Breaking Barriers: Overcoming Challenges of People with Hearing Impairment

As discussed in my previous article, deaf and hard of hearing individuals face a plethora of challenges across their familial, social, and workplace settings that can potentially impede their ability to perform to their full potential. Among the most significant obstacles are the stigma surrounding their disability and the lack of understanding and awareness about their needs. Addressing these issues requires proactive measures and a focused effort to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Like the saying goes, “change begins at home.” It is important for us to initiate change and progressive conversations at home with our families before expanding the scope of our conversations at our social or official settings.

Education and advocacy play a critical role in overcoming stigma and social exclusion.

• Organizing workshops and seminars to educate the community about the capabilities and contributions of deaf and hard of hearing individuals.
• Sharing success stories and positive representations to challenge stereotypes and misinterpreted notions.
• Organisations like Atypical Advantage conduct intensive Disability Awareness Workshops that can be customised to fit the needs of the audience & with a pointed focus on certain disabilities as per necessity and more.

Lack of awareness of Indian Sign Language among the general (hearing) population is another big factor that leads to social exclusion. How many of us had deaf classmates at school? How many of us knew that there is a language called Sign Language in childhood? How many of us assumed that “Jabba Jabba” is the language of the deaf? Answer to all this is a huge lack of awareness and sometimes ignorance. Promoting Sign Language Awareness is equally critical to move away from social exclusion. 

• Conducting regular workshops and training sessions in schools, communities and office spaces for hearing population will enhance awareness
• Encouraging businesses and educational institutions to display signage indicating sign language basics will also help.
• Interpreters play a very important role in bridging the communication gap between deaf and hearing population. Thus, ensuring availability of trained sign language interpreters for important events, meetings, and in general discussions is important.
• In case interpreters are not available immediately, organisations like SignAble Communications provide access to video remote interpreting (VRI) services for instant communication support.

Accessibility and Reasonable accommodations at the workplace and all public places is another critical element to ensure social inclusion of deaf individuals. Have you ever attended a conference in a country where every signage and notice was in their regional language and you struggled to find your way? Have you ever come across government notices in regional language that you didn’t understand and had to quickly take out your phone to use Google Translate?

• Establish alternative communication channels such as email, text messaging, or visual alerts for announcements and important information. Ensure captioning and summary recording is available for video meetings.
• Implementing soundproofing measures in public spaces and venues frequented by deaf and hard of hearing individuals; further using assistive listening devices or captioning services to facilitate communication in noisy environments is a great support.
• Providing alternative channels of written communication aids such as notepads, text messaging apps, or communication boards can help overcome this challenge.
• It is important to conduct a detailed assessment of the requirements of each individual and create a personalised plan of action to accommodate and ensure access.
• Accessibility Audits play a very important role in helping agencies to navigate through access challenges at variety of settings. Many organizations including Atypical Advantage Access For ALL can help you in this journey.

Enhanced social involvement is equally critical to foster a better understanding between the hearing and the deaf communities. Have you ever been part of a social group where everyone knew a certain language except you. How alone did you feel? Have you ever been forced into a class group that you did not relate to or understand and hated your subject teacher till the end of the assignment? Have you ever visited a tourist place and realised that no one speaks English and you’ll have to depend on a great internet connection and a local translator for all communication?

• Establish support groups where family members can share experiences and learn from each other. These events can be attended by the hearing communities too, for learning and understanding challenges faced not just by deaf individuals but their families.
• Involving people across the disability spectrum in social events with accessibility in mind will create an opportunity for all to communicate comfortably and in an informal setting. This will surely address the gap in a gradual yet definite fashion.
• Create different avenues of involvement. Check out how, we at Atypical engage with the community in different ways while focusing on inclusion - Atypical Art, Atypical Experiences and more.

These are just starting points towards our journey to inclusion. By implementing these comprehensive solutions in family, social circles, workplace and all public places, we can break down barriers and create environments where deaf and hard of hearing individuals feel valued, included, and empowered to fully participate in society. But to reiterate, INCLUSION is a collective and collaborative goal and cannot be achieved without putting all our heads together.