Meet Kevin, a participant of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association – Newfoundland and Labrador (CHHA-NL) Speech (lip) Reading Level 1 class. Kevin noticed an advertisement for an upcoming speechreading class in the weekend paper, which caught his attention because he was experiencing some difficulty communicating with his grandchildren and coffee group friends, often having to ask them to repeat themselves.
Although Kevin is not a shy person, he admitted to being a little apprehensive about signing up for the class at first. He was not sure what to expect from the class and did not know if his hearing challenges were significant enough to benefit from speech (lip) reading. After some consideration, and a phone chat with Alison, the class instructor, he decided to sign up. In a very short while, Kevin felt like the speechreading class was the right place for him, and says “the class exceeded my expectations.”
Throughout his career, Kevin spent a lot of time in noisy surroundings, on concert stages and onboard fishing vessels, to name a few, without thinking much about the effect on his hearing. The speechreading class was a fantastic introduction to understanding more about his own hearing – Kevin says “it was all very serious, but it was also fun”, he particularly enjoyed the group interaction and speechreading practice that took place each week. To anyone else who is experiencing similar hearing challenges, Kevin says “if you have any hearing loss at all, it’s a wonderful experience”.
8 week speech (lip) reading classes are offered in the Spring and Fall,
by the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association – Newfoundland and Labrador.
