cdmeggers

Well, the other day while I was visiting with a very good deaf friend of mine, who also happens to be an interpreter... well, we got to talking about my "hearing" and "reading" skills. In order for me to HEAR and make sense of what is being said, I need to read lips and see the face...... And she was telling me that I am a horrible lip reader. "Really?!" I asked. "Well, yeah! Several times when I've interpreted for you, I used to drop my signs but continued to mouth, and you would always go 'huh?'" she says. "Really? I never realized that."

So, lo and behold, I tried this out tonight. My ear hurts and it hurts to wear the hearing aid, so why not just go deaf? I'm at work, going around deaf. I'm talking with a co-worker, while deaf. And she's talking back. I can see her face and her lips, but only catch maybe 1 or 2 words. Everything else I go "huh?" She repeated what she was saying 2 or 3 times and I still didn't get it.

Hm, I'll have to try this at home with my mom and see what happens. I never have realized before how bad a lip reader I am. If I can hear the words that are being said while I lipread at the same time, then I'm fine (most of the time). But turn off the voice, I'm lost. Or take away the visual and leave the voice, I'm lost.

I need both, or I'm screwed! I don't know, I just found this to be rather interesting. Definitely will have to try this at home with my mom when she gets back from her vacation, and with my stepdad and whoever else I can chase down.


By the way, when I go for the evaluation on Sept. 17, should I mention this to the CI audiologist and see what she says? I don't know if I should or not. Hm.

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sr171soars

Interesting point! I would think it would be good info for the CI folks to know that. That can only help in their assessment of your situation.

I wouldn't worry about lipreading skills as such. Some people are great at it and others are so so. It matters not if one can hear or not. Obviously, the deaf generally are better at it for good reasons but not all deaf are good at it. It is an skill that has to be cultivated along with some innate ability.

FYI - I was a decent lipreader prior to my CI. Since then, it has been all downhill from there. I couldn't lipread worth squat if I really had to do it. The reason is that I have become very dependent on hearing via my CI. Win some and lose some...

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highlands

I agree. I am heavily dependant on lip reading and I have 'moderate' success. I usually cannot have good lipreading success with the people whom I don't know much.. In the end, it requires an ability but ,of course, not all people can be 'excellent' at it .

shel90

With my HAs, I lipread ok but have to mentally fill in the gaps.

Without my HAs, I might as well forget about trying to lipread. It is a lost cause with me which is why if I know I am going to be in a situation that requires lipreading, I put my HAs on.

That's why I can't go back to lipreading 24/7 like I used to before learning ASL. Too draning and I end up so mentally exhausted.

I guess that means I am not skilled at it if I depend on my HAs in order to be successful with it.

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Tousi

Haven't I heard on many occasions that the best lipreaders only get 30% of what's said? Isn't it because a lot of sounds/vowels, etc cannot be read?

highlands

yeah,you're right.. I cannot tell good some consonants like b,p thru lipreading .

BearBeauty

while Tousi is right to a point. there are some lipreaders who can read more than that, and have to fill in the gaps ourselves.

I've been lipreading for almost 24 years now, And while I catch most of what is said, there are some words I do have problems understanding, plus there are some types of lips and mouths that are hard to understand, like thin lips, any hair covering the mouth.

I have never had much of a problem with most people, but there are some that I do have trouble understanding. It just depends on the situation.

jillio

Excellent point. And another reason to support a Bi-Bi approach.

jillio

There are those that tell you CS will solve that problem, LOL.

shel90

I think it is in large group situations like a classroom full of kids, parties, lectures, and so on.

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shel90

Problem with CS, everyone will have to be using it at all times just like with ASL. At least there is a large community that uses ASL so I would prefer ASL.

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jillio

Exactly! Who are the cuers going to communicate with? The other 999 spread out all over the U.S.?

cdmeggers

a bi-bi approach? what? Sorry, I don't know what the bi-bi means.

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cdmeggers

For years and years at the deaf school, I've been taught how to "listen" and how to "lipread". We were always doing listening and lipreading exercises. I think at times, for a while, when I was a kid, I was a better lipreader. But as I got older, since I have gotten really used to listening with my hearing aid (I had always done pretty well with listening with my hearing aid alone without needing the visual support while I was growing up), my lipreading comprehension went downhill... And now-a-days, I need BOTH. I can't listen and understand alone, I need to SEE what is being said. And I can't lipread alone, I need to hear what is being said. I just think it's funny how this sort of thing works for some people.

When my friend told me I was a terrible lipreader, at first I wasn't sure if I should believe her.. I wasn't offended, but it just got my attention. Hm, she really is right.

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jillio

Bilingual, meaning ASL used to teach English fluency, and Bicultural, meaning Deaf culture and hearing culture.

jillio

There are many people like you. For those who can actually discriminate some of the speech sounds, listening helps to give clues that the eyes can't pick up because they are hidden.

cdmeggers

ahh, gotcha! Thanks. And your other answer makes sense.

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R2D2

Has there been any changes in your hearing loss? I always found that lipreading worked well for me if I could also hear well but after I suddenly lost my residual hearing, it became very hard work. I am not a bad lipreader but lipreading is hard work period if you depend a lot on it. You don't want to have to rely too heavily on it, so you would either improve your hearing situation to back it up or use sign to give yourself a break.

I remember seeing one of those oral interpreters (lipspeakers) and I could never understand how anyone could follow that. It just requires too much concentration.

For now, hearing from my CI gives me enough support to use lipreading in a complementary way so that together, neither is hard work.

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cdmeggers

I don't know if there has been any changes in my hearing. I haven't been tested since maybe.. 2003? But we'll find out when I go to the CI evaluation, that is, if I can find previous audigrams so they can compare. I know my friend (the one who was an interpreter) has copies of my audiograms, I'm not sure if my local audiologist does.

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Bebonang

I don't think it has nothing to do with your hearing loss or having your hearing better with Cochlear Implant or hearing aid. I think it is just the ablility to know where to find the vowels or consonants in the mouth movement. If the face is clear and not mumble that is hard to understand. Let's face it, lipreading is never easy. I bet that the expert lipreader have a lot of trouble making out what the person said. That is why I choose the Asl as a visual sign language which is a lot better than trying to lipread people's lips. It is the same with the blind who has to find a way around the town and home and it is not easy. I noticed that the sighted person try to blindfold and see if they can find themselves around the town and they stumbled and fell just like the blind. I also noticed that the hearing people at the Canadian Hearing Society are trying out what is like to be deaf (no sounds) with the Ear Muffler that act like a headphone, only that there were not sound coming in the hearing persons' ear. I thought that is cool that the hearing people want to know what is like to be deaf. Without the sign language, we will surely be the losers if we can not understand what the other person say (meaning understanding the hearing people, the hard of hearing and the deaf) That is the reason why we are fighting for the right to have sign language no matter what. We, deafies, need the sign language very badly. If we don't, we will get frustrated and upset trying to understand in lipreading which is not fair.