If you’re celebrating Thanksgiving, here are a few tips to make it hearing loss-friendly.
Celebrating Thanksgiving can be a time of gratitude, reflection, and companionship with friends or family. From cooking together to enjoying excellent food, to watching football and cheering on the games, or spending time with large groups of friends or family, Thanksgiving can be an exciting but noisy event. That’s why we’ve gathered a few of our favorite tips on how to make a hearing loss-friendly Thanksgiving event for your group.
Keep Background Noise to a Minimum
While eliminating all background noises can be difficult, if not impossible, pay attention to the noise level. Try turning on live captions for your TV rather than turning the volume up so that everyone can follow along if they choose, while reducing the amount of background noise. Try to keep music off or quietly playing in one area, and consider the types of toys that grandchildren may be playing with. Loud sounds can be fun for kids, but distracting or difficult to hear conversation over for others! Keeping background noise to a minimum can help people with hearing loss better follow along in conversations.
Have a Quiet Area
Keeping a designated room or area as a quiet space can be helpful for everyone at your Thanksgiving celebration. It can be a comfortable place for guests to retreat to for a quick recharge or calming moment. Consider adding magazines or books for a quiet activity for children or adults.
Choose Seating Carefully
If possible, consider rearranging or moving your setup into a more circular shape or in a configuration where guests can see who is speaking. Arranging your seats so that everyone can see and follow along with the conversation can help with comprehension, clarity, and even lip reading. Keeping centerpieces small also helps everyone see each other better.
Keep Lighting Bright
While creating an atmosphere can be fun, make sure your lighting is bright enough so that people can visually follow along with who is speaking or can also lip-read. Having enough light for safety and for communication is important. Try keeping overhead lights on, or have enough secondary lighting, like table lights or fake candles, to keep your dining area well-lit.
Avoid Loud Cooking Tools
Try pre-making any food that uses loud kitchen equipment, like blenders, mixers, or food processors, to keep kitchen and cooking noises to a minimum when guests are over. These food preparation helpers may speed up the cooking or baking process, but they can be surprisingly loud. Some may even exceed safe decibel levels and should only be used for short amounts of time. Plus, as an added bonus, preparing desserts or sides ahead of time can relieve day-of stress.
Use Noise-Dampening Furniture or Décor
When decorating your home for the Thanksgiving celebration, consider using items that can help muffle or absorb sound. Area rugs, curtains, festive pillows, and fun wall hangings can all help to reduce echoes and absorb sound to keep noise levels lower.
Have Quiet Activities
If you’re anticipating a lot of grandchildren or young guests, try having a quiet craft station. You can have coloring books, stickers, notebooks for writing down what they’re thankful for, or drawing paper for quiet, mess-free craft options. This is sure to keep them entertained without the need for loud toys or activities.
For adults, especially for a “Friends-giving,” try having adult crafts like painting, wreath-making, or card-creation for a fun activity during the holiday. You can also ask guests to bring a handmade item instead of food for a swapping game later on in the day, too.
Ask Your Guests About Their Preferences
Ask guests with hearing loss if they have preferences to help make them more comfortable. They may have ideas on how to make your celebration more inclusive or easier to navigate, and can offer creative ideas you may not have thought of yet. They may also have preferences around using communication devices like a personal amplifier or live captioning on their phone.
Having an inclusive and fun Thanksgiving for everyone can be easy with just a few small adjustments. Keep in mind safety, communication, and inclusivity, and you have a recipe for a fun Thanksgiving holiday for all. Try a few of these fun recipes, or visit the CapTel blog for more tips and tricks.
