Deaf and Hearing Impaired: Communication in Service Contexts [ELIS Classic]

From the author’s text: “This article provides insights on deafness, deaf and hearing-impaired people, the varied means of communication they use, and basic communications skills useful in communicating with deaf patrons. Suggestions for further reading and study are given, as are sources of in-depth information about deafness and related subjects. Minor modifications to the manner in which one converses can facilitate communication with people with various degrees of hearing impairment, enhance the level of mutual comfort of library personnel and deaf patrons alike, and lead to more productive interaction. Such accommodations can and do represent a significant step toward making libraries accessible to hearing-impaired and deaf people.”

—ELIS Classic, from 1995