May is Better Hearing and Speech Month

Have you felt the need lately to build connections with your loved ones and community? As restrictions on social distancing begin to alleviate, many people are feeling a craving to reconnect with their families, friends, and neighbors. While continuing precautions, we can begin to reconnect with old friends and to meet new people, as well. If you are ready to attend a social gathering, party, or event you might be full of anticipation to enjoy others’ company, but you also might have some reticence. Some people feel anxious about social encounters after over a year spent in near isolation. Others feel overwhelmed at the necessity to reconnect with everyone at once. Perhaps those with hearing loss feel the greatest hesitance to connect with their communities, not only feeling some social unease due to pandemic conditions but also concern that they will be unable to easily converse with others due to hearing loss. Each May the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association sets aside the month to celebrate Better Hearing and Speech Month. This year’s theme fits right in with many of our concerns after over a year dealing with pandemic conditions: “Building Connections.” Though some people might simply be eager to reengage with their social lives, others feel worried that their hearing loss will make it difficult to connect. Let’s think about ways that you can make it easier for those in your family or community with hearing loss to take part in social gatherings. 

Build a Bridge

If you have someone in your family with hearing loss, you can do a lot to build a bridge to others who are not aware or who are not sensitive to their needs. If you are close with your family member who has hearing loss, don’t hesitate to ask what you can do to make it easier. This simple conversation can give you practical tips that are suited to your loved one’s needs. Each person desires a unique type of accommodation, and what works for one person might feel uncomfortable or even rude for another. Take, for example, raising the volume of your voice. Some people with hearing loss feel that it is a practical step that makes it easier to have a conversation, and they welcome a louder volume. Others, however, feel like you are yelling at them, or they might feel embarrassed by the obvious difference in volume between how you speak to them and how you speak to others. When you ask what you can do to help, be sure to listen carefully and consider whether your current approach is working or not. 

Become an Interpreter

One of the most important things you can do to help your loved one with hearing loss in social settings is to make sure they feel integrated as a vital part of the conversation. Too many people with hearing loss simply check out on conversations, frustrated with their inability to make out what others are saying. In order to keep your loved one in the conversation, you can take subtle steps to interpret what others are saying. By standing nearby your loved one, you can relay questions or comments in a natural way. You can take the opportunity to rephrase questions so that there is more to work with in terms of word choice. You can even offer some simple restatement of things that are said in the group. While taking care not to treat your loved one in ways that are uncomfortable, you can provide a crucial service that maintains a connection with the group.

If these considerations or scenarios are familiar to you, then you can do a lot to help. However, these accommodations are only ways to work around the prevailing issue of hearing loss. The only durable solution for hearing loss is to seek treatment from a hearing health professional, and we can provide that service to your loved one. Beginning with a hearing test, we can put your loved one on the path toward building or rebuilding connections with your family and community. Why not take the opportunity of Better Hearing and Speech Month to have a conversation with your loved one about seeking assistance?