Communicating with people who are deaf or hard of hearing

hearing aid

Always check first with the person which method they prefer to use when communicating.

Types of Communication

Lip reading is a way for a deaf person to gain information about what is being said. This is done by watching lip movements (patterns) and linking this to clues from body language. Only 30 - 40% of any sentence is lip-readable so the rest is guesswork based on the context of the conversation.
When you are talking with a deaf person make sure they can see clearly your face and mouth while you are talking. Skilled lip readers may want a professionally trained lip speaker present at a meeting or interview.
British Sign Language (BSL) is a recognised language. It has grammar, tenses and word order that are different from English. It is a visual language, using hand shapes, hand movements and facial expressions to convey meaning
Sign-supported English (SSE) and signed English (SE) are used by some deaf people. They are both based on spoken English and have similar structure and grammatical rules.
Sign-supported English combines sign language and spoken English, whereas signed English is a direct representation of spoken English.