Disability 101: Resources

Communication Hints When You're Conversing with People who are Hard of Hearing

• Always face the person when you are talking to them. Most people who are hard of hearing rely on speech-reading to some extent.
   
• Don't hide your mouth. Keep your hands away from your face and don't bend your head down while you're talking.
   
• You don't have to talk loudly, or exaggerate the way you speak, but do speak clearly, without mumbling your words.
   
• Higher pitched women's voices are harder to understand; if you have a high voice, lower the pitch of your voice if you can.
   
• Make sure the lighting is adequate. A bright light behind can cause a glare or your face (mouth) to be in a shadow.
   
• Turn down music, turn off TVs and radios. Background noise is a big problem for people who are hard of hearing.
   
• Choose a carpeted room and position yourself off to the side, or in a quiet nook. Hardwood floors, high ceilings, being situated in the center of a large room can all create acoustic problems.
   
• Visual information helps. Use printed meeting minutes and agendas, flip charts, white boards, and Power Point presentations.
   
• On Sundays offer printed texts of that day's sermon.
   
• At meetings, try to control multiple people talking at once. It can be very confusing to follow the conversation if more than one person is talking at a time.
   
• Try to schedule meetings and hold conversations in a quiet room, where the door can be closed and people can sit close together. Noise from phones, copy machines etc make it harder to concentrate.

Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon St. | Boston, MA 02108 | 617-742-2100