Posting #10: Chapter 32

I had predicted that one of the chapters in this book would discuss deaf people’s ability to lip read, this was the chapter that discussed just that. I learned that “Only some 30% of all spoken sounds are visible on the lips” (pg. 191). There are so many factors to consider when asking someone if they can read your lips. I had never thought about homophones being an issue before. “They look and sound identical” (pg. 191). One must be good at guessing in order to read lips. A “lipreader must rely to some extent on guesswork to understand what’s being said, using the context to fill in the inevitable gaps (pg. 192). Before reading this chapter I had never heard of the word “speechreading”, the authors summarized it by saying:

“Speechreaders don’t just look at the mouth; they read the entire face: the eyes, the way the eyebrows tilt or the brows knot when certain words are emphasized. They note changes in expression, shoulder shrugs, posture, gestures. They also note any props the speaker is carrying; their surroundings. Picking up these associational cues is an art in itself. It requires a high degree of attention. It can be exhausting” (pg.192).

When people ask if deaf people can read lips, most likely they are really asking if the deaf person is a speechreader. I can only imagine how old and annoying this must be for a Deaf person. I think that I would find it irritating if someone expected me to be able to read lips just because I couldn’t hear. I think that speechreading is very challenging. I think about all the times I have had to try to read someone’s lips. Times when I am in a noisy place, like a concert, and someone is telling me something or when everyone is silent, such as during a sermon at church, and I have to attempt reading someone’s lips.

The authors say, “If all else fails, hearing people should forget the ‘rubberlipping’ and try the old standby, pencil and paper” (pg. 192). I know this approach would be time consuming, but I think it would be better for both people trying to communicate. It would be easier to write things down rather than trying to speechread.

This chapter brought up many good points that I had never thought about before. Such as, it is much more difficult to read a person’s lips that have a mustache. This makes perfect sense to me; it just is something I had never put much thought into. I am also glad that the authors said, “Don’t over-enunciate (exaggerate) your question” (pg.193). I think that that would seem so condescending. I found this chapter to be very insightful.