Keys to Good Listening for People with Hearing Loss

• Don't bluff! Pretending reinforces the myth that hard of hearing people understand "when they want to."
• Analyse the problem. What is making it hard to hear? Then go to work on the problem. Don't assume that it's all your fault when you have trouble hearing.
• Take charge of your environment. If the environment is causing listening problems, make some changes. For example, turn off background music or move your chair closer to what you want to hear.
• Case the place! When you first enter a room, look for the best place to hear and see.
• Prepare ahead. Think about who will be at an event and what the topics of conversation might be. This weill help you listen and lip-read more effectively.
• Use assistive technology. Sometimes hearing aids need to be supplemented with other equipment.
• Get closer. Don't even try to hear someone in another room. Say, "Wait a minute, I hear you talking but I can't understand from here." Then go to where the talker is.
• Speak up. Say what you need when you cannot hear. Others would like to help but don't know what to do. Then, remind them when they forget and thank them when they remember.
• Tell the talker what to do differently. If the talker is talking too fast, you can say, for example, "because of my hearing loss, I'm having trouble hearing you. Can you speak more slowly, please?"
• Wear you hearing aids routinely. Don't make the mistake of wearing them only when you go out where listening is difficult.
• Learn what helps in noise. Try reducing you hearing aid volume a very small amount or try a different program if you hearing aid has multiple memories.
• Ask what the topic is. In order to make sense out of the bits and pieces you do hear, you need to know what people are talking about.
• Clarify specifically. Let your communication partner know what you heard and what you did not hear. For example, if you did not hear the words "next week" in the sentence, "We'll need to get this out by next week," you can say, "We'll need to get this out WHEN?"
• Verify frequently. This is especially true for times and places. Verify you heard correctly by saying, for example, "did you say the meeting is at eight o'clock on Friday?"
• Sometimes it is best to wait! In some situations, attempts at communicating will only lead to frustration. If so, tell your communication partner what is going on. For example, you can say, "its' too dark in here for me to lip-read and I cannot understand you Let's wait until the lights come on."