Deaf Awareness Week in May highlighted the challenges that people who are hard of hearing face on a daily basis.

Over 40,000 people in Gloucestershire use a hearing aid, but many people do not realise that even with the help of a hearing aid, listening is not the same as how we hear with our ears normally, and this can lead to everyday tasks being frustrating and problematic.

There are many devices that can be fitted to enable people to hear better but, even with the latest technology, it still requires the brain to re-learn how to process sounds.

People who are hard of hearing cannot hear the full range of frequencies of sound, and the patterns of amplification become distorted. Science does not yet fully understand the brain processes that are involved, but the brain decodes the sounds differently to normal hearing and a slightly different use of mental processes is involved.

Background noise interferes with hearing
When hearing is difficult, even things that we might normally take for granted can become an issue – making a phone call, using an intercom, hearing the doorbell, etc. And the loss of one of the main five senses can lead to other psychological issues such as lack of confidence and decrease in independence.

Too often we see people raising the volume of their voice when speaking to a person who is hearing-impaired. This, however, is not the best solution. It is not just the volume that is a problem, but the background noise and the brain trying to separate the sound of speech from the everyday noise that interferes with hearing. We can get a sense of what this is like when we are trying to hear a conversation in a crowded room or by a busy road.

To help partially deaf people to make sense of what we are saying, we need to be more aware of how we communicate.

• Try to speak slower and more clearly.
• Face the person when you speak to them and make sure they can see your mouth.
• If possible, minimise the background noise in the environment around you.

Communication is a two-way process. So, with a greater understanding we can aim to converse more easily and understand the challenges faced by those who are hearing-impaired, and help to reduce them.