This is the daily life of many French people, yet it is a situation that requires adjustments in communication and organization: it is about living with a hearing-impaired person.
Often misunderstood, hearing loss causes communication difficulties and frustration for those around you and caregivers . Discover our practical tips on how to improve communication with a hearing-impaired person and maintain a harmonious relationship.
Understanding the challenges of a person with hearing loss
An impact beyond hearing
Hearing loss has many impacts on health and daily life. For those with hearing loss, the first signs of deafness or hearing loss are a loss of spontaneity in communication.
Recurring requests for repeating themselves generate frustration. Ultimately, this leads to a deterioration in relationships with those around them, who become weary of this chronic incomprehension. Indeed, the latter is tiring to live with, due to the effort required to listen. Little by little, the hard-of-hearing person feels excluded from group conversations and withdraws, sometimes leading to social isolation.
The role of the entourage
The role of those around you is crucial in cases of hearing loss. Loved ones must do everything they can to adopt a caring attitude by accepting that communication requires additional effort. This involves adapting their interaction style to avoid frustration with the hearing-impaired person.
Improve daily communication
Adopt best practices
To achieve this, it's essential to avoid shouting. Living with someone with hearing loss means speaking clearly and distinctly. Before starting a conversation, make sure to get the other person's attention by waving or touching their arm.
Standing in front of the hearing-impaired person greatly facilitates understanding. Speaking while engaged in another activity, or worse, in another room, never produces good results.
Finally, communicating in a quiet environment is the best way to communicate clearly. To achieve this, prioritize conversations in a place free of background noise.
Use additional supports
There's nothing like using visual aids like images and movements to reinforce verbal messages. Amplifying your gestures and facial expressions is a way to more easily capture the attention of the other person and convey their emotions. Lip reading is also a technique to be valued for optimal comprehension.
The effectiveness of the latter is significantly impacted by the wearing of surgical masks. Although they protect vulnerable people, they significantly impair their understanding when they are hard of hearing.
Adapt the environment to facilitate listening
Create a framework conducive to communication
To fully benefit from effective communication, good lighting is essential. It allows for lip-reading, which would be impossible in dim light. Reducing noise pollution in shared living spaces not only ensures good understanding but also prevents fatigue related to background noise.
Encourage the use of suitable hearing aids
Hearing aids are effective for people with hearing loss. However, they require consultation with an ENT specialist for hearing screening and regular follow-up with a hearing care professional. Despite this, some people with hearing loss are unable to adapt to this type of hearing aid.
Hearing aids are an effective alternative to hearing aids. These versatile technological solutions are easy to use and improve sound perception in many situations.
In everyday life, other devices are specially designed to make life easier for people with hearing loss and those around them. These include amplified telephones, vibrating alarm clocks, and adapted TV headsets.
Maintain a harmonious and caring relationship
Being patient and understanding is essential to continuing to live harmoniously with a person with hearing loss. They must be involved in the daily decision-making that affects them, despite their deafness. More than ever, the quality of shared moments is essential to limiting the psychological impact of deafness.
Conclusion
Adaptation and kindness are the key words when living with a deaf or hard-of-hearing person. Adapting the environment and communication method helps maintain the quality of interactions with the deaf person. Hearing aids and listening assistants are valuable technologies for facilitating daily life and strengthening social bonds.
