Deaf Awareness Week is an annual event that aims to raise awareness about the deaf community and their needs. It’s an opportunity to promote inclusive practices in the workplace, ensuring that deaf individuals feel valued and supported. This year the theme is deaf inclusion and my role as your positive psychology coaching consultant is to help embed this in your establishment!
Deafness affects people in different ways, from mild hearing loss to complete deafness. However, communication is often the biggest barrier for individuals who are deaf. This is why it’s essential to promote deaf awareness, educate others about inclusion, and encourage organisations to be accessible.
I was lucky enough to work in a school that had an amazing hearing impaired provision, and I never stopped learning with them. My hearing impaired students were some of the most charming, funniest, and hard-working students I’ve ever had and they pushed me to unlearn and re-learn ways in which my classroom could be more inclusive.
As businesses move towards more diverse and inclusive workplaces, it’s essential to consider the needs of deaf individuals. Employers should accommodate and support employees who are deaf by offering reasonable adjustments, such as providing British Sign Language interpreters, closed captioning, and assistive technology. Additionally, communication should be tailored to each individual’s needs, whether that’s written or verbal communication. (Yes, it’s often easy to assume that all Deaf people use Sign Language but this is not the case!)
Being inclusive of deaf employees also involves education other staff members about deaf awareness. This could include training sessions on how to communicate with deaf colleagues or providing a basic understanding of sign language. By creating a more informed and supportive workplace, employers foster an inclusive culture that benefits everyone.
Some of the practical adjustments that we can all make to support somebody who is hearing impaired, or deaf are:
- Speak clearly, being mindful of your speed and volume. (This does not mean to raise your voice or slow down to a patronising level- but being aware of a person’s individuality and how they can access your speech better, sometimes it’s as simple as asking them. This is more respectful than assuming, or ignoring them out of fear that you’ll get it wrong!)
- Be aware of background noises or people speaking over one another.
- Keep your mouth on show, they may be relying on lip-reading.
- Face towards the person while you are speaking.
- If they miss your message, don’t say “it doesn’t matter”, repeat if you need to do so, or find an alternative way to communicate it (written communication!)
- Learn some basic sign language (finger spelling is a great way to start)
- Check out some resources online to help you or your organisation be more deaf aware- e.g Signature have some amazing PDFs and I even completed my Level 1 training with them just before the pandemic
Overall, promoting deaf awareness is crucial for creating a more inclusive society. It’s time for organisations to take proactive steps towards recognising the needs of the deaf community and ensuring that they are fully included in the workplace.