There seems to be a lot of false impressions of how lip reading works and how useful it is. While there are people out there who rely heavily on lip reading for regular communication, their skills and abilities are the exception and not the rule. Lip reading is very challenging, with only around 30-40% of English words viewable on the lips. Lip reading is best used as one of many tools to help figure out what is being communicated.

I highly recommend relying more on speech reading than just lip reading. Lip reading is specifically watching the mouth and deciphering sounds and words visually. Speech reading includes using more contextual clues like body movement, expression, as well as educated guesses of the topic, based on your knowledge of your location as well as the person speaking. Often just knowing that your server is likely to be asking, “How is the food,” or recognizing their tone went up so it is likely they just asked a question, can help you navigate challenging hearing situations.

I did decide to work on my lip reading skills after becoming single sided deaf. I purchased the book linked below, I did an online class at http://www.lipreading.org, and I would sometimes mute the news and try to read the anchors’ lips. I did find my practice improved my ability some, but it took a lot of concentration and was fatiguing. I did not find that I approached anything near total understanding with just lip reading.

That said, the pandemic really showed how much I do use lip reading regularly. Masks covering mouths really changed the dynamic of my ability to accurately guess what was being said. I also find that I struggle much more when someone using a microphone covers their mouth. So I do recommend always keeping a line of sight available for reading lips if possible, as we all use lip reading sometimes.

However, it may not make sense for you to give the focus and time investment of practicing lip reading. If so, I would still really emphasize utilizing speech reading. Try to optimize your communication experience by watching the person speaking to you. Context clues can really help a lot in clueing you into what is being said. Planning in advance what sorts of conversation may happen can help you successfully fill in the gaps in the game of mad libs we all play each day, guessing what words go in the blanks. Training yourself in speech reading can help organize your thoughts and help you do a better job of solving the puzzles of what is being said.

If you are interested in a more in depth speech reading training, I highly recommend checking out the Better Hearing Program. It is offered virtually as well as in person and is free. I participated and was very impressed by the content covered. I just wished I had found it when I was new to hearing loss.

Other great resources to discuss speech reading:

sucessforkidswithhearingloss.com/speechreading/

How Speech Reading Can Help Maximize the Benefits of Your Hearing Aid