My new column, “Can You Help?”, allows LipreadingMom.com followers to share and answer questions with each other. This week’s question comes from a friend who can’t understand what the heck her daughter’s boyfriend is saying. Can you help? Dear Lipreading Mom, My daughter is dating a guy that has some type of social anxiety disorder. … Continue reading
How Hearing Loss Made Me More Compassionate – By Elise Bateman
Lipreading Mom Note: Going to college can be stressful, so imagine heading there with a new hearing loss. Elise Bateman was that student. Her story of grieving the loss of her hearing ends on a happy note. Through grief, she found the ability to help others. Elise’s Story Four and a half years ago, I … Continue reading
Help! My Hearing Loss Makes Me Feel Alone
Today’s question comes from a follower of this blog: “Although I’ve had hearing loss for the past five or so years, it seems like the last couple of weeks I have really noticed more loss. I wear hearing aids and am attempting to get my classroom looped to help me hear my students. I’m trying … Continue reading
Can You Come Up with Another Label for Hard of Hearing? – By Michelle Rooney
Hard of Hearing. Moderate to severe hearing loss. Hearing impaired. They’re all the same. They all describe me. They all simply mean that my ears don’t function as intended. This doesn’t mean that I can’t think. This doesn’t mean that I’m stupid. This doesn’t mean that I should not, or cannot lead a normal productive … Continue reading
I Need Captioning Supporters—Will You Join Me?
I was about to give up using Twitter. Honestly, I tend to be more of a Facebook girl. But this week when actress Marlee Matlin (who is deaf) proposed a Twitter campaign to make others aware about captioning, I was all over it. All you have to do is visit my page, the Lipreading Mom … Continue reading
Help! I’m Babysitting and Can’t Hear the Kids
One of my Facebook followers asked: “I have hearing loss and sometimes watch other people’s children. What tips do you have for understanding their voices?” My suggestion: When I have young children over for a playdate, I sometimes show them my hearing aids and point out that my ears are “broken.” I also show them … Continue reading
What Advice Would You Give to Your High School Self?
“Carpe diem! Take your dreams and run with them.” -my words from 1992 The Latin phrase carpe diem (“seize the day”) is advice more than one high school graduate has heard. As a teen accepting my diploma 20 years ago, seizing the day meant moving off my parents’ 80-acre farm and heading for the California … Continue reading
How Does a Mom’s Hearing Loss Impact Her Children? – By Denise Portis
Lipreading Mom’s Note: When I think of an inspiring role model for all of us lipreading moms and dads, I think of Denise Portis. This mom of two not only thrives with a profound hearing loss, but she lives with the balance-affective condition Meniere’s Disease. The first thing I noticed about Denise was her sense … Continue reading
Can You Lip Read the Lorax?
I have often wondered how generations before closed captioning survived animated movies. My memory goes back to the first cartoon I ever saw in a theater. Actually, “Pete’s Dragon” was part animated, part live action. There I was at the age of three with my daddy and big sister, watching a smiling green dragon breathe … Continue reading
Lipreading Mom is No Match for the Little Debater
“Mom, why do I have to take a bath?” My four-year-old son asked this question for the fourth time. It had become a nightly ritual of explaining how the shampoo made his hair clean and how the bubble bath kept his body from being dirty. “You don’t want to go to preschool smelling stinky, do … Continue reading
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