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Meetings

 

Support for people with Hearing Loss at meetings

Introduction

Meetings are often difficult for hard of hearing people. A good meeting involves participation and interaction. A person with hearing loss may not be able to follow the conversation. Maybe they hear a certain amount but not enough to be able to think about the conversation and contribute their thoughts or ideas.  Apart from the impact on the person with hearing loss, the meeting itself may fail to achieve its intended purpose.

The purpose of support is to ensure the HOH person can “hear” comfortably and can therefore apply their maximum effort to participating

This note is written to give a feel of what support people with hearing loss may need at meetings and enhances the prospect of a successful meeting. The purpose is to facilitate an understanding of the issues rather than prescribe a solution for a given situation

People with Hearing loss can be

  • Deaf from Birth (Sign language (ISL in Ireland) is normally their 1st language)
  • Have a mild hearing loss (*11% of population)
  • Have a moderate hearing loss (*6% of population)
  • Have a severe hearing loss (*0.5% of population)
  • Have a profound hearing loss (*0.1% of population)
  • Deafened in adulthood (similar to having a profound hearing loss)

 

(* “Action on Hearing Loss”  Estimates for the total population)

For the sake of this note, meetings can be:

  • One to one
  • Small: 2 – 4 people
  • Large: 4+ people
  • Tele/Video conference
  • Conference/public

The importance of the meeting and need for active participation is also a big factor in determining what support is appropriate

Help can be in the form of:

  • Own skills: Lip reading, concentration, preparation, experience etc
  • Deaf awareness and good communication skills of hearing person/people at the meeting
  • Personal loop (wired)  / FM radio system (wireless)
  • Desktop loop system:  This is a system with a multidirectional microphone that is placed on the table. The system has several receivers that can be used as loops or with earphones. Note people with severe / profound loss will need to lip read also
  • Room loop system:  This is a system where a large room can be looped so that a hearing aid user can pick up the sound from the microphone anywhere in the room without hearing background noise. The microphone is normally on the top table or lectern or attached to the speaker. Positioning of the microphone away from immediate background noise is important.  A portable microphone will be needed for questions from the floor.
  • Note taker: Often people with hearing loss will find the process of taking notes the last straw in trying to follow a meeting – writing notes while listening for a HOH person can be compared to texting on a mobile while driving
  • Text to speech support:  At present this requires an operator (Stenographer / speed text operator) but in the near future may be via a pc using voice recognition software.

 

Sign Language User

The first thing to take into account is whether the person with hearing loss uses sign language as their first language. If this is the case then support probably means providing an interpreter.  Sign language interpreters are widely available.

Meeting Skills

Communication at meetings can fail for reasons other than poor hearing.

The lack of pre-reading or the actual failure to pre-read advance distributed written reports, analysis, instructions etc, is a major issue. Also, meetings are often run poorly with conversations going down sidetracks.

Hearing loss presents issues, but there are many poor meetings where everybody can hear well. Some people do not listen, are uncomfortable or simply not motivated to participate fully. Topics can be complex with many meeting attendees not understanding the issues involved

One to One Meetings

People with a mild or moderate hearing loss may have some difficulty but should be able to get round these fairly comfortably unless there are other issues. Therefore these comments relate primarily to people with a severe or profound hearing loss but at the same time will help everyone.

Generally speaking it is not practical to have 3rd party support.  In fact, it may not be desirable as hard of hearing people need to develop their skills as far as possible. That said, the person with hearing loss might be more comfortable having a second person with them, particularly if the discussion is important, such as a hospital visit.

We would expect over time the HOH person to develop lip reading and assertiveness skills to be open and confident about slowing the pace of the meeting to suit them.

It is a tremendous help if the hearing person is “deaf aware” and makes allowance for the needs of the person with hearing loss. Such things as

  • Catch attention before talking
  • Allow the HOH person choose where to sit
  • Speak clearly and naturally
  • Repeat if asked
  • Clarify understanding every now and again

A bright, quiet room is helpful. And it can be a good idea if the HOH person can have a copy of whatever notes the hearing person takes.

Small Meetings: 2 – 4 people

In this scenario, the net spreads wider and more people will have some difficulty.  People with a severe/profound loss will follow a lot less than at one to one meetings. The nature of the meeting is critical.

There are broadly 2 types of meetings – Social, semi-formal/work meetings

Social Occasion/Meetings: These can be very difficult; often involving background noise, fast conversations and cross talking. The same skills as one to one meetings are needed but they are more critical and often will not work. There is a need for openness, an ability to stay calm and to minimise your disadvantage. The ability of your friends to anticipate and adjust is also a key factor

Larger Social occasions are close to impossible for many and damage limitation skills developed over many years have to be called on by the HOH person

Business  meetings: Apart from the individual awareness issues as above, it is a great help if the group stick with a few “group communication” rules, such things as

  • Appoint one person to lead the meeting and control the pace / flow
  • Allow the deaf/HOH person choose where to sit
  • Possibly appoint one person to take notes for the hard of hearing person or use a formal note taker
  • Cross talking is banned
  • Summarise agreements as you go along
  • Prepare and distribute minutes promptly afterwards

The meeting location is critical with good lighting and acoustics preferred and the absence of background noise essential. A person with a severe or profound loss may still have difficulties even if the room lighting & acoustics are good and the group is well organised as above

In terms of technical support that might help, a personal loop or FM microphone should be considered. If these types of meeting are regular, the person with a severe/profound loss should seriously think about getting such a device to complement his/her hearing aid

Large Meetings: 4+ people

 

Everyone with a hearing loss will have some difficulties. People with a severe or profound loss will be in severe difficulties

All the location and deaf aware & group communication rules mentioned for small meetings apply but are more critical. The role of the Chairman is critical to ensure all attendees are aware of and follow the group communication rules

Extra things to be considered are

  • Distribution of all pre-reading materials well in advance (Brilliant for everyone and the success of the meeting)
  • The use of a personal note taker or better still a speech to text service
  • The use of a desktop loop system with the option of loop or earphone receivers. Note that desk top loop systems are portable and represent a good investment

Tele/Videoconference Meetings

These can be impossible for people who are highly dependent on lip reading as in the first instance they cannot see the speakers and in the second there can be a significant time gap between the video and the sound

People with a lesser degree of loss should be able to follow the meeting but will find them difficult. Some advance preparation is advised. Simply being familiar with the room and videoconference machine can make a big difference whether your hearing is good or bad.

It is critical that cameras point at whoever is speaking and that people don’t cross talk

Conferences / Public Meetings

These are particularly difficult as the person with hearing loss has no influence and is not able to interrupt and request something be repeated as need be

Some suggestions

  • A room loop system is essential if there are a few hard of hearing people at the meeting
  • For a person with a moderate or higher loss a text to speech service is needed if they are to follow and/or participate. This works best if the text screen is positioned so the HOH person/people can view it, the speaker and any presentation screen easily at the same time. After the meeting the “Text” should be emailed to the HOH people
  • Speakers who use good visual presentation to support the speech are much easier  for a person with hearing loss to follow
  • A Chairman’s understanding of the deaf aware and group communication rules and his/her ability to keep order is extremely useful
  • Websites giving advance and post reviews also are very helpful