This week 3rd – 9th May 2021 is Deaf Awareness Week.
Deaf Awareness Week is a unique campaign which many different organisations take part in, each promoting their own work within the broad spectrum of deafness.
This years campaign will focus on ‘coming through it together’, working with our members to continue to raise awareness more so now than ever and to ensure that we continue to campaign together whilst focusing on positivity going forward.
Around 1 in 6 people in the UK have some form of hearing loss and the employment rate for those with hearing loss is 65%, compared to 79% of people with no long-term health issue or disability. Moreover, recent estimates suggest that the UK economy loses £25 billion a year in lost productivity and unemployment due to hearing loss.
This needed be the case with a little thought and understanding by everyone.
Here’s our tips on communicating with someone with a hearing impairment that you can take into your workplace.
- Always face the person you’re speaking to so they can see your lip movements
- Speak clearly, not too slowly and use normal lip movements gestures
- Use plain language
- Don’t cover your mouth when speaking
- Don’t be frightened of gesturing or trying to use your hand.
- Always ask, even is someone is using a hearing aid, if they need to lipread you
- Make sure you have the person’s attending before you start stpeakding
- Keep your voice down, it can be uncomfortable for hearing aid users if you shout and it can appear aggressive
- Make sure what you are saying is being understood
- For longer chats, find a place to talk that has good lighting away from noise and other distractions
If you are your team would like to know more and would like to find out about our Disability Awareness Training Courses call us on 0800 246 1759.