Speak in a clear way, unexaggerated way

-It takes a lot of energy for deaf or hard-of-hearing people to communicate and follow conversations with hearing people. Lip-reading is one way that a deaf or hard-of-hearing person may try to follow along in conversation, but it can be very difficult. On average, even the best lip-readers are only able to understand 30 percent of what is being said.

When you try to exaggerate your words and drastically slow down your pronunciation, this only distorts the words and makes it much more difficult for someone to follow you.

Here’s what you can do to help:

1. Speak clearly and enunciate. Don’t mumble, shout, exaggerate or excessively slow your speech.

2. Position yourself with good lighting so that a shadow does not shroud your face to allow your lip movements to be more visible.

3. Make sure the view of your mouth is not blocked

#IWDeaf #deafawarenessweek #guamhearingdoctors

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