Given my steady decline in sensorineural/conductive hearing loss over the years, I would like to explore lipreading classes. I did an introductory, free one online from the CHS - NF website, and it was an eye opener. I’m having a particularly hard time with speech in noise, and even speech in low noise/quiet environments. My latest visit to an audiologist was disconcerting, as my speech recognition in my right ear (with mastoid disease and missing anvil/hammer/stirrup) was only 30%, and 76% in my left ear. Yesterday, I was in a social setting watching a video, and was not using my hearing aid/CROS aid because of the eardrops, and discovered that I had essentially no hearing in my right ear when I covered my left ear.
I want to take the bull by the horns because my mom was essentially deaf even with hearing aids by the time she was in advanced senior years, and I’ve only just entered “old age”. I very much fear that I will follow the same type of progression.
Would it be better to do such classes online or in person? Does anyone know of a good resource for such learning? I live in Ontario, Canada.
I’m also wondering if I should revisit my use of the CROS aid. Initially, I requested it because of the distortion lack of power potential of hearing aids in the right ear, which made integration of the two aids very difficult. However, given that if you don’t use the ear, it atrophies and you lose what you do have, I’m wondering if I should explore other options.
For me lip reading has just happened naturally. Honestly I have never heard of lip reading instructions. There are instructions for sign language, I haven’t tried to learn it. Maybe have to one of this days.
It’s not as well known/common as sign language. While using lips to read language can be an intuitive process, this is actually a skill you can learn. Mom used to say, wait 'til I put on my glasses; I can’t hear you", lol, so she relied on reading lips although she could not often used that to decipher what people were saying. I’d like to take it one step further. Actually, there’s a television series about a female deaf FBI agent has a seeing eye dog and is stellar at reading lips. It’s called FBEye, I think.
Yeah @Deaflogs, there are classes, here in the UK, I did a course at night school, many years ago, I am almost certain there will be, stateside? Lip reading is not an exact science, only around 30% of all words are clearly distinguishable on the lips, but in my book, that’s a 30% increase than you had before… The main problem with lip reading is multiple speakers, if the subject has changed, and you didn’t pick up the key words, it can be embarrassing! Good guesswork helps, good lip pattern also, longer beards, moustaches, and hands are the basic enemy of all lip readers, it is very common in conversation, for folks to have their hands over their mouths, on their chin or at the side of their face, you have to tell them, to keep your hands down please! Good Luck on finding a course… Cheers Kev
