Lipreading

Each of the past two nights I have had a meal with a friend at a crowded restaurant and thought, "Man, I wish I knew how to lip-read better!" This is one of the major ways in which I differ from a lot of young hard of hearing people. The reason I see for this is that I had developed language skills long before anyone even suspected my hearing loss. Many young hard of hearing people were born deaf or with significant hearing loss, so they have depended on lipreading pretty much their entire lives. I, on the other hand, although I have been losing my hearing from an early age, had fully developed my language skills before my hearing loss ever became significant. I was a fairly smart kid, so "filling in the blanks" when teachers were saying something wasn't too hard for me, even though I couldn't lip-read. Perhaps I did, and do, lip-read at least a little, subconsciously.

However, my tendency is to place my good ear close to someone when they're speaking, rather than face them. This becomes a little obnoxious for all involved when I start leaning over and going "What? Huh? What?" as I did with my friend last night. Most of my hard of hearing friends insist that you face them, so that they can read your lips. I usually just want you on my "good side." I've had my hearing aid ever since my hearing got really bad, and I do pretty well with it... except in these crowded settings. I eventually give up leaning over and asking the other person to repeat herself, and I miss out on half of what's been said. Last night when we were saying goodbye in the parking lot I finally figured out that my friend was moving to LA for a job she was going to start and had an internship in Aliso Viejo which was about to end. All I had really understood prior was that she was working in Aliso Viejo now and planned to move to the LA area soon.

These are the times I really wish I could lip-read better! "You should take a class," one might suggest. The thing is... I've already taken a class, and it really didn't help. It was a "distance learning" class through Saddleback College. It was held at the senior center down the hill from my house. I was the youngest student by about forty years. Each class it seemed a different classmate would start talking and bonding with me, like I was their "honorary granddaughter" for the week. That experience is actually one of the first major sources of encouragement I had to start seeking out other young, hard of hearing people to connect with. As far as the class itself goes, activities were exagerated and slow and when I tried to practice in everyday conversation the difference was drastic. Practicing with myself in a mirror like the teacher suggested was difficult because of my slight facial paralysis. All of this was so frustrating that I guess I kind of just stopped trying. Maybe I quit too easily. Perhaps I should give it another go; take another class, read a book or try practicing in everyday conversation. My hard of hearing friends who do lip-read always seem to have more of a clue than I do, and they probably catch some side conversations even "hearing" people miss. I want to be in-the-know! I think it's time I gave lipreading another shot.