I think we have an Oscar upset. In my quest to watch all of this year’s Academy Award nominees for Best Picture in their captioned glory, I’ve seen seven out of the nine films. In last week’s post, I was a Life of Pi fan, due to my inaugural experience with watching a 3-D movie … Continue reading
Filed under hearing loss …
The Oklahoma Town Where My Hearing Loss Story Begins
Washita, Oklahoma, is the inspiration for my 2009 novel, Lip Reader, a story of one family dealing with genetic deafness. I hadn’t visited that town in 13 years, not until I drove down the dusty two-lane road in search of answers to my own hearing loss. The reason I wrote Lip Reader—a book that is … Continue reading
How to Hear Someone on the Phone When You Have Hearing Loss
My ears have a love-hate relationship with the phone. For 12 years, I’ve struggled to hear conversations from a variety of telephones—a regular landline, amplified phone, mobile phone, cell phone with Bluetooth capabilities. I tried phone captioning, but the captions didn’t always interpret word-for-word. Sometimes the words were scrambled or misinterpreted. That’s why I loved … Continue reading
Do You Have Hearing Loss…or Selective Hearing?
I’ve loved stories ever since I was a little girl. Long before I became Lipreading Mom and years before my hearing loss diagnosis, I sat in a crowded elementary school classroom and waited for a story to begin. I placed a set of headphones over my ears. When the recorded storyteller asked a question, I … Continue reading
One Thing I Wish I’d Learned Before Becoming Deaf
Would life be better if I could hear better? Would I notice the subtle differences in people’s voices, or the tones used in their speech? Or be able to hear the door bell ring or the microwave beep, or the wall clock tick? Or distinguish instantly who is calling me by listening to voice, not … Continue reading
Girl Scouts, Switched at Birth, and Deaf Pioneers – Lipreading Mom’s Year in Pictures (Part 2)
I will go on the record as saying this: 2012 was a good year for Lipreading Mom. As the year comes to an end, I am thankful for my family and our health, friendships and new opportunities. I am thankful for you, my faithful reader. Was this year everything you wanted it to be? If … Continue reading
12 Days of a Show Me Your Ears Christmas!
For some of us, Christmas revolved around hearing aids, cochlear implants, and sign language. Hearing loss didn’t keep us from enjoying the gift of conversation with loved ones. We have learned to advocate for ourselves by showing off our hearing devices and letting our fingers do the talking. Lipreading Mom launched the Show Me Your … Continue reading
Family, Friends, and Elvis – Lipreading Mom’s Year in Pictures (Part 1)
In appreciation of your support over this past year, I thought it would be fun to reflect on 2012 highlights from Lipreading Mom. Presenting the first half of this blog’s and my year in pictures… What Are Highlights from Your Year? Be watching after Christmas for the second half of pictures. In the meantime, I’d … Continue reading
My Story of Tragedy … And Hope
It’s easy to go through the day feeling like nothing special or out of the ordinary can happen. As a Lipreading Mom with progressive hearing loss for almost 12 years, I often have my moments of feeling unsure about the future. But when I’m tempted to wallow in self-pity, I think about the surprise that … Continue reading
These Kids Joyfully Show Me Their Ears
I have a lot to learn from children with hearing loss. In the weeks since I launched the Show Me Your Ears campaign, kids from all over the world have posed with their hearing aids and cochlear implants. Their photos are inspiring and fun. These young people aren’t afraid to show off their ears with … Continue reading
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