Tip for – Hearing Impaired/Deaf

TIPS DEPENDING ON THE DISABILITY

Hearing Impaired/Deaf

Use visual aids like boards and pictures, explain things clearly, and stand closer to ensure everyone can hear better.

Case Study: Australia’s most watched sporting event was the Matilda’s World Cup Campaign in 2023. But did you know the hero of their quarter final win was an athlete with a disability?

Matilda’s goalkeeper, Mackenzie Arnold, has always had a hard time hearing and finally started using a hearing aid for daily life after years of trying to avoid it.

As a coach, it is important that we can change the way we deliver messages to players to ensure we don’t lose people from the game.

How to help: If you notice a player not following along or misunderstanding instructions it may be due to hearing loss combined with other factors such as background noise or wind conditions. Some players might not even know they have worse hearing than others who are next to them. To counter this, make sure that you have a range of techniques to make sure the message can be understood.

For example, using a board of the playing field to help describe, do the first set of drills slowly so that everybody can visually see what to do, explain things clearly and stand closer so that everybody can hear better, use pictures to help explain what you are trying to demonstrate.  You can also use hand signals, write instructions for the player or face the player while you are speaking if they lip read.