Kiel | There are about 80,000 deaf people living in Germany. One of them is 24-year-old Sophia Reimer, who has been looking after a residential group of dementia patients in the AWO Servicehaus am Wohld in Kiel for a year. In the only school for the deaf in Germany in Rendsburg, she was trained as a geriatric nurse in a one-year course.

(Article from SHZ, 01.01.2020; Margret Kiosz)

Ms. Reimers, I have never conducted an interview with someone who cannot hear. Do you notice my insecurity?

A little. But I can read lips quite well, and what I don’t understand, we do with a pad and pencil. Unfortunately, the sign language interpreter cancelled, that’s the best way to go. Sign language is my mother tongue. That’s how my mother spoke to me, she was also deaf.

That’s rather rare, because deafness is only 15 percent inherited, in most cases it is acquired: for example through viral infections in the womb, lack of oxygen at birth, later measles or mumps.

Was 2019 a special year for you?

Definitely. There were two things I was particularly happy about. Another deaf person has been doing an internship here in the house for a few months now. I get on well with her, she has become my best friend and I can have a great conversation with her.

And the second highlight?

We have been awarded a nursing care prize. The jury thought it was great that my employer had the courage to experiment with someone who can’t hear. The laudatory speech praised the solidary corporate culture. I am profiting greatly from that. The AWO will use the prize money of 1000 euros to purchase a computer that sends spoken words as a text file to a smartphone.

Was it difficult to find a job?

No, not really. I did an internship here in the company, then got a fixed-term contract, and now I’ve had a permanent contract for almost a year.

Why of all things nursing care for the elderly? What attracts you to work with senior citizens?

Here I can use my strengths, observe their body language closely, analyse their facial expressions and gestures. Those who have chosen the nursing profession, like it and do it well, because their eyes are super trained on from childhood. Deaf people are more concentrated than hearing people.

But caring for the elderly is a profession that relies heavily on communication …

I can communicate well with the residents of the house. I can see when they walk differently, when they have pain or something is bothering them. And I can talk to them about it.

In general, colleagues praise Sophia Reimer’s sensitive powers of observation, which enable her to understand needs quickly and in a targeted manner. This is a valuable asset, especially for rather reclusive seniors, and enables quick and familiar access. Sophia´s work shows that it can succeed and that weaknesses are compensated by strengths. In addition, deaf caregivers benefit from intercultural competence at work. They are looking for new forms of communication and no longer assume that everyone automatically understands everyone else.

How does the cooperation with colleagues work?

It was a bit difficult in the beginning because they have not yet worked with deaf people. But it is getting better and better. My colleagues have learned a lot and I have learned a lot from them. Communication is via written notes, lip reading or sign language.

You can’t hear if someone falls behind you, how does it work in an emergency?

In the shared flat I usually work together with another colleague. When I am alone, I send an SMS.

Sophia Reimer works in a private flat. Nine people suffering from dementia, represented by their relatives, have set up a shared flat. The shared flat is accompanied by the outpatient nursing service of the AWO. Sophia Reimer is a member of this nursing team as a nursing assistant.

(….)

Source: https://www.awo-pflege-sh.de/awo-servicehaus-am-wohld-in-kiel-sophia-reimer-ist-altenpflegehelferin-und-gehoerlos-artikel-der-shz-01-01-2020/