Deaf and Hard of Hearing

The Mayo Clinic has a great deal of information on living and coping with hearing loss. These tips can help you to communicate more easily despite your hearing loss:

• Don’t be hesitant to tell people that you have a hearing loss. Ask the person you wish to speak with to face you and to turn off background noises or move to a quiet area.
• Tell the person you wish to speak with how to best communicate with you. Often their reluctance is just because they don’t know what to do to help you understand. Let the person know they need to speak slowly and speak clearly. Let the person know that they need to rephrase if repetition doesn’t work.
• Even the best lip-readers only catch 30% of what is spoken, so ask them to be patient if you need to clarify what they’re saying.
• Consider using an assistive listening device or alternate forms of communication (i.e. writing notes, sign language, etc.)

American Sign Language (ASL): A visual-gestural language with vocabulary and grammar that is different than English

Pidgin Sign Language (PSE): The use of American Sign Language in English word order with a blending of important characteristics of ASL and English

Signing Exact English (SEE) or Seeing Essential English (SEE II): Communication through signing every English word in a sentence.  Includes many signs invented for this purpose, which are not part of American Sign Language.

Total Communication: Communication of ideas and feelings through any and all means, such as speech, using residual hearing, gestures, speech reading/lip reading, sign language, fingerspelling, pantomime, and writing.

Cued Speech: A manual supplement to lip reading/speech reading that uses hand positions to augment the visible lip movements of speech.

Fingerspelling: The use of hand shapes to represent letters of the alphabet.  There is a different hand shape for each letter, and letters are formed one after another to spell out words. Sometimes referred to as the Rochester Method.

Lip Reading/Speech Reading: Understanding a spoken message by observing a speaker’s lips, face, expression, and body language; attending to relevant cues in the environment; and using knowledge of the rules of English and principles of interpersonal communication.

Note-Reading/Writing: Using a pen or marker and paper to receive and convey the message between deaf/hard of hearing and hearing person.

Basic Communication Principles

• Communication with a deaf, hard-of-hearing, late-deafened or deaf-blind person involves sensitivity, common sense and courtesy.
• Effective communication is a joint responsibility of the hearing person and the deaf, hard-of-hearing or late-deafened person.
• Always feel free to ask, “What can I do to make it easier for the two of us to communicate?”
• There are many ways to communicate; the situation determines the difference.

Communication Strategies

Guidelines for a Hearing Person when Communicating with a Hard-of-Hearing Person

• Do get the person’s attention before you speak.
• Avoid noisy background situations.
• Be sure that your face can be clearly seen.  Do not put obstacles in front of your face.
• Do not have objects in your mouth such as gum, cigarettes, or food when speaking.
• Speak clearly and at a moderate pace.
• Be sure that light sources (windows and artificial lighting) are on your face and not behind your head.
• Use facial expressions and gestures that will help your listener to better understand.
• Give clues when changing the subject.  It’s easier for a person to lip/speechread you if they know what the topic is.
• Let your listener know if and when the topic changes.
• Rephrase instead of repeating when you are not understood.
• Do not shout; shouting distorts speech and makes speechreading more difficult.
• Talk to a hard of hearing person, not about them.
• When in doubt, ask the hard of hearing person for suggestions to improve communication.
• Be patient, positive, and relaxed.

Guidelines for Communicating with a Person Who Uses Sign Language

• To get the deaf or late-deafened person’s attention, try a gentle tap on the shoulder; a wave or flashing the lights; or a stomp on the floor or a hand slap to a table.
• While waiting for the interpreter to show up, have a paper and pen ready for simple English questions that can be answered with more than a yes or no.  Open-ended questions that solicit more than a yes or no answer will give you an idea of how much the deaf person understands.  Don’t attempt to get consent from the deaf person until the interpreter is present.
• When asking a yes-or-no question, do not assume that when the deaf or late-deafened person nods his/her head it is affirmation or understanding.  Nodding of the head often means confirmation that the message is being received or is courtesy and nothing more.  There is a very specific sign that is used to indicate Yes or No.
• If you know basic sign language and fingerspelling, use it for simple things.  If you don’t know, use natural gestures, mime and facial expressions (i.e. drink, eat).  It is important to realize that the ability to interpret is much more than knowing how to sign. If you have taken one or more sign language classes, that does not mean you can replace the interpreter.  Until you have taken and passed the performance tests given through the Florida Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (FRID) or the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), you are not qualified to interpret.
• When the Interpreter is present, talk directly to the deaf person, not the interpreter.  Do not say, “Tell her…” or “Ask him…”
• Be courteous to the person during conversation.  If the phone rings or someone knocks at the door, let the person know that you are responding to the phone or door.
• Maintaining eye contact with a deaf person is vital when communicating.  It is considered rude carrying on a conversation without eye contact.
• When you are speaking to a deaf person through an interpreter, everything you say will be interpreted.  It is the interpreter’s job to communicate everything to the deaf person.

Guidelines for Communicating with a Deaf-Blind Person

• If the person is hard of hearing and communicates in spoken language, use the same tips offered for communicating with hard-of-hearing people.  Keep close so the deaf-blind person can see the speaker’s face.
• If the person is deaf and uses sign language, use the same tips offered for communicating with a deaf person that uses sign language.  Check to see if the person uses sign language close up or uses tactile (hand-over-hand) communication.  Call an interpreter and notify the agency/interpreter that the person is deaf-blind and which mode of communication is needed (visual sign language or tactile sign language.)
• When approaching or walking with deaf-blind persons, offer an elbow and use it to guide them.  Never push or pull them along.
• Do not leave deaf-blind persons alone in an open space.  If you need to leave them alone for a few minutes, escort them to a safe place (for example, a chair near the wall.)  Let them know why you are doing this.
• If using a paper and pen to communicate, use readable big print.
• If the person has Usher’s Syndrome or Retinitis Pegmentosa, make sure the lighting is good and without glare.

Florida Coordinating Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing – Brochure

Advocacy and Organizations

• National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes
• ADA Guide for Persons with Disabilities Seeking Employment
• JAN Accommodation Network
• Bright Outlook Occupations
• One-Stop Career Centers provide job seekers with a full range of assistance under one roof. One-Stops operate in all 50 states and offer training referrals, career counseling, job listings, and many similar employment-related services.

Workplace Compliance

• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Employment Discrimination
• Job Accommodation Network 

As a person with hearing loss, you have the right to certain reasonable accommodations. Some explanations that may prove helpful are listed below. Even with your best hearing aids on, you still have trouble following what is happening in a noisy environment. If it’s just you and one or two other people, you might decide to ask to move to a quieter area. If it’s a large meeting, let’s say a company meeting or a general assembly, you can request other accommodations such as an oral interpreter or the use of CART services (someone who types every word that is spoken).

Air Travel Requirements and Guidelines 

• U.S. Department of Transportation: Tips for Traveling with a Disability
• Delta Airlines Accessible Travel Services
• American Airlines Special Assistance
• Frontier Airlines Special Services
• Southwest Airlines: Air Travel for Disabled Passengers
• TSA Cares: Disabilities and Medical Conditions

Federal Regulations

General sources of disability rights information, statute citations, and the following laws are covered in the Guide to Disability Rights Laws in addition to the ADA. 

• Americans with Disabilities Act
• ADA Regulations and Technical Assistance Manuals
• ADA Communications Guide for Law Enforcement
• ADA Guide to Law Enforcement Model Policy
• Fair Housing Act
• National Voter Registration Act
• Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
• Section 503 Rehabilitation Act of 1973

American Sign Language (ASL) is a fully developed visual-gestural language with distinct grammar, syntax, and symbols; it is one of hundreds of signed languages of the world and is the primary language used by the Deaf community in the U.S. and Canada.

Assistive Alerting Devices is a broad term, and includes any visual, auditory or tactile device used to improve the perception of sound for persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf/blind. Examples of these devices include: flashing door knock sensors (visual), Assistive Listening Device Systems (ALDs) (auditory) and vibrating personal pagers (tactile).

Assistive Listening Device Systems (ALDs), also referred to as Assistive Listening Systems (ALS), are devices designed to help people with hearing loss improve their auditory access in difficult and large-area listening situations. There are three basic types of large area ALDs available:

• Induction Loop (IL) system
• FM system
• Infrared system

Braille is a system of touch reading for the blind which employs embossed dots evenly arranged in quadrangular letter spaces or cells.

Braille display is an electro-mechanical device for displaying braille characters, usually by means of raising dots through holes in a flat surface. The display sits under the computer keyboard. It is used to present text to computer users who are blind and cannot use a normal computer monitor. Speech synthesizers are also commonly used for the same task, and a blind user may switch between the two systems depending on circumstances.

Cap-Tel is an abbreviation for Captioned Telephony.  It can refer to either a physical telephone that has voice-to-text display capabilities or a web-based system where a user can get captioning to come up on their computer screen while they are speaking on a telephone.  Please see the Technical Assistance sub-section of the What We Do section on this website for links to providers.

Captioning means displaying the spoken word as English text. Captioning is always displayed with a video picture, such as on television.

• “Realtime Captioning” is a live, instant captioning by a specially-trained realtime stenographer.
• “Scripted or Offline Captioning” is captioning that is used on taped programs and videos and does not require a realtime captioner or stenographer for its creation.
• “Closed Captioning” is captioning that is visible only when the television’s captioning decoder is set to display the captions. Most television programming is “closed captioned.”
• “Open Captions” are captions or verbatim subtitles that are present on a video at all times and need no special equipment to access.

Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is the verbatim instant translation of the spoken word into English text by a specially-trained machine stenographer or a specially trained verbatim realtime voice writer (CART Provider) using computer assisted translation software which is displayed on a monitor, projector screen or laptop computer. CART is recognized in the Americans with Disabilities Act as assistive technology which affords effective communication access.

Certified CART provider (CCP) means a person who holds a valid certification granted by National Association of Court Reporters (NCRA).

Certified interpreter means a person who holds a valid certification or certifications granted by RID, NAD, NCI, TECUnit, or EIPA.

Cochlear implant means an implanted electronic hearing device, designed to produce useful hearing sensations to a person with severe to profound nerve deafness by electrically stimulating nerves inside the inner ear. These implants usually consist of two main components:

• The externally worn microphone, sound processor and transmitter system.
• The implanted receiver and electrode system, which contains the electronic circuits that receive signals from the external system and send electrical currents to the inner ear.

Deaf means a person whose sense of hearing is nonfunctional, without technology, for the purpose of communication and whose primary means of communication is visual. Unless otherwise specified, the use of the term “deaf” or “Deaf” also implies persons who are hard of hearing or deaf-blind.

D/HH is an abbreviation used to mean deaf and/or hard of hearing.

Deaf-Blind means a person who has a substantial loss of hearing and vision and who may utilize specialized visual, auditory or tactile communication methods.

Descriptive Video Services means descriptions of television programs, feature films, and other visual media that make them accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired by providing descriptive narration of key visual elements in a program that a viewer who is visually impaired would ordinarily miss are described. Actions, costumes, gestures, and scene changes are just a few of the elements that, when described, engage the blind or visually impaired viewer with the story. A carefully written script is prepared by a trained describer, read by a professional narrator, and mixed in a professional audio production suite for broadcast-quality results. A full DVS® mix consists of the main program audio combined with these narrated descriptions.

Florida Relay Service (FRS) is the communications link for people who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Deaf/Blind, or Speech Impaired. Through the Florida Relay, people who use specialized telephone equipment can communicate with people who use standard telephone equipment. To call Florida Relay, dial 7-1-1.

Florida Telecommunications Relay (FTRI) is a statewide not-for-profit organization that administers the Specialized Telecommunications Equipment Distribution Program in Florida for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf/blind, and/or speech impaired. 

The equipment distribution program operated by FTRI distributes specialized equipment for residents of Florida who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Deaf/Blind or Speech Impaired.  The equipment is on loan to the individual for as long as they need it.  Types of equipment distributed include:

• Text telephone (TTY) or telephonic device for the deaf (TDD)
• Volume control phone for hearing impaired or speech impaired
• Voice carry-over and hearing carry-over phone
• Large visual display (LVD) for deaf and sight impaired
• Gewa-Jupiter Phone or RC200: both for individuals who are hearing or speech impaired and mobility impaired
• Telitalk speech aid phone: for laryngectomy patients
• CapTel: voice carry-over with computer assisted captioning
• Visual, audible, or tactile ring signalers
• In-line amplifier

Florida Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, a Florida affiliate chapter of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.

Hard of Hearing means a person who has a hearing loss which results in the possible dependence on visual methods to communicate in addition to use of residual hearing with or without the assistance of technology.

Hearing Technology means any device that is used to improve the perception of speech by persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. Hearing technology is a broad term that applies to hearing aids, cochlear implants, FM systems, captioning, assistive listening devices and systems, amplified telephones, etc.

Interpreter means a person who engages in the practice of interpreting. Unless otherwise specified, the use of the term “interpreter” also implies a person who engages in the practice of transliterating.

Interpreting means the process of providing accessible communication between and among persons who are deaf or hard of hearing and those who are hearing. This process includes, but is not limited to, communication between American Sign Language and English. It may also involve various other modalities that involve visual, gestural, and tactile methods.

JAWS screen reader – a popular software application that attempts to identify and interpret what is being displayed on the screen. This is then presented to a blind user as speech by text-to-speech technology or by a braille display.

Late-Deafened Adult (LDA) describes deafness which occurred any time after the development of speech and language; often it means after the age of adolescence. Usually a late-deafened adult has identified with hearing society through schooling, social connections, etc. They are usually unable to understand speech without hearing technology and/or visual aids such as speech-reading, sign language and/or Communication Access Realtime Translation Services (CART). 

National Association of the Deaf (NAD) certifies sign language interpreters at a national level, but no longer administers its certification exam.

Qualified Interpreter means an interpreter who is able to interpret effectively, accurately, and impartially, both receptively and expressively, using any necessary specialized vocabulary, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title III.

Remote CART or remote captioning means CART or captioning services that are provided by a CART provider or captioner who is in a different location. The audio is transmitted to the CART provider or captioner through a telephone line (using special equipment), and the live text is displayed either through the internet, through a computer program such as PC Anywhere, or on a television broadcast.

Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) certifies sign language and oral interpreters at a national level. The RID also grants a specialist certificate in the area of legal interpreting.

Sign Language is a generic term used to describe a continuum of visual-gestural language and communication systems based on hand signs.

Support Service Provider (SSP) means persons who are trained as sighted guides and providers of visual information to people who are deaf-blind. SSPs assist persons who are deaf-blind in employment settings, accessing medical and other public services, and in performing everyday tasks such as shopping for food, simple banking, and reading mail. There are currently no requirements in Florida to become an SSP. In some states SSPs are required to be trained in Deaf-Blind Culture, Causes of Deaf-Blindness, Communication Modes, Guiding Techniques, and roles and duties of the SSP.

TTY means text telephone.

TDD means telephonic device for the deaf.

Video remote interpreting (VRI) means interpreting services provided between two parties who may or may not be located in the same room or location.

Video relay service (VRS) means a telecommunications relay service that allows people with hearing or speech disabilities who use sign language to communicate with voice telephone users through video equipment. The video link allows the interpreter (also known as a video interpreter or VI) to view and interpret the party’s signed conversation and relay the conversation back and forth with a voice caller.