Interaction between the blind and the deaf: A lesson in Communications
For persons who are blind or deaf, it takes a longer time to develop relationships with colleagues at work. A further challenge exists when both people have disabilities.
As a person with low vision I often thought that it would be a challenge to communicate with someone who is deaf. My encounters with persons who are deaf were usually breaf and my communications was done through an interpreter.
When I started my postdoc at the CLT lab in 2009, I met Ellen who is deaf. I was not sure how to communicate with her. So I would say “hi” to her when I notice that she is in the lab. I knew she was not hearing me. I would often approach her and try to look at her face and then say “hi”. She would respond by saying “hi, how are you?” At first, I had a hard time understanding her speech. But I soon got used to her pronunciations and was able to understand what she was saying. Sometimes Ellen and I would communicate in writing. She is very sensitive to me and would write in large-print. Our brief interactions occurred when we are in the lab. I felt the need to communicate with Ellen more, but I didn’t know how to do this without an interpreter. So often we would not communicate with each other. I would see Ellen at her desk and I would assume that she was busy and I didn’t want to disturb her. Sometimes, I would wave to her as a way of saying hi.
At Deb’s Christmas Party, Ellen had a friend with her who was also her interpreter. Through her interpreter, Ellen and I were able to have a conversation. It started out as a social chat where were getting to know each other. As we got further into the conversation, Ellen asked me if she could ask me something. I said yes. Ellen explained that she did not understand my facial expression when I am in the lab. So she did not know what I was thinking or feeling because there was no facial expression to help her communicate with me.
I explained to her through her interpreter, that I am low vision and I am not used to facial expressions. I don’t understand how to interpret facial expressions and body language so I don’t use them. It was then that we both realize that we had similar challenges with communicating with each other. I could not read her expressions so I did not know that she was smiling at me and was interested in talking to me in the lab. And Ellen did not know how to interpret my lack of facial expression. So she assumed that I was not responsive towards her in the lab. She is a visual person and I am an auditory person. And we were both challenged.
I suggested that we develop some codes for communicating with each other. The interpreter facilitated our developing these communication codes. We agreed that I will tap Ellen on her shoulder when I want to get her attention. When I am passing by her desk, I will raise my hands with my fingers moving up and down to say hi. When I am saying good by, I will wave my hand . She will say hi Mala when she wants to talk to me in the lab. We will say hi to each other when me meet outside the lab to acknowledge each other. We agreed that we would find a time to have coffee with her interpreter so we could continue having social conversations.
It is really nice that Ellen and I were able to work out a way to communicate with each other. I am glad that we had an opportunity at a social event to resolve our communication challenges. Now that we are back at work, we are enjoying communicating with each other. It took a work-related social event where we were more relaxed and with an interpreter present, we could have a fruitful discussion on how to overcome our different communication barriers.
Interaction between the blind and the deaf: A lesson in Communications
For persons who are blind or deaf, it takes a longer time to develop relationships with colleagues at work. A further challenge exists when both people have disabilities.
As a person with low vision I often thought that it would be a challenge to communicate with someone who is deaf. My encounters with persons who are deaf were usually breaf and my communications was done through an interpreter.
When I started my postdoc at the CLT lab in 2009, I met Ellen who is deaf. I was not sure how to communicate with her. So I would say “hi” to her when I notice that she is in the lab. I knew she was not hearing me. I would often approach her and try to look at her face and then say “hi”. She would respond by saying “hi, how are you?” At first, I had a hard time understanding her speech. But I soon got used to her pronunciations and was able to understand what she was saying. Sometimes Ellen and I would communicate in writing. She is very sensitive to me and would write in large-print. Our brief interactions occurred when we are in the lab. I felt the need to communicate with Ellen more, but I didn’t know how to do this without an interpreter. So often we would not communicate with each other. I would see Ellen at her desk and I would assume that she was busy and I didn’t want to disturb her. Sometimes, I would wave to her as a way of saying hi.
At Deb’s Christmas Party, Ellen had a friend with her who was also her interpreter. Through her interpreter, Ellen and I were able to have a conversation. It started out as a social chat where were getting to know each other. As we got further into the conversation, Ellen asked me if she could ask me something. I said yes. Ellen explained that she did not understand my facial expression when I am in the lab. So she did not know what I was thinking or feeling because there was no facial expression to help her communicate with me.
I explained to her through her interpreter, that I am low vision and I am not used to facial expressions. I don’t understand how to interpret facial expressions and body language so I don’t use them. It was then that we both realize that we had similar challenges with communicating with each other. I could not read her expressions so I did not know that she was smiling at me and was interested in talking to me in the lab. And Ellen did not know how to interpret my lack of facial expression. So she assumed that I was not responsive towards her in the lab. She is a visual person and I am an auditory person. And we were both challenged.
I suggested that we develop some codes for communicating with each other. The interpreter facilitated our developing these communication codes. We agreed that I will tap Ellen on her shoulder when I want to get her attention. When I am passing by her desk, I will raise my hands with my fingers moving up and down to say hi. When I am saying good by, I will wave my hand . She will say hi Mala when she wants to talk to me in the lab. We will say hi to each other when me meet outside the lab to acknowledge each other. We agreed that we would find a time to have coffee with her interpreter so we could continue having social conversations.
It is really nice that Ellen and I were able to work out a way to communicate with each other. I am glad that we had an opportunity at a social event to resolve our communication challenges. Now that we are back at work, we are enjoying communicating with each other. It took a work-related social event where we were more relaxed and with an interpreter present, we could have a fruitful discussion on how to overcome our different communication barriers.
Interaction between the blind and the deaf: A lesson in Communications
For persons who are blind or deaf, it takes a longer time to develop relationships with colleagues at work. A further challenge exists when both people have disabilities.
As a person with low vision I often thought that it would be a challenge to communicate with someone who is deaf. My encounters with persons who are deaf were usually breaf and my communications was done through an interpreter.
When I started my postdoc at the CLT lab in 2009, I met Ellen who is deaf. I was not sure how to communicate with her. So I would say “hi” to her when I notice that she is in the lab. I knew she was not hearing me. I would often approach her and try to look at her face and then say “hi”. She would respond by saying “hi, how are you?” At first, I had a hard time understanding her speech. But I soon got used to her pronunciations and was able to understand what she was saying. Sometimes Ellen and I would communicate in writing. She is very sensitive to me and would write in large-print. Our brief interactions occurred when we are in the lab. I felt the need to communicate with Ellen more, but I didn’t know how to do this without an interpreter. So often we would not communicate with each other. I would see Ellen at her desk and I would assume that she was busy and I didn’t want to disturb her. Sometimes, I would wave to her as a way of saying hi.
At Deb’s Christmas Party, Ellen had a friend with her who was also her interpreter. Through her interpreter, Ellen and I were able to have a conversation. It started out as a social chat where were getting to know each other. As we got further into the conversation, Ellen asked me if she could ask me something. I said yes. Ellen explained that she did not understand my facial expression when I am in the lab. So she did not know what I was thinking or feeling because there was no facial expression to help her communicate with me.
I explained to her through her interpreter, that I am low vision and I am not used to facial expressions. I don’t understand how to interpret facial expressions and body language so I don’t use them. It was then that we both realize that we had similar challenges with communicating with each other. I could not read her expressions so I did not know that she was smiling at me and was interested in talking to me in the lab. And Ellen did not know how to interpret my lack of facial expression. So she assumed that I was not responsive towards her in the lab. She is a visual person and I am an auditory person. And we were both challenged.
I suggested that we develop some codes for communicating with each other. The interpreter facilitated our developing these communication codes. We agreed that I will tap Ellen on her shoulder when I want to get her attention. When I am passing by her desk, I will raise my hands with my fingers moving up and down to say hi. When I am saying good by, I will wave my hand . She will say hi Mala when she wants to talk to me in the lab. We will say hi to each other when me meet outside the lab to acknowledge each other. We agreed that we would find a time to have coffee with her interpreter so we could continue having social conversations.
It is really nice that Ellen and I were able to work out a way to communicate with each other. I am glad that we had an opportunity at a social event to resolve our communication challenges. Now that we are back at work, we are enjoying communicating with each other. It took a work-related social event where we were more relaxed and with an interpreter present, we could have a fruitful discussion on how to overcome our different communication barriers.
