Chapter 32 :)

"Can you Read my Lips?"                                                                                                           


Chapter 32 addressed an issue I have been curious about, I know that not all 
Deaf people can read lips but I wasn't sure if it was rude to ask. I was surprised at first when I read that all Deaf people could speech read, but after time i suppose a skill like this is learned with anyone. Another point this chapter made was that often even when the Deaf person indicates that yes, they can read lips people still exaggerated lip movements and speak slowly. This might sound bad, but I think I would do the same thing, but it makes perfect sense that speaking slowly and more exaggerated would only make communication more difficult. 
I was really surprised to read that only 30% of all spoken sounds are visible on the lips. (As a future SLP I feel like I should have already known this lol) Also everyone makes sounds a bit differently. The concept of speech reading was a new one to me as well, I found it interesting that "speechreaders don't just look at the mouth; they look at 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, and gestures. This is so much to notice, I know now why it is so difficult to speech read/ read lips. I have no doubt that it is exhausting. 
I feel that I learned a lot from the words of advice section of this chapter. Men with full beards and thick mustaches being hard to speech read would have never crossed my mind, but I see how it would be difficult. Some advice that is more applicable to me as a female would be to remove sunglasses or hats that may cast a shadow on the face. Even as a hearing person I have trouble reading people's expressions when they have sunglasses on. My boyfriend always wears big aviator sunglasses and it bugs the crap out of me because I can't tell where he is looking (silly I know). Another good tip is that when asking if one can speechread, it is not necessary to point at the lips. I think this would be a bit instinctive, but it is good to know that this is not necessary. The last tip "What Comes Next" makes a great point in saying, "two persons who have a language or modal barrier and really want to communicate will usually find a way around it." My best friend in high school was born in Cuba, and while she spoke perfect English, her parents spoke none. Our senior year she was in a very bad car accident and when the paramedics tried to contact her parents (her only family in America) it was difficult, but eventually they understood that their daughter was in trouble and the doctors and nurses found ways to relay information to her parents.