Better With Use
Hearing loss and lipreading
When Sue still had some hearing we were standing at a Heathrow departure gate watching my father queuing for the metal detector. Pa had a brief chat with an elderly couple and then spoke with a security guard. That guard then went to speak with a colleague, at which point Sue said there was going to be a problem. She’d seen the first guard tell his colleague “we’ll teach this ********* clever ******* to tell us our jobs”.
Pa was then put through all sorts of extra questions and checks taking about 30 minutes. I asked another guard what was going on, his reply was very unfriendly, to say the least.
Back home I called Heathrow security about what’d happened and was asked how I knew what had been said, I explained my partner was a lipreader which brought the response that they’d get back to me. They did eventually call, apologized we’d been concerned, and assured me that no one recalled the incident. I accepted that I’d get nowhere but did tell him the guards should remember about lipreaders before bad mouthing people.
Pa later explained what’d happened, he’d simply asked if the couple could go first as they were worried they’d miss their flight. Which just goes to prove that some men and (to avoid sexism) women in uniform don’t like to be questioned.
Sue’s lipreading back then was self acquired, she hadn’t intentionally set out to learn lipreading, she’d naturally matched words to lip movements as her hearing deteriorated. Three years lipreading classes really expanded her skills and helped us understand how conversations can be worded to improve understanding.
Okay, I’m hearing, so that should be – I learnt how select words that would avoid confusion. I now use those skills and find I unconsciously ‘pre-edit’ sentences. Skills improve with use and Sue really impressed me last night when she ‘interpreted’ a small, unsubbed, ‘face’ on TV talking rapidly about an artist – Sue was word perfect. I also know to turn away when I’m discussing something I don’t want her to know, like presents, and I don’t leave them around when they’re wrapped either as Sue is an incorrigible present shaker.