Deaf News: Website launched with stories for lipreading

A group of Hampshire lipreading tutors, lipreaders and techno-wizards has joined forces with local writers to develop a new website called ‘Stories for Lipreading’ (www.storiesforlipreading.org.uk) which offers the chance to practise lipreading skills and enjoy stories at the same time.

The site provides films of short stories being read aloud by trained lipreading tutors. There are printable sheets to accompany each film, so lipreaders can choose how much support they want in reading each story.

‘Stories for Lipreading’ is ideal for more experienced lipreaders, says Meg Finlayson, one of the lipreading tutors who helped to set up the project. “It can give them the chance to practise lipreading longer phrases – with the big advantage that you can pause and rewind the film if you lose the thread.  If only life was like that!”

Beginners to lipreading will find useful links on the website to get them started with local classes or a beginners’ practice website. However, Meg points out, “Many people who have had hearing loss for some time develop some lipreading skills without realising it, and may find that they can lipread more than they expect when they give our website a try.”