When the Hearing Health Foundation approached Lipreading Mom about doing a story about curing hearing loss, I admit I was skeptical. Is a cure really possible? And if it is, would it benefit those who have embraced their deafness? I have many friends who haven’t been able to hear all their lives, and they lead … Continue reading
Filed under Advocacy …
Is It Okay to Ditch Hearing Aids?
Lipreading Mom has taken up a new hobby: sewing. It may be all the snow days lately have inspired this newfound passion for stitching pillows, aprons, and anything that a needle and thread can create. I’ve spent a lot of days at home, tending to these projects. Sewing is a calming hobby for me because … Continue reading
When All You Have Is Your Family…and Exhaustion
On Thanksgiving, I turned 40 years old. The next day, my five-year-old son and I began coughing. We coughed well into the night and the next day. When I couldn’t take it any more, Little Boy and I headed to an urgent care clinic. The “sleep and drink lots of fluids” recommendation didn’t settle with … Continue reading
Is Hearing Loss An Invisible Health Issue? An Interview with Kathryn Chastain Treat
What would you do if you lived with a life-threatening illness? Maybe you already do. Meet Kathryn Chastain Treat, a survivor of a horrific illness that often keeps her isolated from the outside world. As a loyal follower of the Lipreading Mom blog, Kathryn’s story parallels the newly diagnosed hearing loss experience: the fear and … Continue reading
One Thing I Would Have Changed About School
Even though my hearing loss wasn’t diagnosed until I was 27, I remember having difficulty hearing as a child. In grade school, I struggled to hear lessons via headphones. When an audiologist tested my hearing, he told my parents I had normal hearing but had trouble paying attention. A second opinion was not sought. I … Continue reading
How I Cope with Depression and Hearing Loss
Lipreading Mom has a confession to make: I live with clinical depression. In fact, severe depression can be traced back at least four generations in my family. This is yet one experience I share in my book, Confessions of a Lipreading Mom. One thing I’ve learned about depression and hearing loss: It can be managed. … Continue reading
Deaf Awareness Week – 10 People Stand Against Bullying
As a person with hearing loss, I’ve been called ‘stupid,’ ‘horse-headed,’ and a person living in ‘La-La Land.’ I just want to be called by my name: Shanna. Or Lipreading Mom will do. And I am so not alone. Stop Hearing Loss Bullying and its video were created this year by me and 10 other … Continue reading
Join Me for Show Me Your Ears’ First Birthday Contest
I’d like you to join me for a celebration, complete with a contest and prizes. This Saturday, September 14, marks the one-year anniversary of my favorite project in the world, Show Me Your Ears. What is this campaign? It is an awareness that ears—whether they can hear or not—are beautiful. I spent two years hiding … Continue reading
Ten Things I Want My Children (And You) to Know
My book, Confessions of a Lip Reading Mom, is dedicated to my husband and our three children. And for good reason. All they have ever known is a mom who must read lips to hear them. A mom who asks for sentence repeats. A mom who answers many a question with, “Huh? What was that?” … Continue reading
Five Ways to Improve Your Lipreading Skills – The Lipreading Mom Way
It’s true. Those of us with hearing loss rely more on our vision and mental processing skills than our auditory function. As a lipreading/speechreading instructor for late-deafened adults, I have researched this subject a great deal. Our brains and eyes require more muscle power than our ears in the communication process. Listening with our ears … Continue reading
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