Senior Notes

by Cora Flood

WHAT, I CAN’T HEAR YOU!

Last year I was out visiting a friend at Old Colony Elder Services in Brockton, putting some improvements into place in our senior outreach program, getting more tips and ideas on topics that our regulars might enjoy. I came back to the office loaded down with pamphlets, books, fliers, binders and naturally brim full of great ideas. I am not a big hoarder by any means, so once the material got a glance it quickly was sent to the recycle bin. I was doing a little tidy up the other afternoon and came across one escapee from that outing. A green handbook called “ A Guide for People who became Deafened or Severely Hard of Hearing”. A stroke of luck I recall, as I really need to brush up on my skills and learn more about resources for working and living with older adults with hearing loss. Perhaps a bit of fate was playing its hand as I had actually just confirmed our guest speaker for this week, one Mr. Kirk Van Gilder from DEAF, Inc. Allston.

Kirk is the outreach coordinator for DEAF, Inc and one incredibly difficult fellow to pin down. He is that much in demand around the entire city. DEAF, Inc. encourages and empowers Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind and Late-Deafened individuals to lead independent and productive lives. They offer a comprehensive package of programs and services in a supportive community environment that is linguistically and culturally accessible for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind and Late-Deafened individuals from diverse ethnic and cultural populations.

Everyone knows that the incidence of hearing loss increases dramatically with age. Many of the difficulties associated with late deafness are magnified for the elderly population. For friends and family of a person who is living with hearing loss here is a simple but useful set of tips borrowed from “A Guide for People Who Become Deaf” by Karen Rockow, PhD.

For Hearing People: How to Communicate with a Deaf Person or a Person with Hearing Loss

· Make sure you have the person’s attention before you speak.

· Face the deaf person. It is important for him or her to be able to see your face.

· Remove any objects from your mouth that might interfere with speech reading (lip reading) e.g. (gum, food, etc

· Speak clearly and a bit more slowly than usual, if you normally speak quickly.

· Don’t overemphasize lip movements. It will make speech reading more difficult not easier.

· Don’t SHOUT. If the person has no hearing, it won’t help. If the person has some residual hearing and wears hearing aids, it will only distort what you say.

· If the person does not understand what you have said, don’t repeat it, re-phrase it.

· Try to give the person some indication when you change the subject.

· Make sure that only one person talks at a time.

· Recognize that speech reading and listening involve intense concentration for later deafened people and can be VERY tiring.

· Ask the deaf person what you can do to make communication easier.

For any of our readers who would like a copy of the book, pop me a line and I can get it out to you in the mail. If you are free this Monday afternoon 1:30pm to 3:00pm stop by the Veronica Smith Center and meet Kirk in person. He will have information and contacts for all your hearing needs. We understand that not everyone can make it or perhaps would find speaking about their own hearing loss a difficult subject in a group setting. Please feel free to contact DEAF, Inc directly in Allston, Salem, New Bedford or Taunton. Main no. is 617 254 4041.

FINAL NOTICE: Senior outing to ICC, Canton Thursday July 24^th from 12noon to 3:00pm. Please RSVP to 617-479-7404. Have a great week…. Cora