“My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness.” -Maya Angelou Lipreading Mom focuses on two things: living with hearing loss and being a parent. Today I would like to focus on parenting my children who are all … Continue reading
My Words to a Rockstar: When Face Masks and Hearing Loss Don’t Mix
The Foo Fighters is possibly the greatest rock band since The Rolling Stones and The Beatles (at least Lipreading Mom thinks so). I am currently reading through band leader Dave Grohl’s memoir, The Storyteller, and one thing I can tell you about Dave’s life is this: It’s been a LOUD ride. Being at the top … Continue reading
Lipreading Mom’s Interview with Hearing Loss LIVE!
I recently was interviewed for Hearing Loss LIVE!, a website dedicated to hearing loss awareness. Created by Chelle Wyatt, Julia Stepp, and Michele Linder (all of whom live with hearing loss), the HLL site’s philosophy is two-fold: “We help you help yourself” and “We’re changing the status quo of hearing loss help. One size does … Continue reading
How AMC Theatres Got Things Right with Open Captioned Movies
The film “Spencer“ premiered at my local AMC location this weekend. I had waited weeks for a chance to see what the filmmakers call a ”fable based on a true story” about the late Princess Diana. In all honesty, I wasn’t holding my breath that the film would be fully accessible to my hard of … Continue reading
Captioned Movies in 2021: Where Are They?
Where are the movie captions? This is a question I have asked for the past 10 years since I became passionate about advocating for movie theater captioning. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, most regular movie-goers have stayed home and watched films from their televisions or mobile devices which allows for various captioning possibilities. But some prefer … Continue reading
An Interview with Shari Eberts about the Film “We Hear You”
Shari Eberts is the founder of the popular blog Living with Hearing Loss. She has an adult-onset genetic hearing loss and hopes that by sharing her story through the blog, she will help others to live more comfortably with their own hearing issues. In addition, Eberts serves on the Board of Directors of Hearing Loss Association … Continue reading
The Days Are Long But the Years Are Short
Once upon a time, someone shared the saying, “The days are long but the years are short” and I didn’t fully understand the significance of these words. That is, until my children became adults. The photo I have featured here is from October of 2008. At the time, my children were ages 8, 4, and … Continue reading
Why the Film ‘CODA’ Matters to Me During the Pandemic
I did not grow up as a CODA or Child of a Deaf Adult. This is a hearing child who has one or both parents identify as culturally Deaf. The new Apple TV+ film ‘CODA’ highlights the experience of a teen girl who lives with her parents and an older brother, all of whom are … Continue reading
The Fight for Captions, Accessibility, and ADA Compliance
Since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush 30 years ago, I have personally witnessed several excuses for lack of communication accessibility in public spaces. “We don’t have the budget for that.” “You must be a paid subscriber to enable subtitles.” “We don’t handle accessibility matters. So and so … Continue reading
Clear Face Masks: Making Communication Visible
Now you see me, now you don’t. Which face mask do you prefer? For the 30 million people in the U.S. who have hearing loss, clear, visible face masks allow us to read your lips and detect other visual cues, such as your smile. That is 1 in 8 people in this country who depend … Continue reading