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How many here have learned to read lips?

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Just wondering how many people here read lips to help in fully hearing what someone is saying. I am thinking of taking lessons ( didn’t know you could) to learn how. The reason being I still don’t fully hear everything someone says. So this would help me a lot. I don’t want to go to a cross over system as of yet. If you do read lips how has this helped or hindered your hearing experience? Do you also check for body clues and facial clues as well?

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We all read lips were we realize it or not

Haven’t taken any lessons, but I do look at peoples mouths for clues whilst they are mumbling at me… :slight_smile: .

I think anita4ross’s question is a good one. And I would like to see more responses, if there are any, from folks who have learned actual lip-reading skills.

focusandearnit: Do you mean that you look at and take clues from one’s mouth movements to combine with impaired hearing to understand what they are saying? Did you take lessons, or study lip reading, or did this skill sort of evolve naturally?

For me they came by self defense and to be honest I didn’t even realize it until I started a job that had me performing phone technical support which I couldn’t depend on lip reading for help. That is when I came to realize the fact that I was lip reading.

I taught myself how to lip read when l was very young. Nowadays, it’s 80 percent speech reading and 20 percent sounds.

Watching a football game a few years ago, and Kiffin was the Bama QB coach. The QB had made some mistake and Kiffin had his back to the camera, walking toward Saban, throws his hands up in disgust and says something to Saban about the mistake. Saban said to Kiffin, “What are you going to do about it?”

Why do yo think so many coaches now cover their mouths when they call out plays

Yes several times l have been able to speech read the Super Bowl head coaches yelling WTF is taking so long? Lol.

For most the of us it just happened as we were losing our hearing.

I don’t know whether you’d call it lip reading, technically, but I do hear people talking on the edge of my hearing when watching their mouths.

When I took an internet test for lip reading, I not only aced it, but when I asked my wife to take the same test, I found out that there was no audio accompanying the video. I was utterly convinced that all the video tests came with an almost understandable audio stream, that I had to complement with their technical approach to lip reading.

So the technical things they teach at lip reading can be a different set of skills as the natural lip reading as it developed on its own. A complementary set sure, but strongly language dependent.

My wife would converse from the kitchen and I would be in another room. I would either be asking what? what? what? or I would have to join her and tell her I need to face her when she talks. My hearing is not too bad, except for higher frequencies. When I drove a school bus I would have to stick my face right up to theirs and I would tell them to speak to me loudly and slowly.

For one thing, it’s also a matter of word association. Helps considerably if the person faces you, especially near the end of the sentence. My daughter keeps telling me I should get my hearing checked and I just humor her, since like her mother, they just never listen!

As a child my school brought in a lip reading teacher that I spent one hour a week with for about 3 years. I’m 62 now and believe it helped me quite a bit. I have single sided deafness an am now trying hearing aids because my good ear is starting to fade.

I just came by it naturally like others have said. Just today o was in the dentist and the hygienist was talking to me through her face mask. I couldn’t decipher what she was saying. As soon as she removed her mask to repeat it - I understood. Told her ‘I guess I read lips more than I think I do’. :smiley:

I would love to hear about courses too, maybe even online. The dentist is a nightmare scenario.

When possible I use captions of one sort or another and if anyone gives me grief about it I tell them it’s a recognized disabililty so STFU. :slight_smile:

I did go to classes here in the UK and they were of some use, but the real learning comes daily in watching people’s facial expressions and lips and body movements, to try and fill in gaps.

It will take time, but that is the best way, to take time and don’t rush.

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