Talking Hearing Loss

When you have good hearing it’s very easy to guess or assume what it might be like to have hearing loss but very often those assumptions are wrong and can come across as inconsiderate or offensive.If you’re someone with ‘normal’ hearing and would like an insight into what it’s like to be deaf or hard of hearing, try to complete the following 5 challenges (created by Deaf Blogger Jessica Marie Flores)

1. The Repeating Challenge

• What kind of reactions did you get?
• Did the person have as much patience as you thought they would have?
• Did you find other forms of communication to make it work?

2. The No Talking Challenge

1. Use your phone to type things out
2. Bring a notepad and pen
3. Just point things out

3. The Lip Reading Challenge

• How much did you understand?
• Did you find certain people (the newsreader) easier to lipread than others (people being interviewed)?
• How much difference does it make when you can see the person’s lips clearly?

4. The Movie Challenge

• How much of the movie were you able to understand?
• Talk about the movie with someone who has seen it normally (with sound). How much of the plot and emotion of the movie did you miss just by not being able to hear what was being said?

5. The Ear Plug Challenge

• Did you miss that someone has called to you?
• Could you hear everyday sounds like the ringing of your phone, the doorbell, the beep of a microwave, the barking of a dog or the chirping of birds?
• How much more difficult was it at work, school or just socialising when you cannot hear as well as everyone else around you?
• As an extension to Challenge 4, what was it like trying to watch a movie or television when you were unable to hear the dialogue clearly?

Let me know how you went, in the comments below!

_{This post was originally published 20 October 2020}