Lip reading is a valuable skill for anyone with an acquired hearing loss. It helps to fill gaps in speech, especially those high frequency words that are harder to hear. Please note it will not enable someone ot follow 100% of what is being said, even good lipreaders can only reliably pick up 30%, but it is a useful additional clue that helps people follow conversation.
Lip reading is not just about watching the mouth to read every spoken word; it also involves reading facial expression, anticipation skills, body language and gestures and also making use of any residual hearing.
Lip reading classes teach the lip shapes
of specific letter sounds. These sounds are grouped and studied together and predominantly focus on consonant shapes that are hard to hear but are easier to see. This is particularly useful for people with a high frequency loss.
There is a shortage of lip reading teachers and no local classes . You can explore the asscoaition of lip reading site for updates and online opportunities https://atlalipreading.org.uk/
There is also a site with free access to lip reading exercises which gives you the basics https://lipreadingpractice.co.uk/
if you have any queries email Louise McGlen louisemcglen@deaflink.org.uk