Interested friend

My brother in laws girl friend has recently become deaf at age 38. What is the best way that I can help her?

Answer:

Thank you for contacting me! I think the most important thing for your newly deaf friend is communication. Because she was hearing for 38 years and knows spoken language, it may not be difficult for her to learn how to read lips.

The best way that you can "help" her is to support her in her decision for how she wants to communicate from now on. Whether she chooses to learn ASL, lipreading, or both, you can support her and even help her practice.

Perhaps you can all take an ASL class or visit a lipreading specialist together. It all depends on what she wants to do. This will most likely not be an easy time for her, so the best thing you can do is be there for her, support her through this learning process, and be a great friend so she doesn't feel alone.

Let me know if you have any more questions :)

Best of luck to you all!

God bless,

Michelle Jay