Go back in time with me to the summer of 1983. My family owned an above-ground swimming pool that kept me and my sisters entertained most days. I was nine years old. It wasn’t the first time I had worn plugs to keep the water out of my ears. Wearing ear plugs with water was … Continue reading
Filed under Awkward Ear Moments …
Don’t Ever Read Lips While Driving…Trust Me!
Driving and I don’t always get along. I admit that I should pay better attention to my motoring skills. From the scrape on the passenger door of my mini-van to the cracked bumper, I have participated in enough fender-benders to keep my insurance agent in business. Would it be okay to blame the inattentive driving … Continue reading
Why Is It So Hard for Me to Listen?
“Because I have hearing loss.” That would be the simplest way to answer my question. For years, I have struggled with taking the time to listen when others are talking with me. If a friend has a problem and needs a listening ear, I can focus for a minute or two, and then my mind … Continue reading
The True Story of How Show Me Your Ears Began
The birth of Show Me Your Ears took place in my minivan. While sitting in the car outside my hearing aid provider’s office last year, I reeled with painful emotions. A hearing test revealed my deepest fear: I had lost more hearing. Worse yet, the hearing aids I wore were no longer powerful enough to … Continue reading
Do You Have a Fear of Failure?
I recently read a story about a woman who was afraid to jump off a cliff as part of a thrill-seeking group activity. The thought of jumping off anything, let alone a cliff, sends terror chills down my spine. You can read the story here. Since childhood, I have had a fear of leaping off … Continue reading
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
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
What to Do If You Suspect Your Spouse Has Hearing Loss
Every week, I write a column for Deaf-Insight.com called Ask Lipreading Mom. Readers submit questions related to hearing loss or deafness, and I seek out the answers. Then I share the information in my column. This week’s column concerned how to talk to a loved one if you suspect he has hearing loss. Dear Lipreading … Continue reading
Meet My Friend, Wendy, Who Is Going Deaf and Blind
A couple of weeks ago, I met for lunch and swimming with my friend, Wendy, and her children. As the two of us watched our kids splash and jump around in a neighborhood pool, Wendy and I chatted about her hearing loss and blindness. I had so many questions to ask her that I couldn’t … Continue reading
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