Are you new to having hearing loss, or know someone who was recently diagnosed with hearing loss?
Some people are born deaf and hard-of-hearing, while others lose their hearing over time. When a person loses their hearing later on in life, communication with family and other hearing people can get challenging.
To help communication go a little bit smoother, Phonak hEARo Jessica Flores has some tips!
5 tips for interacting to those who are new to hearing loss
- Write things down
- Gesture and point things out
- Face them when you’re communicating with them
- Start using video calls
- Show empathy, not sympathy
“Start to think about if you lost your hearing,” Jessica says. “What are some things that other people can do to help make the communication process easier? What are some things that other people can do to make situations or events more accessible to you? And last, how would you want other people to treat you?”
Read more: 8 Communication Tips to Strengthen Relationships
Read more: What is it like to be deaf?
Watch more of Jessica’s videos on YouTube.
Do you have other communication tips to communicate with deaf people? Let us know in the comments!
The HearingLikeMe editorial team includes Jill Blocker von Bueren and Lisa Goldstein.
