This chapter talks about lip reading and speechreading. I was not aware that the two were different. Speechreading involves a person reading not only the lips, but the eyes, facial expressions, physical expressions, and etc. A common error made is that most people have it in their heads that deaf people should be able to read lips. "Only some 30% of all spoken sounds are visible on the lips. Many sounds, like "b", "p", and "m" are virtually impossible to distinguish by watching the mouth" (191). When I read that part of the book I automatically made the sounds with my mouth. I can see how reading lips is a talent, because most words or sounds can look the same. Homonyms are another thing that can make lip reading a task. The book used the example of blue and blew.
One thing that I found a little disturbing was the fact that if a deaf person says they can't read lips, the hearing person walks away or shrugs. I find that to be highly disrespectful. That would be like a deaf person writing to a hearing person asking if they can sign. If the person answers no, that doesn't allow the deaf person to just act angry and walk away. Establishing a common ground regardless of the situation is not only necessary, but good manners.
Works Cited
Morre, S. Matthew, and Linda Levitan.
For Hearing People Only. 3rd Ed. Rochester,
New York: MSM Productions, Ltd.,2003.Print.
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