Hey,

I feel a bit silly asking this but has anyone got any experience of doing treatments on deaf ladies?

I'm doing a facial on a deaf lady this weekend and I'm really nervous about it. She seems really lovely but when she came in to book her appointment this morning I didn't really understand her and am worried about how we'll get by and that I may come across as nervous. (Something I definitely don't want to seem)

Does anyone have any tips?

xLx

Make sure she can see your lips when you're speaking to her and also try your best to pronounce your words as clearly as possible. I'm sure she'll enjoy her facial and you'll have a client for life

Ditto Sandi's comments.

Just treat her like a normal customer and don't fuss over her to much...let her be treated in the same way as any other customer..the only difference being of course when you speak to her do so looking at her ....this will help her enormously reading your lips.

Good luck and do let us know how you get on

Lucy you were saying that YOU didn't really understand HER, right?

I have worked with people who couldn't speak very well (due to other reasons than deafness) and after not very long, I sort of "tuned in" to them and understood them a lot better.

She's an adult lady, she'll have met a lot of people who don't understand what she says (and some who can't even be bothered to try).
So if you show you are willing to take care to communicate then she will appreciate that.

If you initially mainly ask her questions which can be answered with a yes/no then you will only have to get used to how she says yes/no (for a start, but in time you'll find you can understand each other perfectly well and can have a conversation fine).

So...make the effort with her, never patronise her, watch body language particularly well, be patient, and yes, long-term client.

Clare

Hi hun, my son has a severe to profound hearing inpairement and he like us is just the same, the only difference between you and me is that he is a hearing aid user and obviously we do not,
Treat your lady as you would any other client talke to her exactly the same, don't make great big mouth movements or talk dafft. Just make sure when you are talking to her if she is completly deaf that you look at her rather than walking round the room and doing whatever as she will not understand you at all. My son has amazing speech for the level of his deafness, but unfortunatly the older deaf person has not had the oportunity to have the technology like my son. If you do not understand her as i imagine she talks back in her throat, listen very carefully. She will have to work three times harder to understand you, so imagine how it is for her. At the end of the day as akward as you may feel she is an individual just like me and you. So please just be the same as you would be with any any lady, hope that helps hun, shall not wish you look chic as u don,t need it, because to me there simply is not a problem. sorry but it is true the only person that has a problem hun is you xx

Ditto to all above really I am deaf and hate to be treated any different from hearing peeps...........If you don't get what she is saying the first time ask her to repeat, if you need to get her attention while doing treatment tap her on the shoulder and make sure you are looking at her when you speak.
We are cool peeps we don't bite lol

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dawnie is the coolest ... if she doesn't hear me I just slap her and then she pays attention to me!

She also just became a grandma and deserves HUGE congratulations (but I wouldn't want to hyjack the thread).

I do a blind lady and two ladies who have had strokes and they are just wonderful,don't worry they tend to joke about things and do what they can to make you comfortable and not the other way round.I remember presenting the blind lady once with the mirror when i had waxed her eyebrows and she said,lovely ..but then i can't bloody see can i ,and we had a right giggle.

Ok so from my point of view but I am only partially deaf (only my left ear works) lol. When you talk to your client make sure that you look at her and speak clearly but don't over exaggerate your words. Also as has already been said don't walk around whilst talking to your client and certainly don't talk to her when you have got your back to her.

If someone speaks to me and I have my back turned, I generally don't hear them and sometimes people who do not know about my impairment think I am being rude. I don't always hear right when I am facing them either.

Like a few on here already mentioned just treat her as you would do a normal hearing person, I am deaf myself and I hate it if people start to try to over pronounce words it makes me feel as though they think I am stupid, which of course I am not. I tell them straight away to talk normal because it in fact makes it harder for a deaf person to understand as the mouth movements are exaggerated. If you are concerned about communication problems just discretely mention it at the start of the appointment, I am sure she will respect you for it, I know I would. In my case if I am struggling I just tell people I am deaf it saves them thinking you are being rude, as mentioned earlier. Believe me, we have had it all before, the nudges she's ignorant etc believe me deaf/hard of hearing people are fantastic at reading body language. I will say though its refreshing to have someone like you to be concerned and I thank you for that.

Anne xx

Cool .....you can vacuum the salon while her mask is on ......

In all seriousness, treat her as normal, because oddly enough (you will probably be the one that ends up looking/feeling different), when speaking with relevance, make sure you have her attention (don't worry she will be looking/checking you out), more than likely she will be the one "guiding" you, ...... as per usual, you should maintain some kind of "touch" at all times.

My brother in law is deaf....... and he doesnt miss a trick (even if you try).

When I have facials or massage, I wish my therapist would shut the hell up (I'm there to relax, not chew the fat).

Quote:

Originally Posted by nailzoo Cool .....you can vacuum the salon while her mask is on ......

Carl .. you kill me somethimes ... many times actually.

Do you know .. I have changed therapists in the past (more than once) because they won't shut up when I want to be quiet and enjoy !!!

You are a tonic to me!! Laughter is SO good for you.

Cool .....you can vacuum the salon while her mask is on ......

cracked me up xxxxxxxxxx

Thanks everyone! For anyone who's interested it went really well!

I was mainly worried that I'd misunderstand her and get myself in a flap and then spoil her treatment. (I really hope no one thought I was being a twit and had a problem with doing treatments on deaf people)

Anyway, she was fantastic and taught me so much! Here are some of the things I learnt....

1. Explain what you're going to do before you do it - doing this meant she could lie back with her eyes closed and relax.

2. There are lots of ways to tap a deaf person to get their attention! A stroking action means there's no rush and you'd like them to look whereas a short firm tap means 'now'!

3. That I show so much on my face! She said she could tell I was nervous (to be fair, I get nervous when I meet anyone new - still! will this ever go?!) and told me to smile more!

4. It's OK to say when you don't understand - and when you're not understood. It's just important to be honest and not get embarrassed.

Your tips on not exaggerating my mouth when talking were really useful! She even said that she was glad I didn't do it as it was one of he