Communication Tips For The Hearing Impaired

Tips For Communicating With Hearing Aid Users

Use these communication tips from Tulsa Audiologists to enhance your conversations with hearing aid users.

Communicating With Hearing Aid Users

Better hearing requires more than just hearing aids. Hearing your best means having the right technology — fit specifically to your unique hearing needs — for the environments you find yourself in most often, and maximizing that technology with better communication strategies.

Anytime someone is fit with new technology, there will be an adjustment period. Regardless of whether the person you’re communicating with has an untreated hearing loss or is using hearing aids for the first time, the following communication tips can be used to enhance your conversations:

  • Sit or stand 3 to 6 feet away to maximize audibility
  • Stay at eye level to help with visual cues
  • Make sure you have the person’s attention before speaking
  • Use facial expressions and gestures to accentuate your message
  • Raise your voice slightly
  • Speak slowly and distinctly
  • Use short, simple sentences
  • Rephrase your words if the person is having a hard time understanding you
  • To avoid distortion, don’t speak directly into a person’s ear

We can help with better communication techniques. Our practice regularly hosts open houses and hearing events in which patients, their family, and their friends are welcome to come by and discuss their unique communication issues at greater length.

We recommend booking an appointment for a comprehensive hearing consultation so that our hearing care providers can find out more about your specific type of hearing loss and lifestyle. Contact us to schedule a complete consultation.

Sit or stand 3 to 6 feet away to maximize audibility

Correct Distance Hearing Aid Tips

Use short, simple sentences to be more easily understood

Short Sentences hearing aid tips

Raise your voice slightly to maximize audibility

hearing aid tips Speaking Louder

Communicating With Hearing Aid Users Frequently Asked Questions

Are some types of hearing loss easier to treat?

Hearing loss is a puzzle that our professionals love to solve, and it is based on your individual experiences, lifestyle, and severity of impairment. There is no one-size-fits-all treatment method for hearing loss — it’s based on the sounds that you can’t hear, which vary greatly, and the sounds that you want to be able to hear. A quality hearing system from a reputable manufacturer isn’t effective until an experienced, qualified hearing care professional programs the technology properly based on your unique hearing needs.

Are there any health downsides to not treating hearing loss?

Research has established a relationship between hearing loss and dementia. There is strong evidence that hearing loss accelerates brain-tissue atrophy, particularly in areas of the brain that auditory nerves would stimulate but can’t because they aren’t receiving a signal (due to a hearing loss). These areas of the brain are also related to memory and speech. Individuals with a mild hearing loss are three times as likely to fall down as those without, and the likelihood of falls increases as degree of hearing loss increases. Hearing loss has also been linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sickle-cell anemia, and other circulatory conditions.

At what age do people normally start getting hearing loss?

Since hearing loss is cumulative, hearing loss begins as an infant and continues throughout life. Most individuals don’t begin to experience symptoms until their late 20s or early 30s, and by age 45 a yearly hearing check becomes of greater importance. One-third of people beyond the age of 65 have some degree of hearing loss, however mild or severe, and that share of the elderly population increases as they age.

How can I improve my hearing?

Unfortunately, many forms of hearing loss are permanent because there is no cure. Treatment methods that feature amplification fit to your specific hearing loss by a hearing care professional typically have the highest user satisfaction for improved hearing and improved quality of life.

How can I prevent hearing loss?

Protecting your hearing from noise levels greater than 85 decibels at work and during leisurely activities will greatly reduce your chances of noise-induced hearing loss. Many manufacturing jobs require hearing protection in loud environments, but hearing protection is also recommended while ATV riding, hunting, attending concerts and sporting events, and playing music — all situations where your hearing is vulnerable.

Is hearing loss hereditary?

Though it is difficult to say what genetic factors predispose individuals to hearing loss, there seems to be a connection. Some genetic disorders present at birth cause a hearing loss, but in the absence of a disease, hearing loss can still have a basis in your genetics.

What should I do if I get sudden hearing loss?

See your physician immediately; sudden hearing loss is considered a medical emergency. Sudden hearing loss typically resolves on its own within two weeks, but it might not — meaning your hearing might be gone for good. Seeking medical assistance within 72 hours of the onset of sudden hearing loss greatly improves the chances that your hearing will recover.

Tulsa Audiologists

3 Simple Steps To Better Hearing!

Step 1

Call our office today.

Step 2

Schedule a hearing test
(covered by most insurances).

Step 3

Enjoy better hearing as we provide the perfect solution!

Take the first step, call now

No Matter The Situation, Our Tulsa Audiologists Are Prepared To Help With These Services:

Audiological Evaluations

Audiological Evaluations

Hearing impairment affects more than just your ability to hear — it affects your quality of life. Hearing Solution Centers stresses the importance of an accurate and timely hearing test. Call us today to schedule an apointment.

Assistive Listening Devices

Assistive Listening Devices

Individuals with hearing loss sometimes have more difficulty hearing basic technology that is a part of regular daily life, like telephones ringing or alarm clocks buzzing. Assistive Listening Devices cure this problem.

Hearing Aid Repairs

Hearing Aid Repairs

Even if you take care of your hearing aids and keep up with regular maintenance, time takes its toll on all technology, and it’s possible that yours will eventually wear out through the course of normal use.

Custom Ear Plugs & Molded Ear Plugs

Custom Ear Plugs & Molded Ear Plugs

Hearing loss happens for many reasons, one of the most popular being exposure to loud noise (noise-induced hearing loss, or NIHL). Hearing Solution Centers offers a variety of custom ear plugs and molded ear plugs.

Tinnitus Treatment

Tinnitus Treatment

Though the common misconception about tinnitus is that it’s a disease, tinnitus is actually a medical condition characterized by persistent ringing in one or both ears that can only be heard by the affected individual.

Earwax Management

Earwax Management

Earwax, that yellowish-brown substance produced by the glands of the external ear, may conjure the ick factor for many people, but it actually serves a pretty important purpose. Our treatments will help you manage it in a healthy way.

Hunter Hearing Protection

Hunter Hearing Protection

Digitial Hunter’s Hearing Protection is designed for hunters and shooters who need amplification as well as hearing protection.

Custom In-Ear Monitors

Custom-Molded In-Ear Monitors

As the #1 custom-molded in-ear monitors provider in Tulsa, we are committed to helping Tulsa musicians hear every note.

Custom In-Ear Monitors

HSC Bluetooth Medical Devices

Our first-ever medical-grade hearing enhancement and earbud hybrid, these buds enhance the world around you and help you hear your music and calls better.

Let’s Get Started

Take the first step to better hearing

Contact Info

Hearing Solution Centers

Address:

6550 E 71st St, Ste 101

Tulsa, OK 74133

Schedule a callback


Phone:

(918) 602-4109

Hours of Operation:

Monday-Friday: 8:30am - 5:00pm