Tips For Working With Those Who Are HOH

I work with many folks who are hard of hearing (HOH). Sometimes this may not necessarily be written in their chart so I don’t always know before hand. Sometimes the individual might not admit that they have a hearing deficit too. I have a wonderful grandmother who can have full conversations with you but she can’t hear a sound… and you would never know. I personally believe I will be the same way when my ears stop working… I don’t like to feel like I’m losing any part of my independence.

But, as the therapist… the helping professional… I need to know about their hearing status because that will affect the techniques used during sessions.

Here are my tricks for determining if someone happens to be HOH:

Ask people if they can hear you. Seriously. When I start playing guitar I say “Can you hear my guitar?”. Ask if they hear out of one ear better than the other. Ask open ended questions and ask people to choose between two items (“Do you prefer Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin?”.
Look for hearing aids. If they’re wearing them then obviously there is a hearing deficit. Sometimes people forget to put them in, don’t turn them on, the battery is dead, etc. etc. Definitely document if they wear them because they might not be wearing them during the next visit.
Move around during the session. Usually one ear may hear better than the other. So provide sound from different sides of the individual. Being on the correct side can really dramatically change your patient’s experience… it’s pretty amazing. This techniques is essential if your client is not exactly verbal.

Those are my tricks… what are yours?

Compliments and Giving Credit

Resource: Thanks 4 The Music.com

(Somebody Bring Me A Flower) I’m A Robot

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Amanda Ellis, MT-BC June 28, 2011 at 12:48 pm

Great post, Michelle!
There are two additional things I remember to do when planning sessions for clients who are hard of hearing.
The first one is to make sure I’m enunciating the words I’m either speaking or singing and to look at the client when I’m talking/singing. A lot of people who are hard of hearing read lips as a mode of survival!
The second thing I make sure to do is to print out and/or write names of artists or even the song choices for the patient to read. It’s a back up to make sure we’re all on the same page! Your dry erase board would conveniently come in handy for that.