It took me two years before I’d let this much of myself show. My bottle blonde hair and palette of cosmetics usually help me blend in with the other moms who drive their children to sporting events on a warm summer afternoon. I turn the wheel, hoping to avoid the stark reflection that stares back … Continue reading
Filed under Hearing Aid Hysteria …
Do You Know Someone Who Needs Hearing Aids But Refuses to Get Them?
Have you or someone you know put off a hearing screening because you’re worried about what the results could be? I’ll admit “yes” to that question…for myself. It’s challenging enough having a hearing loss without being reminded of it when I step into an audiologist’s office. The idea of sitting in a sound-proof booth, putting … Continue reading
Can a Baby Learn Sign Language?
When my daughter was eight months old, we took a baby sign language class. Most of the kids there were several months older, but I was insistent that my pint-size girl learn the language early. There’s nothing quite like being a mom who can’t hear her own child clearly. When she cooed and babbled, I … Continue reading
Did I Pass Hearing Loss Along to My Child?
Lipreading Mom has a confession to make: One of my beloved kids insists on yelling at the top of his lungs every chance he gets. At first, I chalked this up to an animated baby expressing himself. His repeated chants of “MAW-MAW-MAW” everywhere we went were charming. In the beginning. When my Little Squealer learned … Continue reading
Lessons in Courage from ‘The Help’
“You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” -‘The Help,’ Kathryn Stockett I am proud to call Minda and Stephanie my friends. Both are highly educated, caring women who love their families. Like me, my friends are also lipreading moms. When we gathered last week for a captioned showing of the movie The Help, … Continue reading
Can You Help Me Count My Lost Decibels?
Are you like me: not deaf, but close to it? Every year, I head to the audiologist for a hearing test. Ninety-five percent of the time, the result is the same: more hearing decibels lost. Eleven years ago when I was diagnosed with progressive hearing loss, each ear tested at 20 percent hearing loss. The … Continue reading
You Are Not Alone: Susan’s Story
Lipreading Mom’s Note: This is part of a continuing series about depression in women. Today’s writer tells about her life with hearing loss, single parenting, and finding hope and courage. Susan’s Story My name is Susan. I found out that I had a moderate sensorineural genetic hearing loss when I was 12 years old. When … Continue reading
Lipreading Moms Are Everywhere
When I attended the Hearing Loss Association of America national convention two years ago, I thought I was the only Lipreading Mom in the world. Then I met Tina, a mom of three from Georgia. Like me, she developed a hearing loss after the birth of one of her children. Like me, she was afraid … Continue reading
Can A Person Be Healed of Hearing Loss?
I once had someone pray that I would be healed of hearing loss. In today’s airbrushed, PhotoShop world, flaws can be erased in just a few keystrokes. My hearing loss was something I wanted to disappear. So when the person of great faith prayed for my healing, tears welled in my eyes. I was overwhelmed … Continue reading
Hearing Aids Are So Gosh, Darn Cool
Don’t you just love my “purty” cool headline and photo choice? (And don’t you just love Lipreading Mom’s penchant for Oklahoma twang?) I confess that I’m a sucker for happy endings. They bring out my inner Oklahoma Pollyanna. When I recently posted the hearing aid financial struggles of my friend “Abby” (not her real name … Continue reading
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