How to become more deaf-aware

Topics mentioned: disability and mental health, supporting someone else, friends, family, self-esteem

About: Charis, 21, shares their tips and advice on how to be an ally to the Deaf community, and support your Deaf friend, family or someone you meet.

Deafness is one of the most common disabilities and it affects all D/deaf people in a variety of ways. By becoming more deaf-aware, you can make a significant difference in removing barriers to our health and wellbeing.

Communication is a vital part of life, but Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people are frequently excluded from lots of methods of communication that hearing individuals often use. For the Deaf community, this can be very challenging, exhausting and isolating.

Here are some things you can do to become more deaf-aware and help your Deaf friends and family.

Normally when people think of someone being Deaf, the first thing that comes to mind is that they can’t hear anything at all and they can’t speak. This definition is incorrect because deafness is a massive spectrum.

For example, I was born hearing, but at age five I started to lose my hearing slowly. Then at the age of 19, I became profoundly deaf in my right ear and severely deaf in my left ear, so I went from being Hard-of-Hearing to Profoundly Deaf in the space of 14 years.

The levels of deafness are:

• Mild hearing loss: Hearing loss of 20 to 40 decibels.
• Moderate hearing loss: Hearing loss of 41 to 60 decibels.
• Severe hearing loss: Hearing loss of 61 to 80 decibels.
• Profound hearing loss or deafness: Hearing loss of more than 81 decibels.

All Deaf people are different and that includes how we communicate with others. I personally mostly use speech and lipread as not many of my friends or family know sign language, but my preferred way of communicating is sign language. Some Deaf people will communicate by either speaking, using sign language, lipreading or other ways.

The best thing to do is ask us what our preferred way of communicating is. This makes us feel like you want to communicate with us and in the best way possible, so we aren’t left out.

For the Deaf community, body language and facial expressions are very important. Being in a good environment is essential for communication, whether that’s lipreading or using sign language.

A lot of the time, we feel like we’re a burden or we’re scared to ask for help when we need it, because we don’t want to be a bother. Always try to remind us that we are not a burden.

This includes if you go to a restaurant, or even go away on a trip or holiday, make sure you let your Deaf friend/family member know that they aren’t a bother and that if they need help, you will always help them.

We can’t help being Deaf and life is a struggle for us every day. Our friends saying that we aren’t a bother and that they will support us goes a long way.

Sign language is a tool that thousands of Deaf people in the UK rely on, and it’s also a good tool for you to have under your belt. Now, I’m not saying that I expect to see you all get to level 6 in sign language, but even just knowing the basics goes such a long way. I think learning a new language and understanding the basics so that you can help someone is also such a rewarding thing.

There are so many other ways that you can become deaf aware. These are just a few tips to consider if you’d like to help Deaf friends/family members or even a Deaf stranger you may pass one day.