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Tips for Employing People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

The information listed below can be found at the following website: http://www.disabledperson.com/RecruitABILITY/empdeaf.htm

Enhancing Communication: On the Job Accommodations

Enhancing the performance of the employee who is deaf or hard of hearing does not necessarily have to be expensive or require a great deal of equipment. In many instances, communication accommodations may be useful to all employees, not just those who are deaf or hard of hearing. The most important consideration is to identify the communication situations in which the deaf or hard of hearing employee is experiencing difficulty. The responsibility to improve or minimize communication barriers in these situations is equally shared by all persons in the workplace, those who are hearing, hard of hearing, or deaf. The following are examples of accommodations that could facilitate communication in a variety of situations:

Face to Face Situations

· Ensure that the office and/or work environment is adequately lighted.
· Consider placing the worker in a quieter environment if environmental noise interferes with communication.
· Arrange the workstation in a way that the worker can readily see when someone is entering their office or work-site.
· Use assistive listening devices when needed.
· Use interpreters (oral and/or sign) when needed.
· Be aware of your personal habits that may serve as barriers to comfortable speech reading. Examples include hands in front of mouth, not directly facing employee, and chewing while talking.
· Encourage co-workers and supervisors to learn sign language by offering training classes

Interactive Distance Communication Situations

· Ensure the availability of Text Telephones (TTs are also commonly referred to as TDDs or TTYs), amplification devices, or other appropriate assistive listening devices (ALDS) to help facilitate communication between other employees or customers.
· Use state telecommunication relay services, where an intermediate person receives verbal information and types it to the person using a TT. The "800" toll-free phone numbers for these services are listed in local phone directories.
· Consider E-mail as a primary tool for intra and interoffice communication.
· Provide visual or tactile pagers for communication, instructions, and as an alerting system.
· Share information via networked computers.
· Use computer notetaking.
· Try FAX machines for intra or interoffice, and customer communication.
· Provide visual and auditory alerting devices on telephones and fire alarm systems

Group Situations

· Ensure that all rooms used for meetings or training are adequately lighted.
· Utilize assistive listening devices such as FM, infrared, loop systems, and/or closed-captioning decoders in meeting and training sessions.
· Try real-time captioning for meetings and training sessions (simultaneously captioning as speaker speaks).
· Caption video training materials.
· Use professional interpreters (oral and/ or sign) when needed.
· Use note takers in meetings and groups.
· Consider "communication cops" at meetings (one person who monitors the meeting to ensure that only one person speaks at a time).
· Provide mentors and coaches.

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