Bridging the Gap Between the Hearing & Deaf Worlds
As someone who has had countless audiology appointments for decades, it hasn’t always been a smooth process.
While it’s easier to blame the audiologist and the entire department, it’s true that they have their parts to play. But we as patients can also do our bit to make the whole audiology experience a more seamless and effective.
Learn how to make the most out of yoru audiology appointments here
Even though there are various ways describing someone who have some kind of deafness, a common choice of phrasings is “hearing impaired/impairment”.
On most occasions, I don’t believe there are bad intentions. Still, it’s time we stop using those words, particularly as we tend to frown upon those phrases and there are better choices of words to choose from.
When on a video call, and if available, I tend to take advantage of the automatic subtitles to help get through the call, and most deaf people would do the same.
But automatic subtitles are not perfect. They’re not terrible, but they’re not perfect. However, there are steps everyone can take to make it as accurate as possible and make it easier for the technology to pick up the words.
Since face masks is currently part of the everyday norm and it’s common to see it in our daily routines now, this has raised the issue of how it can make it difficult for deaf people to lip read and to communicate.
Even there are so many different types of face masks out there, I have yet to see those wearing the see-through clear face masks where you can see the other person’s lips. This makes it easier to lip read, see their emotions and facial expressions, and generally make it easier to communicate.
And this applies, not just to deaf people, but to everyone too.
Even though video calls and events have been around for many years, the pandemic has forced many organisers to consider making their events, which are normally offline and in-person, as a virtual event instead.
Conferences, meetings, lectures, workshops, performances…they are all affected.
But deaf attendees are often forgotten about or ignored, so this post will look at how to make virtual events deaf accessible.
Learn how to organise and run deaf accessible virtual events here
There are so many barriers that we could focus on when it comes to deaf awareness.
But since it’s Deaf Awareness Week in the UK (as of 4th-10th May 2020), there is one particular topic that I wanted to focus in light of it being a popular trend.
We are living in a time where more and more people are making video calls. But how do you video call someone who is deaf/hard of hearing? Is that even possible? There are so many tools and platforms out there you can use for video calls. But for all their fancy gadgets and quirky features, […]
Video calls are on the rise. With more people working from home, remote working (or living in isolation because of a global pandemic) and with so many tools available to help us, more and more people are making use of video calls even for personal use too. But what about for someone like me who […]
Rather than asking how people go deaf in general (genetic, accident, illness, etc.), a popular question is “how can I become deaf”…like literally and deliberately force it upon yourself.
It’s an unusual question but it’s not something that I encourage.
Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing “wrong” with being deaf. But people have to realise and understand that it’s not a novelty or “a bit of fun”. It comes with barriers and challenges.
But rather than quickly judge those who asks this question, perhaps there is more to the story.
