Employing People with Hearing Difficulties

Although not a disability that can be visually identified, hearing impairment or deafness affects about 9 million people in the UK (RNID, 2005).

In the UK, the RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf People www.rnid.org.uk ) has a huge, active membership, and offers practical advice to employers on recruiting and supporting workers with hearing difficulties.

Courses offered by the RNID include:

• Deaf and disability awareness training
• ‘Start to Sign’, an introduction to signing in the workplace
• How to recruit deaf and hard of hearing jobseekers
• How to help arrange work experience placements
• Training opportunities for deaf people by specialist tutors
• Changes you can make to support deaf and hard of hearing workers and clients

Simple Changes to the Workplace

Since the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), employers are obliged to take reasonable steps to make sure that disabled people are not at a disadvantage when trying to do their job.

Changes are not necessarily costly, but can make a world of difference to hearing-impaired people. They could be:

• Installing a fire / smoke alarm with flashing lights to alert attention
• Having a phone which incorporates a light when it rings
• Putting an amplifier on a phone so the deaf worker can hear more of what the caller is saying
• Providing awareness training for all staff, including tips about helping people lip read you

Communicate Clearly: Lip Reading

• Be willing to take your time, and Check the lip reader can understand you every so often
• Find a space away from noisy distractions
• Stand or sit at the same level, about a yard from each other
• Don’t have shadow falling across your face, and don’t turn away when you are speaking
• Speak naturally, in a moderate tone
• Use normal gestures and facial expressions which will help to illustrate what you’re saying
• Remember that shouting or mumbling will cause confusion