Lip Reading

Even though I can hear really well, I depend on lip reading.  I have to see people's lips or else I struggle to hear.  There is something about seeing their lips and matching it to the sound.  If I can't see someone's lips I have a harder time matching the sound to the word.  

Here is a list of some scenarios where I struggle to hear because I can't see their lips:
- Assemblies
- Men with mustaches and beards
- Sitting in the back of the car
- When people are talking while eating and they cover their mouth
- When the teacher is talking while writing on the whiteboard
- When students make a comment but I can't see them
- Talking on the phone
- When someone is trying to talk to me, but they are behind me
- Movies/Videos (I need closed captions)
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Singing
- Any situation in the dark (night games, movie theater, etc.)
- If someone doesn't move their lips a lot or if they are mumbling
- Radio
-Announcements at school 
- High School dances 

Last year I lived in Luxembourg and tried to learn French.  It was difficult because I couldn't recognize the movement of their lips.  

I am constantly lip reading.  I lip read when I have my speech processor on and off.  Even though I am very good at lip reading, it is still very challenging.    

Everyone is impressed by how well I lip read.  Whenever I am swimming, my friends like to test my skill out.  It helps to know the context of what someone is saying.

Funny story:  At our family reunion we played a football game.  Whenever we would huddle together to figure out a game plan I would look over at the other team.  I would read their lips and figure out what their strategy was.  I would tell my team, and we would create a plan based on theirs.  We won every time.  The other team was so frustrated and didn't understand how we knew every time what they were going to do.  At the end of the game, we told them what we did!

I love my cochlear implant and being able to hear.  But to be successful requires other skills like lip reading!