Had a great Xmas by chilling.. why can’t we do the same with deafness?

Had a great Christmas – sent lots of e-cards (sorry if I offended anyone), bought loads of books on the internet (highly recommended) as pressies (I asked everyone for a book list), and we went out for a meal on Christmas Day (so no cooking) and did not put up any Christmas decorations apart from a few classy baubles in a huge glass container.

Now what has all this to do with deafness? Well I think some lessons can be learned here. Like they say in Dad’s Army, “Don’t panic!!”. If you (hearing)  are introduced to someone who is deaf (perhaps a friend of a friend or colleague), smile and say hello. It’s not that hard, is it? Even better, find out beforehand what you can do to communicate more clearly (that’s harder). Remember deaf people have always been deaf (or if not, then probably have been for a very long time) and are usually quite chilled about it.  We know how to be deaf so what are you worried about? Take your lead from us. See what we do (usually we are smiling at you and looking at you) and then copy. Whatever you do, don’t flap and make things worse for yourself. (we’re not bothered, we’ll just go and find someone else to play with). Talk about what’s immediately happening (weather, shopping, staff meeting, whatever) and you’ll be rewarded with an intelligent reply. Go on, have a go!