How to Communicate with Deaf people?

Life of a Deaf person is very hard, as they require support each and every time.  Deafness is a common hearing loss that is found in many people across the world.  Communicating with a deaf person is difficult, but not impossible.  Most of the deaf people believe that it is not a disability or problem, but it is a natural part of culture experiences that they share with their friends who are both deaf and dumb.  There are many ways on how deaf people communicate especially in a one-to-one situation. They are

·      Get the attention of the deaf person by tapping on his shoulder, visual sign or by waving hand.

·      The Deaf person wants to know about the subject matters that would be discussed to pick up words that help them to know about the conversation.

·      Always speak slowly and clearly.  By exaggerating or over pronouncing of words will distort the lip movements and make it difficult for a deaf person to understand.  Try to make use of short sentences, rather than long.

·       Look to the deaf person when communicating and avoid turning around or doing something while talking to them.

·      Do not eat anything or hide your mouth in any ways while communicating with a deaf person.

·      Always make an eye contact while talking to a deaf person as it conveys the feeling of direct contact and communication.

·      If a deaf person misses some words, make sure to repeat them.  If required, try to communicate with pen and paper.

·      If in the middle of the conversation, your phone rings or someone knocks at the door, make sure to excuse yourself and the deaf person that you are responding to the door knock or answering the call.  Do not ignore a deaf person but make him sure to complete the conversation afterwards.

·      If a deaf person nods his head in acknowledgement, do not make assumption that he has understood your conversation.  But try to ensure that he has actually understood what you wanted to convey.

However, these are some of the tips on how to communicate with a deaf person.  For more effectiveness there are many other tools that are designed especially for deaf people such as American Sign Language, cued speech, finger spellings, manual communication, oral communication, sign language, simultaneously communication, speech reading and total communication.  By following a few tips and using such tools you can easily communicate with deaf people without any difficulty.