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Communication Practices Hard of Hearing Hearing Loss Lip Shapes LIVE! Lipreading Concepts Personal advocacy Speechreading/Lipreading

HoH Tour – The Restaurant

Good afternoon and welcome to a session of Hearing Loss LIVE!’s Tour Guide to the Hearing World. Join us as we travel through the land of the hearing, where English sounds like a foreign  language and people don’t look at you while talking. It’s a lang of mumbling people who don’t move their mouth and others who move it much too fast. We will journey through masks (yes they are still around), dodge communication disasters and create more awareness together. Pick your best seat (never feel guilty about picking your best seat) and enjoy our tour through the land of the Hearies, who don’t speak our language.

Today you have two of us as tour guides, Chelle and Julia! Two for the price of one! Today’s exploration is the restaurant…with hearing aids. Does it sound scary to you?  Restaurants are so awful that some hearing aid manufacturers have a dedicated setting called “restaurant”. We’re going to tuck you under our wing so you can observe the process with us. Julia will give us some hearing insight along the way. 

  • Ready?
  • Set?
  • Go!
We’ll meet you at the local eatery, Stella Grill.

Chelle: Julia and I pulled into the parking lot at just about the same time. I’m a little ahead of her so I wait in the parking lot for her. If the weather isn’t severe, why not wait outside for those last moments of peace? 

Hello, join us!

This is my second trip here, Julia’s first. I’m a reader and that means I’m always looking around for signs and written information. The first time I came in, I did not see a “wait to be seated” sign so my husband and I sat ourselves. Oops! The waiter let us know we were naughty. This time, I know to wait. 

Confession

Before we sit down, let me confess that I do not use my hearing aids in restaurants. I put my lipreading skills to use instead. I can’t tolerate the extra noise in restaurants. Now and then I try using my hearing aids, turning down the volume in an already personally tweaked hearing program for noisy settings. Again and again, I find myself clenching my teeth and so distracted by noise that I can’t focus on conversation. Glasses clinking. Silverware clattering. Plates crashing. Music. Lots of people talking over the music. Argh! I take my hearing aids out and I’m fine. This is a personal choice.

There are many people within my personal HoH circle of friends that would never go without their hearing aids in social settings. They also have newer hearing aids than I do so they can tweak the programs in their smartphone apps more than my 8 year old hearing aids. To each his/her own! Use what works best for you.  

Julia is giving me a little wave. Let’s see what she has to say.

Julia: Hearing partners can help by letting their HoH make the decision about wearing hearing devices or not during outings. Why? Better communication outcomes. If going out to eat is one of your favorite things to do, what communication adaptations can you implement to continue enjoying such events? Work together for solutions. If noise is an issue, why not try going during off hours?

Chelle: Thank you Julia for your support, understanding and the tip. Bravo! 

Choose Your Best Table

A little foresight while we’re waiting to be seated. The last time I was here I sat on this side of the restaurant: 

Great lighting!

It was well lit but so noisy with reverberation my husband had issues hearing. I did fine with lipreading. As we walked out of the restaurant, both my husband and I noticed a huge difference between the rooms. The sound was dampened on this side. I’ll request sitting on this side this time.

Better for the ear.

*Note: Did you know we lose our sense of direction with hearing loss? These kinds of environments are particularly hard. Let’s plan on talking one at a time. If we raise a hand, we’re able to locate the speaker. 

Did you know you can request where to sit? No? This is a part of being proactive with your hearing loss. Take charge! Pick a corner away from the big table of loud people. Corners are always wonderful. Stay away from the kitchen area if possible. Be sure to look for good lighting and that  your hearing partner’s face is not backlit. If you’re in a large group, see if you can’t sit in a circle instead of a long rectangle table. 

The hostess is ready to lead us to the table. I ask her if we can sit on this side of the restaurant. She stops and points to the table right about where we want to be. Perfect. I’ve never had anyone tell me no. 

Look for the specials!

Oh look, there’s the board with the day’s specials written right behind us. I always look for that too because serving staff tends to recite those specials at 100 mph.  

Julia and I sit down. I take what I think is my best seat. Can you feel it in your face when hearing is hard? I can. My eyebrows are pulled down and my eyes are feeling squinty. Oh my, her face in the shadows. I ask her to trade me places and she does. Much better!

Julia is a wonderful hearie.
Pay attention to the menu…

Do you all have your menu? Ah good. I want you to read the fine print for your lunch choice. Does it come with sides? How many? Where are the sides listed?  Look at the choices and make your decision before they get there. Why? Because the less questions our serving person asks, the easier it will be on all of us. 

*Tip: Be extra proactive and view the menu online before going to the restaurant.

**And a side note: They rarely list the dressings for salads. If you’re feeling adventurous, go ahead and ask. If not, there’s always ranch dressing.

The last time I was here with my husband, the waiter began reciting the sides even though I knew what I wanted, crispy fries. When he got to the house pasta salad, his eyebrows shot up and wiggled around. Ohh, that must be a personal favorite of his. I like trying new things so I decided to go with that in lieu of the crispy fries. That’s a bonus when you’re a “lipreader”. We notice the small nuances. I did not regret my decision to go with his choice side. It came with homemade noodles, yum!

That nice waiter wanders the path but he is not our server this time. We have a young guy and I inform him I use lipreading. He faces me and I place my order. Be proactive! Let people know what you need to communicate.They appreciate knowing what works best.

How many of you think you read lips? I knew it, not many. Guess what, you are lipreading whether you know it or not. If you feel unsure about using the word lipreading, let them know they have to face you so you can hear them. Do they talk too fast? Ask them to slow down a bit, they will if they want that tip.

*Special announcement…

This month’s special from Hearing Loss LIVE! If you want to learn more about lipreading, join one of our lipreading classes that will be starting in January. We have a two for one special because our hearing partners benefit a great deal from understanding the lipreading process. 

While we wait, Julia gets up to take pictures. She too notices a huge difference in the acoustics between the different rooms. We can’t really pick out why except maybe less windows. It’s odd! Have you paid attention to acoustics? Restaurants are often built for the eye and to be easy to clean. Rarely are they made to please the ear. It’s unfortunate. Some restaurants are smart enough to put up acoustic panels and that can help a great deal.

It looks like Julia has another valuable tip for us….

Julia: Have you heard of SoundPrint? It’s a smartphone app that rates noise in different settings. Share your latest restaurant experience on Soundprint and let’s get others in the KNOW. It’s better working together!

Chelle: Let’s help each other be in the know! We can work together noting the noisy restaurants, but remember to bring awareness too. Give them a solution or two.

The food is here! They have such great food here. Before he leaves, the waiter asks if there’s anything else he can get for us. (This is a common question at this point so it’s easy to anticipate, easy to “hear”.) Nope, all is good and we are practically drooling looking at our Reubens. Let’s chow down!

Notes from a HoH:

Don’t be a total hearie who chews their food and talks at the same time. We can’t just listen, we are read lips too. It makes it very hard to focus on what you’re saying when we are watching food jump around in your mouth. Instead of “listening”, we are now wondering if food is going to fall out of your mouth or come flying out at us. If you have just taken a big bite of your Reuben, take a moment to chew it up, swallow then take a sip of water to wash it all down. We can wait.  

Tip Him/Her!

Lunch was a success! We had some thoughtful conversation our waiter was patient and accommodating.  Let’s give him a nice tip. I like it here so I will be back. Hopefully both waiters will remember me and be just as accommodating.

Thank you for joining us. We hope we gave you a few good tips to you and you will venture out.

Happy Holidays to all!

If you like this blog, take a look at our blog on being Proactive.

Did you like the tour? Check our Grocery Store Tour.

We keep as much of content free as we can. We want everyone to access to communication. If you liked what we wrote, Buy Us a Coffee.

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Hearing Loss LIVE! News

Changes in Hearing Loss LIVE!

Hearing Loss LIVE! lives on…however, we have a change.

We have had several people ask about our partner, Michele Linder. As most of you know, she is a lipreader and depends on her eyes for communication. Being on the computer a lot has impeded her lipreading abilities. After a thoughtful discussion last month, Michele has decided to step down as co-owner of Hearing Loss LIVE! She will continue her work as a caption advocate, Chelle and Julia will support her with her future endeavors. 

Not everyone benefits from hearing devices and they can still live a full life. Michele is a great example of diversity in hearing loss. She offers several presentations on captioning and self advocacy based on her experiences. She helps folks get in the KNOW.  

Michele’s Statement

You can also watch a short video with the 3 us here.

“Hearing Loss LIVE! (HLL) has been a wonderful undertaking and experience and something I am thankful to have been a part of. How ingenious! A former Hard of Hearing Specialist, a CART provider, and a Captioning Advocate joining forces to help others with hearing loss live fully in a world not designed for them! I am very proud to have been a part of HLL this past year. 

However, due to some ongoing vision issues I have been forced to drastically limit my screen time and can no longer devote as much time to HLL as needed. I have decided to step away as a partner. I certainly plan to continue to contribute and to support Julia and Chelle, and HLL, in all they do.“

Michele, Julia & Chelle out camping and planning, summer 2021

Thank you Michele for all you do. We look forward to your future captioning projects.

Categories
Lip Shapes LIVE! Lipreading Lipreading Concepts

Lipreading Classes

Register here.

Hearing Loss LIVE! offers 2 lipreading classes throughout the year. See our Events page for dates and times.

  • Lipreading Concepts – We started teaching this class again last week of March 28 & 29, 2023, two different days and three different times to choose from.
  • Lip Shapes LIVE! – A brand new class focusing on lip shapes, starting April 6, 2023.

We teach the Jeffers Method of lipreading. We think of it as a holistic approach to communication. This method focuses on 3 things:

  • Visible lip shapes (most sounds are not readily visible on the lips)
  • Situational cues, nonverbal cues and logic
  • Flexibility 

Both of our classes are taught  in real-time with live teachers and participation from other students. Learning from each other in a live format gives you the chance to ask questions. Discussion is encouraged. We limit our classes to 10 people so everyone can participate. Both classes are $50 for the duration of the class.

Our classes are held online via Google Meet. Google Meet gives you the opportunity to use captions through ASR (automatic speech recognition software). No need to download anything extra to join the meeting through a computer. We provide a link and you click on it. The only step needed is to allow Meet to use your webcam and microphone. You can also join through a tablet or smartphone by downloading the Google Meet app to your device. *A strong wifi is recommended. 

Lipreading Concepts

8 weeks, 1 hour per week

In designing a Hearing Loss LIVE! lipreading class, we decided to teach the concepts first so that people can evaluate why, and why not, lipreading is working. In Lipreading Concepts, we teach:

  • Situational awareness 
  • Discuss nonverbal cues
  • Using logic and flexibility to fill in the holes

We present a variety of tools that you can use in everyday communication with hearing loss. Set yourself up for successful communication and go into Lip Shapes LIVE! with more confidence.

Chelle & Julia presenting the basics on lipreading at the ALDA convention.

Lip Shapes LIVE!

6 weeks, 1 hour per week

We will focus on 6 visible lip shapes. The class is structured as follows.

  • Practice word lists, with no voice
  • Expand with simple sentences around a theme, no voice
  • 5 minute review of a concept or strategy

You don’t have to take the Lipreading Concepts class before taking Lip Shapes LIVE!, although it is highly recommended. We will not cover concepts in depth during this class. Learning lip shapes takes practice and repetition. It’s not learned overnight. We share ideas for practice and will be adding advanced lipreading classes in the future.

Is it speechreading or lipreading?

For a long time it was considered ‘lipreading’. Lipreading does not rely solely on lip shapes so ‘speechreading’ was introduced thinking it covered more than lips. We still aren’t sure this is correct terminology because it goes beyond speech too. We decided to use ‘lipreading’ because the term goes back many years and people generally understand this before ‘speechreading’. Who knows, maybe someday we will give it a whole new name.  

Misconception

There is a huge misconception that lipreading is all lip shapes. This is false. Many lip shapes are not readily visible. With hearing loss, we can’t rely solely on our hearing and the same is true of lipreading. We have to learn to fill in the gaps with other tools.

History/Experience

Before we started Hearing Loss LIVE!, Chelle and Julia were involved with speechreading classes with the State of Utah. Chelle & Julia both taught the class which had 18 lessons. Each lesson was an hour and a half containing lip shapes and concepts. There was a point early on when people felt overwhelmed. It was too much at once. This is the main reason we started with Lipreading Concepts first.

  • Chelle taught the class for 8 years, first as a Hard of Hearing Assistant and later as the Hard of Hearing Specialist. She revised the class twice to fit the needs of beginning students.
  • Julia taught the class for one year but supported lipreading classes through CART. She learned how to lipread over the years. She believes hearing people have a lot to learn from these classes. They become better communication partners when they understand it’s not just lip shapes. 
Hearing Partners are Welcome!

Hearing partners are a wonderful addition to the class and encouraged to attend. We’ve seen firsthand how much communication improves once the hearing partners understand all the concepts for lipreading and better hearing. We are currently offering a two for one price to people who bring their hearing partner. 

When the pandemic came along, all in-person classes for the state were halted. As the Hard of Hearing Specialist, Chelle took all classes online within 6 weeks. This was a boon! We could now reach people from all over the state instead of certain locations. Rural people could join for the first time. We found out lipreading was easier online because people are generally closer to the camera instead of 6 feet away.

We love our online classes & the people we meet! Register here.

See what Wikipedia says about Lipreading.

The United Kingdom is aware of the benefits of lipreading. ATLA (Association of Teachers of Lipreading to Adults) has several classes available. Hearing Loss LIVE! is one of the very few, online live classes offered in the USA.

Testimonials
  • Gloria: I am a Clinical Social Worker and I took the Lip Reading Class offered. They created a great class for communication for those who are HOH or deaf. I was amazed at what I learned every day. It is well worth the money to take the class and the instructors are exceptional. I will use this everyday in my practice and life.  TAKE THE COURSE, it will change your life. 
  • Maria: The class has definitely improved my communication.  My friends know to be in front of me when they speak.  They also know if they walk away, I won’t hear them. I communicated more clearly with health personnel during a recent medical visit. They understood my communication needs and helped advocate for me after when someone didn’t. 
  • Attendee: The lip-reading concepts class gave me a set of tools for receiving spoken information. No single approach to communication works all the time so having the lip-reading concepts tools and the instructors’ encouragement to keep trying was most helpful. They provided great memorable examples and resources that will remind us that there are often other approaches to understand more of the words others say.

Read our personal experiences with lipreading on our original Lipreading Concepts class post here. This includes experiences with our co-founder, Michele Linder. 

Categories
Communication Access Hard of Hearing Hearing Loss Hearing Technology

Gifts for the Hard of Hearing

Gifts of inclusion go straight to the heart. There’s a variety of ways you can support your Hard of Hearing (HoH) loved one, many of which do not cost money. There are some that cost money and also find a special place in the heart. Following are some gift ideas for those in your family with hearing loss.

*Note: We don’t have business agreements with the following companies. We have experience with their products, or have heard good things from others.

Julia: What better gift to give your HoH than the gift of better communication. Join our Lipreading Concept Class. This is a great class you can take together for only $50. This class helps you understand how your HoH hears…and why he/she doesn’t at times. Are your outings now limited because of hearing loss? If you wonder why those really expensive hearing aids don’t work, as you thought they would, then this class is for YOU! Learn how the three golden rules apply to everyday lipreading and how you can have better control of the collateral damage that comes with hearing loss.

Gifts from the Heart

As a hearing partner, a good gift for Hard of Hearing people come from the heart. I recommend getting involved with their hearing loss journey. 

  • Attend local support group meetings. 
  • Attend our workshops. Listen to our podcasts. 
  • Go to the next audiology appointment with them. Together, hold your favorite TV station accountable for quality captions, together. 

If you are already season ticket holders for local theater, send an email and ask about open caption performances. Quality captions are for everybody. You can find more about live theater captioning from these blog posts:

  1. Salt Lake Acting Company – They tell us how they applied for grants for accessibility. You can suggest this podcast to your local theater.
  2. Open Captioned Live Theater – We talked with Vicki Turner who does a lot of open captioning for theaters in different parts of the country.

Download an ASR (automatic speech recognition) app, also called transcription. There’s a variety to choose from these days and most have free trials. Then, start using it together. Introduce the app to others, like friends and family. 

Help your HoH get a caption app for the phone calls too. InnoCaption has different options for smartphone use. (We did a podcast with them too.) Check into it. Try it. You might like it.

Chelle & Julia making plans for 2023
A Living Room Loop

Chelle: Several years ago, my husband bought me a living room hearing loop and added it to the TV. Hearing aids need a telecoil for a hearing loop, make sure you have a dedicated telecoil program in the hearing aids.  Once the loop is connected, walk into the hearing loop and turn on the telecoil program. It offers great sound going through my hearing aids which are programmed specifically for my hearing loss. 

We have the Oval Window Microloop III ($200).  My husband liked this because it was made in America. Test your intended loop area before buying by walking around in the telecoil program. If there’s a hum, there may be magnetic interference in your house. A light hum might be ignored depending on the person. If it’s loud, this may not be a good option. 

Wi-Fi based Listen Everywhere

We did a podcast with Listen Technologies about their new wi-fi based system, Listen Everywhere. This is a public option rather than a private option but it can work at home too. I have one hooked up to my TV. I do not currently have a Bluetooth option with my hearing aids (they are 8 years old) so I use a neckloop in conjunction with my smartphone/tablet. (I’m still using my telecoil program.) This listening system makes me want to get new hearing aids with Bluetooth. 

This requires wi-fi, a smartphone or tablet, and the Listen Everywhere app. This is a pricey system at around $1,000. Again, this is more of a public option meaning many people can use it at the same time. My kids used it with earbuds and were happy with the sound. I’m looking forward to this system being available in public spaces. The cool thing about this system is I can wander all over the house and still receive sound. 

Is tinnitus an issue?

Once I start talking about tinnitus, my own comes to the forefront. Tinnitus can wreck sleep and ruin quiet environments. Here’s a few ideas for tinnitus:

  • SleepStream2: This app has all kinds of environmental sounds to choose from, the water section is my favorite though I like the rain too. You can add background music and control the volume of each sound feature. The app is free, there are in-app purchases.
  • I have heard good things about the ReSound Tinnitus Relief app. It’s a free download with add ons so you can give that a try. (I have not tried this yet myself. If you have, tell us your thoughs.)

Tinnitus can disrupt our lives suddenly and horribly. It can cause depression, anxiety and even suicidal thoughts for some. Because many veterans were coming home with tinnitus, the Veterans Affairs created a workbook to help people habituate tinnitus, How to Manage Your Tinnitus: A Step-by-Step Workbook.  I understand the book is free to veterans. It is available in PDF format for free on their website (it’s a big file). I see it’s for sale on eBay and other places for $30 – $80. The workbook has 2 cds that come with it. 

When I worked for the Utah Hard of Hearing Program, I gave tinnitus presentations once a year. We researched tinnitus solutions for those who have no hearing also. If you want to contact me, I’ll be happy to talk more about tinnitus with you. 

Conclusion: Hearing loss is a communication disorder. When we can’t hear, we lose communication. Give the gift of hearing and support when possible. 

View the companion podcast here.

If you liked this blog, check out: 

National Small Business Day

It’s National Small Business Day November 26th. Give the Gift of better communication. We have a two for one special going on our Lipreading Concepts class and our new Lip Shapes LIVE! class. Take the class and bring a family member with you to help them better understand Hard of Hearing Communication needs. Registration opens soon. 

If you like our content, Buy Us a Cup of Coffee! This helps us to keep content free for those in need. 

Categories
Communication Practices Communication with Family Hard of Hearing Hearing Loss

Communication with Family, Friends & Coworkers

All too often the person with hearing loss takes on the sole responsibility of communication. It is a heavy burden… and it’s not realistic. Everyone has miscommunication issues at times. It takes two to make communication happen, even if it’s two hearing people, one person with hearing loss and a hearing person or two hard of hearing people. All people have to do their part; at home, at work and out in public.

“Go get hearing aids and everything will be fine.” Ummm…yes they will help but no, they don’t solve the whole problem with hearing loss. Hearing aids & cochlear implants help but they do not give us natural hearing abilities. Even with our hearing devices, changes are needed on both sides for proper communication to happen. If our hearing family, friends and coworkers don’t do their part, we cannot do our part. 

3 Golden Rules

  1. Get the person’s attention with hearing loss before talking. 
  2. Face them the whole time while talking.
  3. Be within 6 feet for line of sight and a direct line of hearing.

Why? Even if we don’t know it, we all lipread to some degree. It gives us a second to shift gears and focus. Our hearing devices have limits, they aren’t called ‘hearing miracles’ for a reason. Using these 3 rules as a healthy communication boundary will create new communication habits and they will reduce everyone’s frustration. 

Communication rules for rough patches.

Julia: My husband has a mild hearing loss. In recent months it’s become a little more obvious. Just the other day it became apparent that my youngest may have to go to the audiologist soon. He is 22 and odds are his insurance will not cover hearing aids so I am unsure what this will even look like. Luckily, we have practiced the three golden rules for many, many years. Though neither have hearing aids, yet, our communication rules have helped us through rough patches.

Julia and family.

Here is what I want to make folks understand, why I get all up in everybody’s jammy, to get in the know. 

Hearing loss or dementia???

My husband is 20 years older than me. One day seven or so years ago, he started showing what I thought were signs of early onset dementia. He was asking me the same questions over and over, questions that had nothing to do with what we were talking about. He had trouble understanding others while on his cell phone but instead of saying I didn’t hear you, he went silent or made excuses on why he didn’t respond. Anger was quick when he didn’t understand or if he answered wrong. This left me questioning what he could and couldn’t comprehend. There were a lot of blank stares when I asked him questions.

By coincidence, around the same time I captioned an event at our local HLAA Chapter that was about knowing the difference between hearing loss and dementia. WOW. The light bulb went off!!! I went from stressing over where I would place him if I could no longer take care of him, to researching Bluetooth options at home to help him hear. 

Here’s the deal…

Odds are, he isn’t going to get hearing aids any time soon (as I said at least seven years plus folks) and I’m not going to make him without him being ready first. His hearing loss is still mild. With Medicare now helping pay for hearing aids, and over the counter, I know we have options. And because I have worked closely with my HoH relations in Utah I know most of the Audiologists and who we will go to when he’s ready.

Here’s what I think I’m getting at. Hearing aids or no hearing aids, hearing loss is about communication changes. Hearing partners have got to do their part. If they don’t, misunderstandings set in. Anger drives the misunderstanding and up goes the collateral damage for both parties. Practice the 3 golden rules everywhere. I am here to tell you to practice it with:

  • Your kids, young and old
  • Your grandkids
  • Your coworkers 
  • Your parents
  • Your significant other

It will become a habit. 

Practice, practice, practice!

Chelle: I brought my husband to work to talk about communication in our relationship. Julia, Ken and I talk about what it means to have someone with hearing loss in the family on our podcast. He explains the grief he feels losing casual conversation. You can watch, or listen to, our podcast to find how we deal with miscommunication. No one is perfect, including us.  

Focus on progess, not perfection.

Over the years, I’ve helped many people become aware of hard of hearing communication needs.  My mom listened. She learned and she recognizes the signs of hearing loss. She now helps others understand hearing loss. 

Earlier this week, she told me about going to a lab for blood work. The staff all wear masks. There was an older lady who couldn’t understand what the staff was telling her. My mom told her friend, “She can’t understand because they have masks on.” Her friend wanted to know what difference that made. My mom replied, “She lipreads and can’t see what they are saying, like Chelle.” Later in the elevator, that lady confessed to my mom’s friend that she indeed uses lipreading. (Mask also taught many of us how much we rely on lipreading.) 

Chelle and family

Luckily my whole family is accommodating. As I learned more about hearing loss, like how I heard…what made it difficult…hearing aids had limits and more; those closest to me understood more. I shared my  journey with them through blogging, breaking down my HoH moments. My parents, my boyfriend (now husband) and more read them. I talked and talked. I’m still talking! Make your family a part of the solution when having problems. If there was a communication breakdown, ask them to help you find a solution. 

Share your journey. Help people become aware. Educate yourself. Introduce hearing loss in a conversation. One in five people have a hearing loss so chances are they have someone in their family with hearing loss. Or they know someone at work with hearing loss. Our conversations make a difference.

Share the 3 Golden Rules

Use the golden rules. Let’s get the word out so more people understand our communication needs. We aren’t just helping ourselves, we are helping all others who come after us.

Feel free to use this meme.

Did you like this blog?

You might like Hearing Loss: Family and Communication.  You  might also want to check out Finding Your Tribe. Good ideas come from those who have already walked the walk. 

If you like our information, Buy us a Cup of Coffee. Phase one of our business is completed. Most of our content is free to help those in need; podcasts, blogs, workshops, presentations and more. We will keep these things free because we are passionate about people becoming more successful with their hearing loss.

Phase two begins. We are currently crowdfunding through Buy Me a Cup of Coffee. This will get our feet beneath us. Starting in January 2023 we will continue our Lipreading Concepts class for which there is a small fee. We are adding a Lip Shapes class. We are excited to add sensitivity training to our services as there is a huge need for the public at large to understand HoH communication needs. Employees and clients with hearing loss are misunderstood. We led a training last year with the Women’s Business Center which successfully cleared up misconceptions.