How to get attention. The polite way.

intYou know how annoying it is when you’re pregnant and people just feel like they can come up and rub your tummy whenever you like?  No? Neither do I, but I know that in the future if people do that to me they will end up losing a hand. Why? Because people invading your personal space because they feel it’s acceptable as you are in a certain situation is rude.
Would you rub a stranger’s tummy if they were not pregnant?
No.
Would you tap a stranger’s shoulder in till they turned round?
Probably not.
Would you suddenly pounce on someone who doesn’t know you are there, resulting in them getting pretty startled?
No.
In fact, would you touch anyone you didn’t know well just to get attention?
No.
However, a lot of people feel that touching a deaf person is the best way to get attention.

It is not. It can be difficult to work out what the best way of getting attention is, so here is my ‘CHAT’ guide to getting attention from a deaf person the polite, least annoying way.

Check and see what they are doing. Assess whether what you are going to say/ do is more important. For example if they are talking to someone and you want to talk, wait. If a fire alarm is going off and they are talking, feel free to interrupt. If they are reading or doing paper work then take care not to be too intrusive, as they could be ignoring you on purpose.
How well can they see you? Move into their eye line so they are not started by you.
Attention seeking wave. Make eye contact, so they know it’s YOU they want. Then wave. Wait in till they are looking at you.
Try and talk (or sign, you know what I mean) to them. If they make eye contact, and then continue to ignore you, then they are probably just busy, or what they are doing is more important to what you’re doing.

If what you want is really important and you are in a situation where you have waved as much as you can and they will not look up/ at you, then you can use their dog.
Some deaf people will have a hearing dog, whose name you ought to ask when you first meet the deaf person, for situations like this. The dog is trained to react to its name, and also to some signs- as their owner directs them through signs.
So, if you are REALLY desperate you can call the dog’s name, then point from the dog to their owner saying ‘Get *insert name here*.’
Why should this be after trying the other things?
 Because the owner will have to give a treat to the dog, for doing such a good job, and we don’t want their dog getting fat, do we?

If you are really desperate, and they don’t have a dog, you could also try shouting.  Many deaf people can hear a little bit, so the loud noise may get their attention. However shouting at people, especially people you know to be deaf, makes you looks a bit stupid, and may cause some embarrassment to the people involved.