How to Travel Abroad With a Hearing Impairment

Whether you’re traveling overseas for a semester abroad, a work event or just for fun, traveling with a hearing impairment doesn’t mean you need to miss out on the hustle and bustle of the country you’re visiting. From airport accommodations to hotel amenities, communication tricks to helpful technological devices, there are steps you can take to ensure you don’t miss a beat. The communication experts at Karasch have developed a helpful checklist to make communicating during your trip easy, so you can stop stressing and start getting excited for it.

How to Travel Abroad With a Hearing Impairment

Book Your Hotel Room With These in Mind

While hotels in the United States are legally required to set aside a certain number of rooms for people with hearing impairments, that is not the case in many other countries. Because of this, when you make your reservation for your trip abroad, inquire about any hearing-accessible rooms. If none are available, ask if they can equip your room with the following:

A TTY phone or phone with added amplification so communication via text or typing is possible
Sensors that shake the bed or flash a light so it’s easy to know when the doorbell or phone rings
An alarm clock that provides a non-auditory signal
A TV that is equipped with closed captioning

Utilize Technology for Easy Communication

Thanks to the technological advances in recent years, communicating has become easier than ever! For example, you can download a speech-to-text app on your cell phone to make communicating with the locals seamless. You’re also going to want to sign up for text or email alerts with the airline you’re flying with so you can easily be notified of any flight changes. If you’re going overseas to attend a presentation, seminar, or event, there are several services that can deliver CART captioning to you, anytime, anywhere. These include:

Remote CART Captioning: Easily turn the spoken word into captioned text
C-Print/Typewell Captioning: Provides a summary of the overall content and meaning of the presentation
ASL Interpreter: Receive real-time ASL interpretation services remotely

When you travel overseas, you will find that many times there are no explicit laws and services to protect or serve those who are hearing impaired. Here at Karasch, we are able to deliver our state-of-the-art services to you anytime, anywhere. Contact us today to learn about all of the ways we can make communicating on your trip abroad as effortless as possible.