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
Filed under My Life with Exceptional Kids …
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
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
Why I Am Sharing About My Depression
It is no secret that being a mom is a ton of work. For all the blessings of raising a family, there are just as many sleepless nights, challenging days, and anxious thoughts. Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing moms’ stories about a phenomenon that affects at least one in four women. … Continue reading
How Come I Can’t Hear My Baby?
Let’s go back in time to the winter of 2001 when I became Lipreading Mom… My days were spent holding a blissfully sleeping newborn boy. My nights were spent holding a wide-awake newborn boy since he developed this sleep-all-day, night-owl fascination. When my ears rang uncontrollably, I thought it was a side effect of sleep … Continue reading
Lipreading Mom Finds Peace Through Psalm 91
It was an easy pregnancy, and my newborn arrived into the world healthy and beautiful. I should have been a glowing new mom. Instead, I cried more than I smiled and felt gripping anxiety. My thoughts were unfocused, I had trouble sleeping, and–emotionally, I just couldn’t enjoy being a mom. At the time, I had … Continue reading
Lipreading Mom Attempts to Blog While Playing with Choo-Choo Trains
As I write this, my 3-year-old boy sits outside pushing his Thomas trains on the driveway. Thank goodness for an iPad that allows Lipreading Mom to type from the comfort of a folding outside chair while he plays. Oops… spoke too soon. My boy now wants to go play inside. (Short writing pause as we … Continue reading