On my Psychology Today blog in a post called "Seeing Voices," an homage to the great Oliver Sacks, I wrote about a remarkable article written by a Stanford graduate student who communicates primarily by lip reading. Although many people with hearing loss learn to read lips and body language almost intuitively, it is possible to take classes to improve your skills. In New York City, the Center for Communication and Hearing offers group classes. I"m sure they exist elsewhere as well.
The following tips are from Better Hearing Australia. They're similar to the tips for better understanding with hearing loss in general:
The following tips are from Better Hearing Australia. They're similar to the tips for better understanding with hearing loss in general:
- Position - Position yourself so that your back is to the light and you can see the speaker’s face clearly.
- Relaxation – Sit comfortably and try to relax.
- Recall speech sounds – Watch the speaker’s face closely and, if you heard them before your hearing loss, try to recall how their voice sounded.
- Calling on your memory of sounds will be very important in your future life.
- Speech movements – Notice the movements made by the lips, tongue and jaw as the person speaks. These speech movements will help you to recognise sounds, which you no longer hear clearly (e.g. the plural ‘s’ at the end of words), while at the same time you can listen to the rhythm of the language used.
- Facial expressions – Watch the speaker’s facial expressions. You can gain a lot of information about the subject matter and the speaker’s mood from facial expressions.
- Gesture – Notice any gestures made (e.g. nodding, pointing, direction of gaze). You can get valuable information from noticing all the natural gestures used by a speaker.
- Subject matter – Try to find out the subject of the conversation as quickly as possible. Once you know that, you can get the gist of what is said more easily. Let your mind hear what your ears have missed.
- Looking, listening and thinking – Remember that speech-reading is a combination of looking, listening and thinking for most people with a hearing loss.
- Fatigue factor – Don’t be surprised if you feel tired. Speech-reading requires deep concentration and, especially at first, you will need to give yourself frequent breaks. When you get the chance, close your eyes and relax for a few minutes.