You use ~ in adjectives where you are describing someone with a particular disability. For example, someone who is hearing~ has a disability affecting their hearing, and someone who is visually~ has a disability affecting their sight.
More than 1 in 20 of the population is hearing~ to some extent...
COMB in ADJ
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The hearing~ or the visually~ are people with disabilities affecting their hearing or sight.
...giving a voice to the speech~.
COMB in N-PLURAL: the N