For deaf and hard of hearing people, social events, general office chit-chat and conversation and networking events can mean feeling left out, everyone around you seems to be enjoying themselves and engaging in conversations.
Here is my list of tips to help stop this from happening and to help others to ensure that general conversations are more inclusive.
- Stand in a circle (or sit at a round table) for deaf or hard of hearing people often the most crucial thing is to be able to see people. Standing in a haphazard way or out of view or sitting at a non-circular table will mean that it is hard for us to see everyone, which has a knock-on effect on their ability to hear and communicate. As well as being able to see them, it also helps you to see who is the group is going to speak next/about to speak so that you have a better chance of lip-read as many people as possible.
- Turn subtitles on. Unfortunately for me, life isn’t subtitled. However, it is important to use subtitles where you can be this as part of a social activity, or video or presentation, or even if you are just sharing a funny channel on YouTube. Even if no subtitles are available, a quick comment that they are not available when showing an unplanned video goes a long way to making the individual feel included, even if they can’t always join in.
- Speak clearly and face the person(s) lipreading when speaking to them. Remember, that while all deaf or hard of hearing people will have different needs and coping mechanisms, you can go a long way by remembering this simple rule: If we can’t see you, we can’t ‘hear’ you. If your are standing and seating this becomes easier. However, this is not always possible and you might often be having conversations while doing other things. So remember, when you are talking to us, look up, make eye contact, and maintain it (even if you start to feel self-conscious). This is of course not always possible when socially distancing and/or wearing a mask when meeting in person.
- Be prepared to repeat yourself. Even if you are following all these tips there will be times when we simply don’t hear. So be prepared to repeat yourself when we still don’t understand. Repeat what was said clearly. Most importantly do it from a place of kindness and helping someone out, don’t get annoyed or frustrated.
- Include us in the conversation (or give us the option to). If you are midway through a conversation and want us (or any one else) to feel included and be able join in the conversation give us some context. Give us a quick summary and/or catch us up. It only needs to be a simple one liner such as “X is just telling us about how they…”. We may not want to join in, but by doing this you are giving us the option to stay and join the conversation.
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