We’re all familiar with the phrase, “Read my lips.” It’s generally used to argue a point that’s been made, like when a parent says to their child, “Read my lips. No more video games, until you finish your homework.”
Most people wouldn’t hesitate when they hear that phrase, but many who are hard of hearing - whether they wear hearing aids or not - rely on lip reading in order to communicate with others. Here’s what you should know about lip reading: 1. Let’s define lip reading. This is also referred to as speech reading. It’s using a person’s facial expressions, speech patterns, lip movements, and additional nonverbal cues in order to “read” speech”. It’s known as a “third ear”. Certain speech sounds can be challenging to hear, for example, the soft “p” in the word “sphere” can be easier to comprehend visually. Phone calls may be difficult due to the absence of nonverbal communication that is needed for lip reading. Next time you go out, notice how other people depend on communicating non-verbally. 2. Improving confidence. For the hard-of-hearing community, being able to lip-read can make someone feel more confident when communicating with others. Sometimes, people feel embarrassed or discouraged when they need to frequently ask others to talk louder or repeat what was said. Lip reading can help the hard of hearing decipher words or sounds that they were unable to clearly hear, which can make them feel more confident about their communication skills. Confidence in communication is very important. It advocates for people to remain connected to their family, friends, and community. This helps them avoid feelings of frustration and isolation, which can lead to depression. 3. A course in lip reading. There are lip-reading courses that are available online. Some free classes can be found on lipreading.org. You may also learn by observing your daily communication with others. Focus and study the way people’s lips move based on particular sounds. Learning how to lip read requires practice in order to make the skill easier and more effective. These techniques include:
Piecing together previous information in order to fill in the blanks. 4. Lip reading can’t help you in every situation. Lip reading can be very helpful for those who are hard of hearing, but there are many environments where it is not useful. It can be difficult to lip-read in a dark room or if someone has a bushy mustache or beard while wearing sunglasses. Different angles and mumbling can also interfere with lip reading. It’s best to find additional means of communication instead of completely counting on lip reading. Another way to communicate is by using captioning apps. 5. Other Tips and Facts
If you, or a loved one, are experiencing hearing loss and believe hearing aids would be helpful in communicating with others, please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing Aids for a free hearing test and consultation. Nearly all home appliances, and entertainment systems, can be connected to a smartphone app in the modern age. Hearing aids are also part of that club.
Apps can make new appliances and devices, like hearing aids, easier to use. You can customize how your hearing aids work based on personal listening experiences. Some hearing aids feature AI, so based on the room or area you go in, your hearing aids will make optimal adjustments to the acoustics in that environment. A person’s hearing loss, hearing aid, and communication needs are unique. In other words, programmed settings on a person’s hearing aids must be tailored to that user’s specific requirements. Instead of amplifying all sounds, only some sounds get picked up by the microphone within a certain range while blocking out distracting background noises. This is the primary difference between basic amplifiers and hearing aids. Hearing Aid Apps Just about all hearing aids feature Bluetooth® technology. With Bluetooth®, you can connect your hearing aids with various smartphone features. Some hearing aid apps available include decibel-measuring apps, captioning apps, translations, and more. Adjustments Hearing aid adjustments can be made manually and automatically. Using AI technology, hearing aids can detect the soundscapes in an environment and automatically adjust the room’s noise levels through the hearing aids. If you want more control of the volume, bass, and treble, the app lets you discreetly access that using your smartphone. Personal programs Personal programmed settings can be stored and then easily accessed when you are in a particular environment. If you are in a noisy restaurant adjustments can be made on your hearing aids through an app. These settings can be saved when you go back to that restaurant. Some hearing aids may have pre-programmed settings made by your provider, based on your hearing test results, in addition to a tinnitus masking program. There are many customized settings that your hearing instrument specialist can create for a better listening experience. Status update Apps let you check on your hearing aid’s battery life, so you’ll know when they need to be replaced or recharged. Apps will also show how many hours you wore your hearing aids each day/week/month. Locating misplaced hearing aids A find my hearing aid app can locate the device if you lose both or either hearing aid. The caveat is that the hearing aid (s) still need to have enough battery life to be located. Direct connection to audio Using apps, you can directly connect and stream your music, TV, and phone calls through your hearing aids. Keeping Notes on Your Hearing Aid Experience You should keep a hearing journal and a journal about your hearing aid experience. When you go back for a follow-up appointment, or even before that follow-up appointment, you can let your hearing instrument specialist know what problems came up with your hearing aids; for example what you liked about them, what you didn’t like about them, etc. Some apps let you get a snapshot so you can figure out when you could not hear in a certain situation. This information can be passed on to your hearing aid provider. Instead of verbally articulating what you heard, this lets them better understand the soundscape. If you or a loved one are experiencing hearing loss and need hearing aids, contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation. If you’re a hearing aid user, you know the benefits that these devices can have in various situations. Depending on your range and type of hearing loss, it can still be challenging to hear people over the phone, while watching a movie/TV show, or with people at a restaurant. If you have normal hearing abilities, you may need help to communicate better with friends and family who have difficulty with hearing.
If you use a captioned phone, that’s great for calls made at home. A caption app is helpful if you’re away from home and use a smartphone. Here’s a list of some captioning service apps you can check out. Many of them transcribe phone calls and live conversations into text. Android and Apple iOS Apps Ava Your smartphone’s microphone for the captioning service picks up speech and transcribes it into text on your phone. A strong wifi connection is necessary for this app to work and pair with Bluetooth® devices. Users may share a QR code with others to add them to the conversation. Ava has text-to-speech features via keyboard. You can save conversations through this app to share or view them later. Ava is also available on the desktop for both Macs and PCs. Ava is accessible with Android and Apple iOS. CaptionMate CaptionMate is a free app that immediately transcribes the conversation between people speaking on a phone call. Users can add this app to a smartphone, computer, tablet, or landline. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) pays for the real-time captioning service if you have hearing loss. You are required to register and self-certify your hearing loss. This app transcribes captions in more than 100 languages in real-time. Conversations are saved and can be accessed later. CaptionMate is available for Android and Apple iOS. ClearCaptions Mobile ClearCaptions Mobile provides real-time captioning. It is FCC-certified, which allows the service to be available via a federally-funded program for qualified people with hearing loss. They offer a free account with a personal ClearCaptions voice phone number used for captioned calls. ClearCaptions Mobile is only available for Apple iOS. InnoCaption The InnoCaption app is a free captioning service funded by the FCC. Anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing can receive real-time captioning on their smartphone. The app was developed in partnership with live stenographers so that users can receive quick and accurate captions. Users are required to register and self-certify that they have hearing loss. InnoCaption applies to Android and Apple iOS. Rogervoice Rogervoice can transcribe live conversations in more than 80 languages. After making a call, the speech instantly displays in the text on the screen. All you need to do is reply by speaking or texting. Captions can show up for incoming calls. Rogervoice is Android and Apple iOS-friendly. Hamilton CapTel This mobile app is free and made for people who have difficulty hearing over the phone and want to listen to conversations while they read word-for-word captions. In addition to creating an account through Hamilton CapTel, users need a voice, data plan, and a Bluetooth or a wired headset that works with hearing aids. Hamilton CapTel is only available for Apple iOS. Hearing Helper - Live Captions Hearing Helper uses Siri through Apple to translate speech to text for anyone who wants/needs to communicate with someone hard of hearing (HOH), Deaf, or uses ESL (English as a Second Language). Users must press and hold the mic to record speech and have the ability to correct any words and make the text larger. Hearing Helper can only be used with Apple iOS. These apps can be beneficial in certain situations where you have difficulty hearing. It should NOT be a substitute for getting hearing aids if you need them. If you or a loved one are experiencing hearing loss, tinnitus, or both, please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation. |
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