I Can't Hear You in the Dark: How to Learn and Teach Lipreading [Plastic Comb]

Betty Woerner Carter (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Betty Woerner Carter has taught lipreading for 13 years to hard-of-hearing and deaf adolescents and adults. Because of her own hearing impairment she became involved in lipreading, and developed her own curriculum and methods of teaching based on her research and teaching experience.

She taught lipreading at Scottsdale Community College and throughout the greater Phoenix area. She has participated in Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Self Help for the Hard of Hearing. Furthering oral education for children is an interest of hers.

She served as Executive Director of Girl Scout Councils in Omaha, Nebraska and Central New Jersey and as a staff member of the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. based in Boston, Massachusetts. She was Executive Director of the YWCA in Denver, Colorado. Her professional career spans more than thirty years in administration and education.

Betty holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Nebraska, and has taken course work at Harvard University. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with her daughter and son-in-law.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1

Helps and Hindrances to Lipreading

How Lipreading can Help You

Understanding speech. Lipreading is understanding speech from movements seen around the mouth, facial expressions and bodily gestures. It is a skill that can be learned through consistent practice. Gestures can function like sounds, words or sentences.1 An outward motion of the arm can mean “go away.” Holding up three fingers can denote “three.” A shrug of the shoulders can mean “I don’t know.” Research suggests that as much as 65-70 percent of the meaning of a conversation is communicated without words.2 These findings apply to everyone, but are especially significant and encouraging to lipreaders.

Silent Meaning
The word not spoken
Goes not quite unheard
It lingers in the eye,
in the semi-arch of brow.
A gesture of the hand
speaks pages more than words.
William S. Cohen, Secretary of Defense

Communication. Lipreading helps hard-of-hearing and deaf people communicate with others: family, friends and business associates at work, at the bank and grocery store. Lipreading is helpful to people with hearing loss as well as speakers with normal hearing; hearing-impaired individuals understand and the speakers repeat less frequently. Both benefit.
Eyes used more extensively. Most people have depended on their ears for understanding spoken communication; when hearing is diminished they increasingly depend on their eyes. For safety they take precautions in traffic by carefully watching for stop signs and cautiously crossing streets because they may no longer hear cars or even sirens. appreciating the beauty of nature may mean seeing birds, the rain and the trees waving in the wind but may no longer include hearing them. Knowing when the doorbell is ringing may require using an assistive device such as a flashing light.
During their lifetime individuals have been told to watch the eyes when someone is speaking to them. In lipreading one must instead focus more attention on the lips, tongue, jaw and throat. The speakers usually will not be aware that their mouths instead of their eyes are receiving primary attention. They may, however, think, and rightly so, that what they are saying is receiving very close attention.
Hearing supplemented. Hard-of-hearing people should listen carefully to use the hearing they have; lipreading can supplement hearing. Some sounds that are difficult to hear, such as f and th are the most visible on the lips. Words with similar sounds may be misunderstood when they are heard; however, they may be distinguished when seen on the lips. Lipreading would help the listener discriminate between power and flower or cat and bat.
Background noise less disruptive. People who are hard-of-hearing find that background noise makes understanding difficult, especially if they wear hearing aids. Noise in restaurants or others talking in the room can be extremly disruptive. Lipreaders can focus on one or a few people to gain understanding through what they see and ignore the surrounding noise.
Knowledge expanded. Everyone who has experience with language has some lipreading ability. They can recognize many familiar words, such as four, hello and goodby. Learning lipreading techniques will expand that knowledge and give courage to deal with the hearing world.

Qualities Lipreaders Need

Alertness to the situation. Being aware of specific situations and vocabulary that might be encountered are important; for example, conversation at the grocery store will differ from that at a wedding. Background knowledge and experience can help one make correct intuitive assumptions about what is being said. Knowing the topic of conversation is a significant clue to what is being said.
Concentration. Complete attention to movements of the lips and gestures is essential.
Motivation. Lipreaders must have the will to learn and develop their skills through consistent practice.
Vision. Lipreaders must have vision adequate to see movements of the teeth, tongue, throat, eyes and gestures.

Behavior of Speakers that Hinders lipreading

Speakers difficult to lipread are those who:
• mumble (m ... mm ... gr ... f ... mm)
• wear mustaches or beards that cover the area of the mouth
• use little facial expression–deadpans
• shout!
• turn their faces or backs when speaking
• talk from another room
• talk with a microphone that hides their lips
Can you add to this list from your own experience?

Lipreading someone who mumbles or turns his back
Is like trying to see through a paper sack.

Helping others help you

Being hard of hearing is not only a problem for you, it is a problem for your family, friends and others. People who have not encountered hearing loss do not understand this invisible physical condition or know how to respond to those who have it. Become informed about hearing loss and share your knowledge with others. Let others know that you are hard of hearing and what they can do to be helpful. Action that can be taken:
• Ask people to face you when speaking.
• When speakers cover their lips, explain that you are a lipreader (or learning) and must see their mouths.
• Speak with the volume you wish others to use.
• If others are shouting, ask them to lower their voices.
• If they speak too rapidly, ask them to speak more slowly.
• Ask the speaker to rephrase or “say it in another way.”
• Ask the speaker to fill in what you did not understand; for example, “What time did you say you are leaving?”
• Do not pretend you have understood when you have not. This only hinders communication and can frustrate the speaker.
• When appropriate, let people know you have heard; otherwise, they may unnecessarily repeat.
• As a last resort, ask the speaker to spell or write what you did not hear.

Product Details

• Plastic Comb: 211 pages
• Publisher: Charles C Thomas Pub Ltd (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0398067899
• ISBN-13: 978-0398067892
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,956,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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