examination, and obtain a personalized hearing report before selecting and using the appropriate hearing aid for your needs.