Communicating With No Sound

After further research I discovered that hearing aids are not as good as some people make them out to be, as the article why things suck: Hearing aids (2008), explains, that the problems are with the microphone, the processor and the battery of the hearing aids. The microphone, this article suggests that it picks up all sound coming from all directions, to a service user this could be come irritating, and confusing, if this is the case it will be hard for the user to focus in on the sounds they need to hear. In a health and social care setting this could become difficult if a hearing impaired person is in a hospital, they may find the professionals voice hard to hear while background noise is happening. If this was to happen the communication would not be effective, as the service user will not be able to hear all the information and therefore wouldn’t understand what was going on. This relates to argyle’s communication cycle, the cycle is made up of six stages: idea occurring, message

Communication eases anxiety of the patients and eliminates more possibilities for mistakes, and lets each party know what is expected of them it also helps the care worker to communicate and use their skills to meets the service user’s rights and needs. In a care home, there are elderly people who may have speech difficulties, be hard of hearing, but the care worker should not use the effective communication skills too much because if the care worker speaks to one of the elderly which has hearing difficulties he must ensure he does not speak to loud as the elderly person may feel intimidated and may feel that the care worker is

As a carer it is important how you come across to a person with dementia, they still have emotions and feelings. Your body language and facial expressions can be picked up on by the individual, if you let out a long sigh or raise your eyebrows or have a nasty look on your face then this will be abusive to them and they won’t trust you. Talk to them in a calm manner, hold their hand and smile at them, this will show the individual that you have a caring attitude and they will be better for it. If there are other people in the room who are maybe shouting or talking and laughing then this could cause a problem communicating with the person with dementia, too much noise will only frustrate the individual as they won’t be able to concentrate on any conversation.

As some peoples communication can change day to day due to medical or physical conditions you can help to identify the best methods to suit them by monitoring them and reporting what you find to your manager they can then put in place aids or different methods that will best suit the individual. Also they will be able to set up meetings with the appropriate people e.g. speech therapist.

Nurses and family members need to speak slowly and clearly, in a low pitched voice, maintaining an open friendly communication manner and also using eye contact and touch. Speaking slowly is very important as it allows patients who can’t have a conversation to understand you better, patients with dementia take longer to process information and sentences, so speaking style such as emotion, sound volume and what you say can be the difference between a patient with dementia understanding you and not. It slowly allows the patients enough time to take the words in and process the sentence. Speaking clearly and in a calm voice will help reassure the patient and help them cope with following your words. Speaking clearly and calmly will help relax the patient. A nurse should avoid speaking sharply or raising their voice, as this may distress the person even if they can't follow the sense of your words. Low pitched voice is used to calm the patient and not bring about any distress or frighten them. Low pitched tone can be used to sooth the patient if in any distress. Gaining eye contact with a patient is very important, if they are sitting down kneeling down at there level can be of benefit so they no you are there. This allows the nurse to get their attention and help them focus on the conversation without scaring them. Maintaining eye contact while speaking with the patient can also be of benefit. Love and affection can

By observing the individual when they are communicating with you or others you will be able to identify the methods or aids which will best suit the individual. You may have noticed that the individual appears hard of hearing. You would then arrange a hearing test for the individual to establish if they have a problem and obtain equipment in the form of hearing aids, if needed.

If the hearing impaired person has difficulty understanding a particular phrase or word, try to find a different way of saying the same thing, rather than repeating the original words over and over.

1. Sight loss - identify yourself and you need to make it clear that you are speaking to them and not someone else, they can't read your body language so you need to be clear about your meanings and directions etc, a noisy environment can make it difficult for them to concentrate on your voice and so on.Hearing loss - be respectful when trying to get their attention eg use a light touch on the arm, if they lip read they need to see your face, you need to speak clearly at a normal pace and tone, you may need to be patient and repeat things. Deafblindness - some of the above and you need to know the levels of deafness and blindness and their preferred method of communication.

If an individual that has dementia and also has a sensory impairment it is important for care providers to assess the communication abilities of that person and to support different methods that the person may have when they are trying to communicate with you for instance a person that wears a hearing aid may have forgotten or have been unable to turn it on because of there dementia by simply having a quick check hat it is fitted correctly and is turned on you have aided the person in being able to communicate better there are many other items that may also be beneficial to an individual with sensory loss, flash cards with simple instructions words and picture on may be good if a person is having difficulty expressing what they need, sign language may also be good for those with hearing impairments.

1.3 If a person’s hearing or sight is impaired, body language and tone of voice will become more important. They may also need to learn new skills such as sign language or lip reading in order to be able to communicate. Making sure the person's glasses is the correct prescription, that their hearing aids are working properly, that they are looking at your face when you speak so that they can lip read, keeping your communication simple and clear, using visual prompts, light touches to their arms to gain attention etc.

Posted by Lachelle Gilbert- There are ways to communicate with the hearing impaired and one way is to provide the same respect, empathy, probing with a combination of other necessity like speech reading, lipreading, writing, and visual language system and assistence of an interpreter. These are ways that

I was interested in immersing myself with this group because they are a community of people that I’ve often wondered about. I’ve always wondered about the way they communicate with others and was it hard being deaf or hearing impaired in some ways. As myself, I learned that most people feel uncomfortable when meeting a Deaf person for the first time and this is very normal. When we communicate with people, we generally don’t have to think about the process. When faced with a Deaf person, we are uncertain which rules apply. We don’t know where to look, or how fast or loud to speak. When the Deaf person gives us a look of confusion, we don’t know how to correct the problem. Accept the fact that your initial

The first challenge being social dominance patterns and attitude. This challenge is definitely a struggle for many new learners. People think that the deaf are nothing more than handicapped human beings that can’t do normal

Take a second, close your eyes, and imagine silence. Nothing is going on around you; you can't even hear a pin drop. Not a sound to be heard for miles. You open your eyes expecting the world to come to life, and everything to breath wavelengths into your ears, but instead, you are met with an ocean of nothingness. People hustle about you, yelling at you to move out of their way, but still… nothing. This is the reality of a deaf person's world. Every day they wake up to this, and nothing more. When out in public, they must learn to communicate, to fend for themselves while the hearing go on with their lives as normal. We don't even realize how blessed we are as a hearing person, until it's gone. One way to dissolve this issue is by offering

It is one thing to try to communicate with someone you do know, because you already know the way they speak and their mannerisms. It is also less awkward to ask someone you know to repeat themselves repeatedly versus a stranger. My first stop on my shopping trip was to the square. The first thing I noticed was how uneasy I felt in my car. Would I be able to hear an ambulance or a siren? When I got to the square I went into High Point Coffee to order a drink. A place that normally is exploding with noises from all the machines, the espresso maker, milk steamer, and bangs of cups and dishes was completely muffled. It felt so weird! I could not even hear the music that I know was playing. When it was my turn to order, the barista asked me a question and I was nervously reading lips and trying to process to make sure I did not answer “I am good, how are you?” to “What can I get for you?” This made me realize that people with a hearing loss must feel incredibly uncomfortable in certain situations, like a dinner party with friends at a noisy restaurant and a big table, or a noisy coffee shop. Next, I went to the post office to mail a letter. I was becoming a little more comfortable with the earplugs but I still could not get used to the sound of my voice. I can completely understand how someone with a hearing loss