1 in 7 people in the UK experience some form of hearing impairment so it is important that we understand what this means and how access requirements can be met.
People who are deaf or hearing impaired may be affected in many ways and losses may range from mild to profound. They may be conductive i.e. as a result of impairment to the outer or middle ear, sensorineural as a result of impairment to the inner ear or be a combination of the two. People with a hearing impairment may find that they have difficulty hearing in crowds or in group conversations or they may hear but not understand what is being said as they may find that words seem to be jumbled or just run together.
Some interesting statistics are that 71.1% of over 70-year-olds will have some kind of hearing loss; 41.7% of over 50-year-olds will have some kind of hearing loss and approximately 2,474,000 people aged 16 to 60 experience a hearing impairment.
Misconception: All hearing impaired people live in a world of silence
Truth: There are approximately 8,945,000 hearing impaired people in the UK with 688,000 of these people having a severe to profound loss of hearing.
Misconception: All hearing impaired people can lip read.
Truth: Only 30% of English words can be read accurately on the lips. For clear, concise and effective communication many hearing impaired people will use many techniques such as sign language/interpreters, lip readers, lip speakers and speech to text.
Misconception: All hearing impaired people can “sign”
Truth: There are approximately 8,945,000 hearing impaired people in the UK but only around 75,000 people in the UK use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first language.
Misconception: Hearing impairment cannot be helped.
Truth: A large number of individuals with hearing impairment can be helped through amplification. In the UK today there are approximately two million people with hearing aids and 1.4 million people using them regularly. However, it is thought that another four million people could benefit from a hearing aid.
Access requirements vary and therefore it is important to remember to discuss directly with the person their individual requirements. However, some general guidelines would be:
• Before speaking attract the person’s attention unobtrusively i.e. by moving into their line of vision
• When speaking face the person so they can lip read and avoid moving around too much
• Speak clearly, don’t shout or over enunciate as this distorts sound and lip patterns and remember to give a clear view of lips: avoid covering the mouth with hands
• Use gesture and facial expressions
• Use normal language i.e. use short sentences rather than single words; use normal speech at a normal rate
• Try to understand and act upon the requirements of a person with a hearing impairment; this is one of the most supportive strategies you can adopt.
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