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
Filed under My Life with Exceptional Kids …
Hearing Loss Survey – Let Your Voice Be Heard!
If you have hearing loss, please take a moment to answer my survey about your experiences while taking care of children. Your comments will help as I prepare for the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) National Convention workshop “How to Understand Your Children When You Have Hearing Loss.” Feel free to share this survey … Continue reading
Can You Hear That Whisper?
I took my kids to a park, and we wandered onto a paved walking path that paralleled a creek and row of trees. My oldest son skipped several feet ahead while my young daughter and I followed. She would take a few steps, stop to admire a broken twig on the ground, take a few … Continue reading
Three Tips to Help You Lipread Kids While Driving
Like me, you are probably a more conscientious driver with precious cargo in the back seat. One of the most challenging parts of having a hearing loss, though, is attempting to lipread children while you drive. Three things that have helped me as a lipreading mom behind the wheel: 1) Remind your kids that you … Continue reading
Can Captions Help Our Kids Learn?
As the mom of three young children, I am concerned about the programs they watch on TV and the Internet. While there are parental controls for what they view on television, there is no control over whether or not the programs they watch via computer are captioned. I partnered with the Collaboration for Communication Access … 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
The Reason Why Lipreading Mom Is So Passionate About Captions
My 7-year-old daughter wanted to watch a video at Disney.com. It featured one of her favorite singers. I wanted to sing along with my girl, but I couldn’t. The video wasn’t captioned. My toddler-age son was playing a game at PBSKids.org involving a popular cartoon character. Short video clips from the cartoon were included with … Continue reading
Lipreading Mom Has a Baby
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 11 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
Lipreading Mom’s Christmas Story
My young daughter sits on my lap as we flip through her Precious Moments storybook about the birth of Jesus. The room is quiet. She watches wide-eyed as I flip through the cardboard pages. Although it is a picture book, there are so many words that I have to paraphrase to stay within a young … 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
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