Friday, March 29, 2024

A NEW Christmas dinner party game has been designed to include people with hearing loss.

One in five people in the UK has hearing loss, so it’s likely that someone at your dinner table this Christmas could find it difficult to follow the conversation, especially if it’s loud and several people are talking at once.

It’s impossible to lipread more than one person at a time and trying to keep up can be really draining.

The game, created by deaf charity RNID, encouraging everyone at the dinner table to be mindful of how they communicate with others – all while having some festive fun.

Evie Cryer, who became deaf in her twenties, said: “Little did I realise how draining or isolating it could be. It even has a name: Dinner Table Syndrome.

“Imagine you are sitting around the table with ten people, all chatting about what they watched on TV the previous night. But instead of speech coming out of each mouth, each sentence is a separate text message bubble being released into the air.

“As a lip-reader, in order to follow the conversation, not only do you have to read each bubble as it is released, but you have to work out which order to read them in, and read the facial expressions of each person to know the context of what they have said.

“You’re always slightly behind, and it’s incredibly draining.

“I’m lucky in that that my hearing aids give me a level of hearing that means I can follow in small groups, and especially in quiet surroundings – for instance, at my own dinner table. But I know there are deaf people for whom this is not the case, and for whom the festive period brings anxiety and social isolation.

“My Christmas wish is for hearing people to ask their deaf friends and family two things, how best to make their dinner table deaf-friendly and how to reduce social isolation for deaf people.”

Paul Hayward, head of fundraising at RNID, said: “Our Christmas dinner party game is a great alternative to the quizzes so many of us have taken part in as we have spent time at home throughout 2020.

“As well as enjoying the fun activities, we hope people will think about how they communicate with others and be deaf aware.

“By ordering one of our Christmas dinner party games, people will be supporting our work to make life fully inclusive for deaf people and those with hearing loss or tinnitus.”

Order your game pack by Sunday December, please complete the online form and make a donation at: https://rnid.org.uk/get-involved/donate/christmas-dinner-game/ 

RNID Infoline: 0808 808 0123

 

 

 

 

 

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