On 3 March we celebrated World Hearing Day. It serves as a great opportunity to find out how you can support people with hearing loss.<\/span><\/p>\n Hearing disability makes it hard to function normally. People often are ashamed of it and try to conceal the fact that they couldn\u2019t hear something. Little by little they become isolated from the rest of society, cultural events, scientific and professional activities. It doesn\u2019t have to be that way!<\/span><\/p>\n We will suggest to you ways in which every member of the University of Silesia academic community can take part to improve accessibility for people with hearing disabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n Hearing problems affect more people than we think. The World Health Organisation states that we are dealing with a global hearing loss epidemic, which is mainly caused by an increase in noise coming from our surroundings and the progressive aging of our society. It is estimated that the number of people experiencing hearing problems will equal 2.5 billion by the year 2050. Hearing loss will affect one in four people, and every 14th person will have to use hearing aids or anchored hearing implants to function properly in their everyday life.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n People with hearing loss can function in society in one of two ways: as Deaf people (written with a capital letter due to them considering themselves as a cultural and language minority) communicating with sign language, or as people hard of hearing \u2013 communicating in Polish but requiring some technological assistance. Most commonly, Deaf people are born with hearing loss and people who are hard of hearing lose their ability to hear at a certain stage in their life, therefore, they retain their language abilities. Selecting an appropriate form of support requires knowing the communication preferences of people with hearing disabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″]\r\n If you are a university employee, keep in mind that a student communicating in sign language has the right to a sign language interpreter. Contact the Student Service Centre (in the University of Silesia Rectorate, ul. Bankowa 12) and ask about the availability of this type of service. For now, we are using external interpreters, they have to be booked with prior notice, but soon we will have interpreters available as part of the university administration.<\/span><\/p>\n When organising scientific and cultural events, booking a sign language interpreter is worth considering.<\/span><\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”ramka” width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1646313388091{border-radius: 3px !important;}”]\r\n <\/p>\n We have a Silent Choir<\/a> operating at the University of Silesia? It is an immensely valuable initiative, which contributes positively to the fight against social exclusion of people who communicate exclusively with sign language.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[vc_empty_space height=”40px”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner]\r\n <\/p>\n Make up most of the people with hearing disabilities and chances are that you have already met them. They often hide the fact that they have difficulties hearing and that is why it is so hard to find them and to support them effectively. It is important to be attentive to the problems of people who may not be able to hear and discreetly support them in the process of communication.<\/span><\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[vc_separator]\r\n If you are interested in learning more about accessibility for hard of hearing people, we encourage you to watch lectures recorded as part of the social campaign \u201cAware University of Silesia. Openness\u201d, which are available on our <\/span>YouTube<\/span><\/a> channel.<\/span><\/p>\n During the lecture \u201cAccessibility for people who are hard of hearing\u201d<\/a> recorded on 1 March 2022, Lidia Smolarek Best speaks about the technologies useful for people who are hard of hearing.<\/span><\/p>\nWhat do you need to know to effectively support people with hearing loss?<\/b><\/h3>\n
How to support accessibility for Deaf people<\/b><\/h3>\n
Did you know that..?<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n
Hard of hearing people at the University<\/b><\/h3>\n
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