Thanksgiving is one of the most important times of the year for friends and family to gather. Is there anything better than sitting around a delicious meal for the sole purpose of giving thanks? It’s also a time when you might be entertaining or engaging with your loved ones in a setting outside of your routine social interactions. Adding a few extra people in an unpredictable setting can bring a bit of chaos, but being mindful to the myriad dynamics unfolding around all the hubbub can alleviate discomfort and embarrassment among fellow guests. If anyone you know you’ll be mingling with over the holiday has hearing loss, there are a few ways to make the event much less stressful for them.
Understand their situation
For a person with hearing loss, being in a large and noisy group can be a nightmare. It raises a whole host of personal insecurities far beyond simply social anxiety. Engaging in conversation with hearing loss is often a daily struggle and it’s exacerbated greatly when strangers or folks who aren’t aware of your condition are involved. People with hearing loss are often most comfortable conversing with others who are aware that the interaction will require patience and sensitivity around their hearing loss.
Start right there with that compassionate viewpoint and if you have an opportunity, ask your loved one how you can make the Thanksgiving meal easier on them. In most cases, they’ll know much better than anyone else what their specific needs are and what behaviors are most helpful. If that’s not an option, there are a few general guidelines that are meant to assist anyone planning on hosting or accommodating someone with hearing loss.
Keep background music to a minimum
You might be inclined to keep the party vibes high by cranking the volume on the holiday music. Understandable since we have such a short period of time to enjoy that delicacy. However, this is precisely the sort of listening environment that can prove uniquely challenging for someone with hearing loss. Often, conversation becomes even more difficult to make out when external noise is added to the mix.
Save the dishes for after the party
If you’re dining in a room that adjoins the kitchen, you might be tempted to get started on that pile of dirty dishes. If you have a guest with hearing loss, save that chore for a later hour. Like the background music, this inherently clamorous activity only serves to distract from conversation. Plus, it encourages additional cross talk between the kitchen and the seating area. Those sorts of conversations are difficult to follow with absolutely perfect hearing and should be avoided.
Subtly stack the deck
You can make gentle suggestions about where your guest with hearing loss should sit or with whom they should speak to. Introduce them to someone with a “generous” speaking voice. Every family has a loud mouth and that’s a great person to seat your guest next to.
You might also self-designate as your guest’s helper. Make sure to keep an eye on them throughout the gathering and swoop in when it looks like they might be experiencing some difficulty. You don’t have to out their hearing loss to the entire group, but you can quietly lend support by staying nearby and easing conversation.
Encourage quiet conversational areas
If a rowdy group convenes around the football game, make sure that there’s an alternative for your guest to escape to. They won’t want to add television volume into their list of Thanksgiving adversaries. Perhaps there is another room where other guests might want to socialize without all the ruckus. It would be most helpful if this seating arrangement was organized so that the person with hearing loss has a clear view of everyone’s face and is in the line of sight with their mouths. This assists them by virtue of sound projection as well as giving them an opportunity to use body language and nonverbal cues to follow along easily with the conversation.
With the stress of the holidays, it’s easy to forget that the reason we all gather together is in appreciation for each other and all that we have. The party doesn’t have to be a perfect experience for everyone from start to finish, but the intention of wanting your friend or family member to enjoy themselves and relax with loved ones is a gift in and of itself.
From all of us at Desert Valley Audiology, we wish you and your family a happy Thanksgiving.