Lip reading/speechreading

[Alice]

Hi, everyone. I've been right-side SSD for about 2.5 years now, and while I've made a pretty good adjustment (since I've been disabled all my life), of course I'm finding it something of an impediment. The people who know me best tend to forget I'm SSD, which means I have to gently remind them nearly every single day that they're making it difficult for me to hear or talking in an environment where I can't hear (since I worry that they're expecting me to hear), and while I don't tend to have much interaction face-to-face presently outside of my immediate family, the burden of knowledge with strangers is too high. I've started to wonder if I might be well-served to learn how to read lips to help augment my remaining hearing. I'm not sure how difficult it is to pick up though, and how much it would actually benefit me, so on top of my own research I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone has any experiences with lip reading as a strategy, and how helpful the skill has been to some of you who are SSD.

Some concerns I have is that lip reading would be especially useless in situations where I REALLY can't hear, such as in a noisy group or when the person I'm trying to listen to is in the distance/facing away from me/behind me. On the other hand, lip reading might in theory help a lot in other situations where I'm having to put in a lot of effort to hear anyway, so I don't know. I also have bad vision and am short-sighted...

Any thoughts or experiences? Experiences with self-teaching are especially of interest, as I'm highly self-taught (was homeschooled for ages too) and would have trouble coming by classes where I live.

[CHD63]

Hi Alice .....

Although I have never explored lip reading as a formal strategy, I do it instinctively much of the time ..... especially in noisy environments where all sound is amplified and more difficult to distinguish any one person's speech.

A quick look on-line using "learning lip reading" pulls up a whole list of resources, including a YouTube demo and a DVD.  You might want to take a look at the list.

Quick story ..... a group of girls in my sister's college dorm-room were about to be told a juicy bit of gossip, when one of her friends said "Hold it until I get my glasses on so I can hear you."

Clarice

[arizonajack]

Alice,

Do you not use hearing aids?

[spgreenfield]

Alice - I have only been SSD now for a little over a year and had my first "laughable" situation in a VERY noisy restaurant.....our waiter who - bless his heart - was trying SO HARD to be helpful tried to speak directly into my deaf ear.  Fortunately I was aware he was doing this and said to him I was deaf and turned my head to hear him.  He did it a couple more times that night and we laughed....guess it's just habit sometimes too!

I'm with you - and I'm very often short-sighted but always near-sighted    !  I have great difficulty "hearing" people when I don't have my glasses on - just like Clarice's friend in college!  I think it's a noble idea to learn that to help....and yes I think it would be a great help - ESPECIALLY in those noisy places!!!!

Pam

[Kathleen_Mc]

Alice: In my experience lip reading does help me in some situations but rarely.....if someone wants you to hear them believe me they'll make sure they hear you!
It ain't fun though is it? I do tend to not attend large gathering as I used to now
Kathleen