What is a Hearing Impairment?
What is a hearing impairment?
This is the partial or total loss of hearing.
Hearing impairments can be categorized as follows:
Hard of hearing:
- Mild: difficulty hearing soft sounds, such as whispering. Can benefit from hearing aids.
- Moderate: difficulty hearing during conversations. Can benefit from hearing aids.
- Severe: can only hear loud sounds.
Deafness: difficulty hear any sound at all. Cannot benefit from hearing aids.
Depending on the severity of hearing impairment, it may also affect speech, particularly if it begins before a child acquires spoken language.
How to refer someone with a hearing impairment?
Avoid Using
- Handicapped
- Deaf and Dumb
- Dumb
- Deaf Mute
- Invalid
Instead Use
- Person with a hearing impairment
- Peron who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing
- Deaf or Hard of Hearing
This ‘person-first’ language has received wide acceptance among persons with disabilities and their representative organisations. In some countries they prefer to be called “sign language users” – however, this is problematic in that not all sign language users are persons with hearing impairment. There are also many local derogatory names used in communities and at schools to refer to people with hearing impairments. Such names affect their self-esteem and personal motivation and should be avoided.
General advice on how to communicate with someone who has a hearing impairment:
- Get the attention of the Deaf person. If he or she does not react, gently touch their arm or shoulder, or wave.
- Ask the person how he or she prefers to communicate.
- Face the person. People with hearing impairment want to see your face so they may read your lips and see your facial expression. Get on the same level as the person (e.g., sit if the person is sitting). Do not put your hand in front of your face.
- Move to a quiet area so there is no or little background noise.
- Stand nearby so the person who is hard-of-hearing may hear you in the best possible way.
- Have good lighting so he or she can see you clearly.
- Speak clearly and normally, or just louder for someone who is hard of hearing. Do not shout.
- Check if the person has understood, for example by asking feedback.
- Repeat key messages e.g., by writing them down.
- Use facial and body expressions to support what you say.
- Speak directly to the person. Do not direct your speaking to the family member or interpreter of the Deaf person.
- Provide information in writing if the person can read and write. Have a pen and a paper with you just in case you need to communicate in writing.
Specific advice on including people with hearing impairments in agriculture focused programming and trainings
- Include people with hearing impairments in all stages of program planning to ensure accessibility
- Engage with local Organizations of People with Disabilities throughout the project cycle. They will have the best knowledge of specific accessibility challenges
- Look for sign language support – A Sign Language Interpreter can help programme participants with hearing impairments who know sign language to communicate with hearing participants and staff
- Maintain the eye contact with the person when you are talking to them (not their sign language interpreter).
- Be willing to repeat information when talking to a programme participant who is Deaf or hard-of-hearing.
- If you do not understand what the person said, ask them to repeat it.
- Do not use exaggerated lip movements.
- Use short clear sentences and do not speak too fast.
- Minimize or eliminate irrelevant visible and audible distractions when hosting a meeting or training to help Deaf participants.
- If a person with a hearing impairment does not understand your comments or directions, repeat, rephrase, write or demonstrate them with body movement or pictures or drawings.
- If you are not using a qualified sign language interpreter, use mimics, gesture and natural signs
- If possible, use a U-shape seating in the meeting room or training venue so that participants with hearing impairments can clearly see the sign language interpreter and see/observe their peers.
- Take time for face-to-face or one-on-one communications.
- Write down key information or notes for presentations on flip chart paper/PowerPoint in advance to avoid having your back to the audience when talking.
- Using a chart/poster/PowerPoint with illustrations if possible can be helpful in the absence of a sign language interpreter. It can enhance understanding as well when an interpreter is present.
