Opening Topic for Open Chat Night: How to communicate with people in the hearing world

I was enrolled in hearing impaired classes at the age of three.  The teachers wanted me to learn sign language but I refused to learn, and soon discovered that hearing aids were the solution.  It helped me hear all the sounds as a normal person would.  I didn’t need to rely on other forms of communication such as asl or lip reading.  However, there are times when I have trouble communicating with people in the hearing world.  It becomes a burden in social gatherings, especially at places with lots of background noise.  I often struggle in these situations to hear all the words and have to ask people to repeat themselves.

Everyone in my community has a different level of hearing loss.  What forms of communication do you find most effective when speaking with others?  For any deaf individuals using sign language, how do you interact with people not familiar with signs?

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