I had a lovely Xmas lunch with my friends from the lipreading class. We are like a little family and really enjoy each other’s company.
I first heard about the lipreading group in my area from an advert in my local library. It is organised by the Midlothian Adult Literacy and Numeracy Initiative (Malani). The classes are free of charge and run in 10 week blocks during school term times.
People can join in the course at any time and continue for as long as they feel necessary. I decided that as my hearing loss was getting worse I would give it a go. It has been one of the best things I have done. I know that most of us who have hearing loss have probably been lip reading for many years.
When I joined the class I was not sure what to expect but I was made very welcome and soon settled into the group. Our tutor, Morag was born deaf and she is amazing. Each week she has a different topic for us and we have learned so much. The classes are fun and interesting and she always makes sure no one is left out.
She uses a whiteboard to write everything down and we also have a loop system for those that need it. She also taught us how to finger spell which is really good as we can teach it to our family and friends.
Morag encourages us to share information and experiences and I soon became confident enough to speak out and not be embarrassed. Confidence building is a very important part of her lip reading class.
We have also had visits from various organisation either to give us information on how to access equipment or help that we may need or just to join us in class to find out how lip reading classes really benefit deaf and hard of hearing people. As a result of one of these visits one of my lip reading friends and I were asked to do a feature item for a newspaper. We had to tell them how we cope on a day to day basis and the challenges that we face.
I feel very lucky to be able to attend my lipreading class. However I know that not everyone has the opportunity as so many classes in Scotland are closing due to lack of funding. As part of a campaign to urge the Scottish Government to fund lipreading classes we each sent a letter to our MSP at the Scottish Parliament telling them how vital these classes are to people like us.