Know how to recognise deaf and hard of hearing people. Is deafness invisible?

• You may spot their hearing aids.
• You may notice the person is looking at your lips to lipread you.
• The person may give wrong answers to your questions.
• You may notice the person is using Sign Language, or working with an interpreter.
• The person may talk all the time; they are trying to control the topic of conversation and if they are speaking, it means you cannot so there is less chance of them mishearing you!
• The person may lean forwards to try and hear you better.
• Hearing deteriorates with age. Be aware that older people may have become hard of hearing.
• The person may seem to be ignoring you; they are not being rude, they simply may not be able to hear you.
• The person may say 'pardon', 'sorry', or get you to repeat things a lot.
• The person may speak very loudly; they may be trying to hear their own voice. This may also be because the person has no means of telling how loudly they are speaking and so cannot judge their voice volume.
• The person may be working with a hearing dog for deaf people, or a guide dog for the blind.
• The person may be carrying a red and white stick.
• Selective hearing - the person may seem to only hear half of what you are saying.

Meeting deaf and hard of hearing people

• Use good communication skills i.e. make eye contact, use a firm clear voice, use gestures, write it down etc. Speak a little slower; make sure the deaf person can see your face.
  
• Listen and try to understand deaf people.
  
• If you know a bit of know a bit of British Sign Language, tell people; don't be scared of using it.
  
• Involve the person and do your best.
  
• Don't ignore people, offer to help.
  
• Treat deaf and hard of hearing people the same as you would anyone else.

Information and Literature

• Use plain English on advertising literature so that deaf people who use English as a second language can understand your message.
  
• Mark all leaflets/correspondence with a range of contact methods i.e. email, fax number, postal address as well as tel. number.

Environment and Equipment

• Have appropriate equipment to make your services accessible e.g. loop system, flashing light fire alarm, text phone. The Royal National Institute of Deaf People can help you. Go to www.rnid.org.uk
• Have interpreters, lipspeakers or speech to text operators available for events, groups and meetings. See www.signature.org.uk for details of who you need, where to get one from and prices.

Telephones

• Some deaf people use minicoms/text phones.
• If you have a minicom you can call other minicoms just by dialing the phone number.
• If you haven't got a minicom and you want to make a call to a deaf persons text phone you can use a free service called Text Direct to connect you. For more information go to www.textrelay.org.

Internal improvements

• More deaf awareness training for staff. More deaf awareness training for staff. HearFirst have some excellent courses! Click here
  
• Share information and knowledge with others.
  
• Learn more British Sign Language.

Fingerspelling Alphabet