Speech reading for the slightly hard of hearing

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MyPoorEars

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I'm slightly hard of hearing and am considering learning to lip/speechread. Can anyone tell me if being able to hear (most of the time) will help me learn? From what I've read, only around 30% of the sounds are properly translated. The thing is, I can hear fine in a quiet room with only one person talking at a time, but I can hardly ever hear in a club or pub. Do you think learning to lip/speechread will prove useful in this situation?

Any recommendations for where to start? There are a few books and DVDs on amazon etc, has anyone had any success with any of these?

Not sure what catagory this should fall under; if you are a mod and it needs to be moved, plz do so.
 
I am profoundly deaf and was taught lipreading since I was a baby and used it all my life. Very difficult for me which is why I started learning sign language and since then I dont use lipreading (or speechreading) that much anymore.

U can contact speech therapists in your area for some lessons. I am not sure about videos as I was taught by the speech therapists. Since u are slightly hard of hearing, it should be easier for u than it was for me. Do you wear hearing aids? If u are having trouble hearing well with them, I would suggest to get them rechecked with your audi or maybe consider getting digital HAs.
 
I'm with Shel, I'd ask speech therapists or go to audiologist offices for recommendations on learning. Books and videos, I've never used, but I doubt they'd help because they could not explain all the charasterics of the mouth, lips, tongue, ect.

It takes a while to learn, it's not an overnight thing. So be patient.
 
I'm HoH as well, and I "hear" through a combination of sound and speechreading. I still don't catch everything and there are some people I don't understand at all. My only problem with it is when someone turns where I can't see their face and then I don't understand a damn thing they're saying. Speechreading, like many things, is an aquired skill that you will pick up over time if you're determined to learn it. I'm not sure this will help, but when I was learning to speechread, I'd watch TV shows with the captions on to help associate words and sounds with lip movements.

Best of luck,
m-m
 
I agree with what everyone else has said. There are acouple of things that could make a difference--the amount of speech that you are able to discriminate without lipreading. If you have very good discrimination, lip reading will be easier for you. The second would be whether you became hoh after you had already aquired language, or if you have been hoh since birth.
 
MyPoorEars said:
I'm slightly hard of hearing and am considering learning to lip/speechread. Can anyone tell me if being able to hear (most of the time) will help me learn?
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Yes, That's how my hearing was when I decided to teach myself lipreading.

From what I've read, only around 30% of the sounds are properly translated. The thing is, I can hear fine in a quiet room with only one person talking at a time, but I can hardly ever hear in a club or pub. Do you think learning to lip/speechread will prove useful in this situation?
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Don't worry about the 30% thing, don't even think about it.
Yes, learning to lipread will help a lot. Also if your hearing loss is progressive you'll become more dependent on it as time goes on.


Any recommendations for where to start? There are a few books and DVDs on amazon etc, has anyone had any success with any of these?

Not sure what catagory this should fall under; if you are a mod and it needs to be moved, plz do so.
Click to expand...

If you make a conscious effort to learn, you can (over time) teach yourself. That's what I did when my hearing was like yours. eventually I became better and as my hearing worsened reading lips became second nature. I didn't know how much I needed it unless I was in a situation where I couldn't use it.
Also, as others have mentioned, visit a speech pathologist if you want assistance.
 
I've never heard of books on learning to do this, I just automatically started doing it ever since I received hearing aids.
 
pek1 said:
I've never heard of books on learning to do this, I just automatically started doing it ever since I received hearing aids.
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With most deaf people, it is an adaptive skill that they just naturally rely on, using their vision to pick up on cues. Even profoundly deaf kids who don't hear any speech sounds will assoicate certain mouth movements with certain concepts. Like, they grow to understand that a mouth in a certain position represents the negative, without ever hearing the word "no". And because deaf kids are able to make that association naturally, as adaptation to their circumstances, parents and others often believe they are hearing more than they actually do.
 
Cool cheers for the suggestions, you guys seem more optimistic than most of what I've read on the Internet. I might see how I go with captions and tutorial dvds and if I don't have any luck I'll go see a speech pathologist.
 
MyPoorEars said:
Cool cheers for the suggestions, you guys seem more optimistic than most of what I've read on the Internet. I might see how I go with captions and tutorial dvds and if I don't have any luck I'll go see a speech pathologist.
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Good luck. :fingersx:
 
One thing that is important to me with lipreading is nonverbal cues and facial expressions (as it is with signing)
 
BearBeauty said:
I'm with Shel, I'd ask speech therapists or go to audiologist offices for recommendations on learning. Books and videos, I've never used, but I doubt they'd help because they could not explain all the charasterics of the mouth, lips, tongue, ect.

It takes a while to learn, it's not an overnight thing. So be patient.
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+1 on overnight thing.

i couldn't talk properly until age 6. I had speech therapist teaching me how to speak properly and use the vowels and such. Did this for 12 years/twice a week for one hour. Plus 2 hours reviewing and learning with mom/dad at home every day.

stopped when i started 9th grade.

i have mastered it whoot! peeps go like whoa! and all :cool:
 
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