What is speech-reading?

Speech-reading is ‘reading’ the visual clues of the spoken message – the movements of the lips, the tongue, the lower jaw, the eyes, the eyebrows and facial expressions and gestures. They are all clues for the speech-reader. In speech-reading, you also learn to observe the syllables, the natural flow, rhythm and phrasing, and stress of speech.

Is speech-reading important?

Yes. Having a hearing loss makes speech sounds quieter or distorted or both. Speech-reading is invaluable. For those who have a hearing loss, speech-reading will help considerably in ‘receiving’ the message. Learning to speech-read will also enhance self-confidence and overcome the isolation, which can all too easily result from hearing loss.

Is it difficult?

No, but challenging for some. Classes are with small groups of people who experience and understand hearing impairment and are sympathetic and supportive in learning speech-reading.

Once you have developed your speech-reading skills, you will more likely be able to take part in everyday communication with your family, friends and colleagues much more easily and to participate in conversations you might previously have avoided.

Are there any limitations?

As some sounds have same lip movements (e.g. mark, bark and park), even the most skilled speech reader may not accurately identify every word.

Fast speech, poor pronunciation, bad lighting, faces turning away, hands over mouths, moustaches and beards make speech-reading more difficult or even impossible. However, developing speech-reading skills enables you to have a much greater understanding of what is being said.

How do I learn to speech-read?

The best way is to join a day or evening class where you will be able to learn in a supportive atmosphere with other people with a hearing impairment. A trained teacher will encourage you to develop your skills to the best of your ability.

Are there some tips for speech-reading?

Yes. The following will help:

• Position -  Position yourself so that your back is to the light and you can see the speaker’s face clearly.

• Relaxation – Sit comfortably and try to relax.

• Recall speech sounds – Watch the speaker’s face closely and, if you heard them before your hearing loss, try to recall how their voice sounded.

• Calling on your memory of sounds will be very important in your future life.

• Speech movements – Notice the movements made by the lips, tongue and jaw as the person speaks. These speech movements will help you to recognise sounds, which you no longer hear clearly (e.g. the plural ‘s’ at the end of words), while at the same time you can listen to the rhythm of the language used.

Some words can be speech-read more easily than others because they show more shape on the lips. If you have difficulty, ask the speaker to repeat the whole sentence. (It is easier to speech-read a whole sentence than a single word.)

• Facial expressions – Watch the speaker’s facial expressions. You can gain a lot of information about the subject matter and the speaker’s mood from facial expressions.

• Gesture – Notice any gestures made (e.g. nodding, pointing, direction of gaze). You can get valuable information from noticing all the natural gestures used by a speaker.

• Subject matter – Try to find out the subject of the conversation as quickly as possible. Once you know that, you can get the gist of what is said more easily. Let your mind hear what your ears have missed.

• Looking, listening and thinking – Remember that speech-reading is a combination of looking, listening and thinking for most people with a hearing loss.

• Fatigue factor – Don’t be surprised if you feel tired. Speech-reading requires deep concentration and, especially at first, you will need to give yourself frequent breaks. When you get the chance, close your eyes and relax for a few minutes.

• How can I improve my speech-reading skill?

Learning to speech-read takes time, patience and understanding, but the rewards are immense.

Learning to speech-read never ends. There are different formations to learn and different dialects. And every ‘face’ is different, dealing in its own way with words. However, the more you learn, the more your confidence will grow, enhancing and strengthening your ability to communicate.