How do I Help the Deaf Communicate?

How do I Help the Deaf Communicate? This is a question a lot of people who have no experience with deaf people have, especially after their first encounter. A lot of the time if a deaf person does not have a cochlear implant, they cannot communicate well with people in situations. They will struggle to get their point across and end up getting frustrated.

There is the old school pen and paper method. this seems to be the thing most deaf people rely on, but it is not always the  most effective if you can believe that. From my experience handwriting can be very difficult  to read. A lot of people have sloppy handwriting, especially in emergency situations. They feel rushed and their handwriting shows it. One thing you can do in this situation is make sure to stay calm and try to write neatly and as clearly as possible. This will help break down the communication barrier.

Another thing you can do is simply pull out a cell phone. Almost everyone has a cell phone now. The deaf person will be able to communicate well with you on that. They can see the screen, read the letters, because it is not someone’s handwriting, which can look like chicken scratch sometimes. There are also some speak to text apps on your phone you can get so you can hear what they type so you can respond to them more quickly, but any response is better than none.

One not so popular option is learn sign language. I will not say you have to learn the whole entire language and that all of their communication depends on it, but learn some basic signs. There is baby sign language, and if a baby can learn it, trust me it you can too. There are simple signs like paper, interpreter and help that would be useful, if you ever come in contact with a deaf person. They will feel more comfortable talking to someone that can sign obviously, but if you can help in any way they would appreciate it.