Mark deaf awareness week by following charity’s top communication tips

During Deaf Awareness Week (6-12 May 2013), charity Action on Hearing Loss is urging people to follow some top communication tips to avoid excluding or making everyday life more difficult for family, friends or colleagues with hearing loss.

Action on Hearing Loss is inviting people to visit the charity’s website at www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/daw2013 and view videos highlighting how difficult communication is for people who live life without sound. Visitors are asked to take part in a fun challenge to lipread and guess what is said in examples of everyday conversation – and see just how confusing they can be for people who are deaf.

The charity is promoting the following top tips during Deaf Awareness Week:

• Make sure you have the person’s attention before you start speaking. 
• Places with good lighting (so that you can be lipread) and little or no background noise are best for conversations. 
• Face the person so you can be lipread and speak clearly, using plain language, normal lip movements and facial expressions. 
• Check whether the person understands what you are saying and, if not, try saying it in a different way. 
• Keep your voice down as it’s uncomfortable for a hearing aid user if you shout and it looks aggressive. 
• Learn fingerspelling or some basic British Sign Language (BSL). 

Chief executive of Action on Hearing Loss, Paul Breckell, says: “One in six Rochdale residents have some form of hearing loss and many will avoid social occasions or have difficulty at work because they struggle to follow conversations when speaking with people who are not deaf aware.

“During Deaf Awareness Week, we are encouraging everyone to follow our communication tips and help remove unnecessary barriers preventing people with hearing loss from joining in everyday fun conversations or important discussions.”

Action on Hearing Loss is also encouraging Rochdale residents to ‘ZIP IT!’ during Deaf Awareness Week by holding a sponsored silence in school, college or workplace to raise vital funds for the charity’s life-changing work supporting people with hearing loss.