Deaf and HearingLoss

People who begin togo deaf in adult life have different problems from those who are born deaf.They

have to learndifferent ways of behaving and different ways of communication一perhaps at a time when learn-

ing is not all thateasy.

A hearing aid is nota complete solution to the problem.The sound perceived by the deaf person

through a hearingaid is distorted and appears to have more background noise than is heard bysomeone with

normal hearing.Deafened people have to lipread as well.

Lip reading isdifficult,demands intense concentration,and an uninterrupted direct view of thespeaker's

face.No otheractivities can take place at the same timE.the lip reader has to stopeating,stop everything in

order to concentrateon hearing. It is not a question of stupidity or bad temper一as it sometimes appears to

be一but a question of being very easy tomisunderstand when the sound is distorted.Remember what it's

like trying tocommunicate on a very bad telephone line.Frustrating,isn't it?The deaf have toface all the

time.

A useful way oflooking at the problem is to see the deaf person as a foreigner一to treat them as if you

were in a foreigncountry.You would speak more clearly,slowly and raise your voice slightly.Andyou'd

use gestures to makeyour meaning clear, as well as have no hesitation in using pencil and paper tobe abso-

lutely certain.Youcan do all those things with the deaf一as well as making sure you don't obscure your

mouth with yourhand,a pipe or a cigarette.

Another point quiteoften overlooked is that a hearing aid may be quite efficient and useful in aquite

carpeted room一but try it in the high street in therush hour,in a noisy car,in a railway station ticket office,

a cinema or aconcert hail and you've got a really difficult problem to distinguish speech.Sodon't suggest

to or encourage deafpeople to go to functions which are going to make their disability appear worse一and in-

crease their senseof failure.

On the other handcareful selection of cinemas with good sound systems is important and youshould

experiment to findout where the best seats are for hearing,fitting adaptors for radio andtelevision,observing

which friends areeasier to understand,and making sure that people talking are well-lit and alluseful and

positive activities.A person who loseshearing________.

A.can hear well withthe help of a hearing aid

B.can communicatewith others by lip reading and at the same time with the help of a hearing aid

C.can onlycommunicate with others with the help of pencil and paper

D.can communicateeasily with others by lip reading