If you have a family member with hearing loss, you know how hard it is for the whole family. Your family member trying hard to hear gets angry or stops talking to you, so they don’t have to deal with the embarrassment of mishearing or answering incorrectly. As the grandkids and other family members spend more time with the hearing family members, they may start to feel alone or ignored.
Communication is the key to a healthy family, so the whole family could be affected if someone has trouble hearing. To keep your family close, you need to learn how to talk to a family member who is hard of hearing and make sure they feel included and loved.
Wait until you’re sure they’re hearing you.
Before talking, make sure your loved one is paying attention and ready to listen. If your loved one is making tea or has their back on you, they might not understand you, and they might not even know you’re talking to them! You may have a lot to say, and I can’t wait to tell grandma about your week.
Touch them gently or call out their name to get their attention. Make sure there aren’t too many other sounds going on by turning down the radio or TV so your loved one can hear you better.
Get close
If you want to be heard, don’t be afraid to get a bit closer. Let’s say you and your family are at a restaurant or having Thanksgiving together. When that happens, it can get deafening, which makes it hard for your loved one to hear you.
Make sure you can see each other. If they are sitting, pull up a chair for them. Being at eye level will help you talk to your loved one and make it easier for them to read your expressions and lips and listen carefully to what you say. Don’t yell at your dad from the kitchen to offer him a drink. Instead, walk over to where he is and talk to him face-to-face.
Don’t yell; speak more clearly.
You might think that yelling is the best way to help someone hear. But this is the complete opposite of what you should do! Loudness won’t help your loved one listen to you better. It sounds like you’re angry or upset, not like you’re trying to say something. That’s a better way to talk to someone.
Instead of screaming, try to be precise. Slow down a bit, but refrain from lingering on words. Even though you want to be clear, that will make it harder to understand. Add a few pauses between your words to slow down and give your loved one time to hear and know what you’re saying.
Rephrase instead of repeating
If your loved one can’t hear you, don’t just say the exact words repeatedly. Your tone might make it harder for people to understand you, and displaying the same thing frequently will make everyone mad.
Try paraphrasing. Change the words you use and how you say the sentence to help your loved one understand you.
If someone in your family has trouble hearing, they aren’t the only one who is hurting. When communication breaks down, your whole family is affected. This makes it hard for people to get along and makes family dinners tense.
Don’t let this go on without stopping it. Try to get your loved one to see us so we can check their hearing. We have suitable devices that will work for them. We’ll match their hearing and give them the right hearing aid to help them get back to talking clearly.
If you need help communicating with your family:
- Sit down with everyone and talk about how to do it better, even if some people can’t hear as well.
- Make sure everyone knows about these tips and follows them so that your family can become even closer than it was before.
- If someone you care about has hearing loss that affects you and your family, come see us today so we can help them get their hearing back.