When there are multiple people taking part in a conversation, those who have hearing loss often have difficulty keeping up with the conversation and feel lost in the ongoing dialogue. This happens quite a bit during family gatherings during the holiday season. This is called Dinner Table Syndrome.
While the dinner table serves as a symbol of family life and bonding through time spent together and conversation, it often represents loneliness and inaccessibility to people with hearing loss. Imagine if something funny is said at the dinner table and everyone erupts in laughter, the person with hearing loss will ask the closest person what was so funny and often get told, ‘Oh, it was nothing’ or ‘I’ll tell you later.’ This is an example of unintentionally leaving that person out of the conversation.
Poor lighting in the room, loud background noise such as music or other conversations happening at the same time, and people talking with food in their mouth pose more difficulties for hearing and understanding for a person with hearing loss than someone with normal hearing. The coping mechanism for individuals with hearing loss at events like these is to disengage, and withdraw from the conversation, simply because it is easier and less stressful.
Here are some tips to help avoid Dinner Table Syndrome from happening at your holiday gatherings.
- Remind your family you have difficulty following the conversation.
- Make sure there is good lighting so everyone can be seen clearly. This is also helpful if lip reading is being done.
- Try to avoid brief “sidebar” conversations and practice good turn-taking skills.
- Sitting at a round table if possible is easier to see everyone and therefore to see who is speaking and be able to read their lips.
- Don’t speak with your mouth full or turn your head away from your conversational partner. Try not to cover your mouth with your hand when you speak. If they can’t see your whole face, they can’t read your lips.
- Gain the attention of the person who you are speaking to before you begin the conversation.