ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES USED BY HEARING IMPAIRED INDIVIDUALS

Communication strategies are instructions used to enhance communication or to reduce the instant of communication breakdown. The present study focused on analyzing the frequently used communication strategies by hearing impaired who use hearing aids. A cross-sectional study was conducted in which 73 individuals with varying degree of hearing loss participated. The study procedure was divided into two phases. Wherein the first phase, a questionnaire on communication strategy was developed, in which different communication strategies were collected from the literature. In the second phase, prepared questionnaire was given to each individual with hearing loss. Descriptive statistical analysis was carried out for compiling the result of the study. Frequently used communication strategies were falling into the category of anticipatory strategies, followed by speech reading, optimizing the speech volume and disengage strategies. Overall the participants tend to use more of facilitatory strategies. When compared to male and female, there were no significant differences between the genders on using communication strategies. But informal observation revealed that female subjects were less likely to reveal their hearing loss and were more dependent on visual cues rather than male subjects. However, with respect to younger and older subjects, it was found that younger subjects were more likely to use anticipatory strategies rather than disengaging strategies.