What Action to take - How Can You Help?

When speaking to a Hard of hearing person try to make sure:

	that you try to find a quiet place to have your conversation. This will help you both your lipreader is sitting in the best place for them. if possible, give the context that you are speaking about. This will be really helpful.
	You get the lipreader's attention first – call their name or wave at them. You could check throughout the conversation that the lipreader is following the change in topics as you go along. Following social conversations is difficult as the topics change constantly. Knowing the context is really important to enable easier lipreading.
	make sure there is good light - NB remember not to sit with your back to the window as your face will then be in darkness. Ask if the person can see well enough. You can't lipread in the dark!
	your lipreader can see your face clearly and that your mouth can be clearly seen. you speak clearly and at a slightly slower rate. Don't over exaggerate the sounds or speak too slowly – this can lead to the listener/lip reader making mistakes and losing the natural rhythm of speech. Rhythm can help lipreaders to recognise what is being said.
	that you speak in slightly louder voice than usual but NOT too loud and NOT too soft. As was said before clarity is what is needed -not too much volume. you remember that body language is useful too – facial expressions, gestures and your general appearance BUT try to keep reasonably still. It is very distracting if the speaker keeps moving about and sometimes the face becomes obscured. You can't lipread if you can't see the person's mouth.
	you have pen and paper - if all else fails you can write down what is being said. The use of a microphone or better still a loop system can be very useful to some hearing aid wearers. Use technology such as personal amplifiers and speech to text apps on your mobile phones. and you could learn finger spelling - it is very useful to use finger spelling for names or to give the first letter/sound of words There is so much available in today’s world.

When speaking to a hard of hearing person speak slowly and clearly and use the phonic alphabet to clarify sounds/letters. Also check dates and times have been heard correctly - use zero if necessary. If you are responsible for call centres or other similar service could you include an option to allow a hard of hearing person to press 1 to go to different set of options which could be 2 for those with high frequency loss, who would then be answered by a deep voiced person; 3 for those with a low frequency loss who would go straight to a person with a high pitched voice. This would necessitate designated people to answer these calls BUT 1 in 5 has a hearing loss in the UK and this could make telephone calls a lot less stressful for many people.