Nearly all of us know what a sign language interpreter is, but how many of us have ever tried using a lipspeaker? We spoke to Lesley Weatherson from Lipspeaker UK (who also support this site!) to find out what kind of support a lipspeaker can offer. Lesley won a Signature Regional Award for her work last year.
How did you get involved with lipspeaking?
Having worked as a nurse and midwife for many years, I became increasingly frustrated at my inability to communicate with deaf ladies that came into hospital. Establishing a rapport with a woman in labour, for example, is crucial. Had I been able to communicate effectively, each deaf woman’s experience could have been far better and more memorable.
I decided to go and learn to sign. It never occurred to me that not every deaf person used sign language! I soon passed my Deaf Awareness course, Stage 1 and 2 British Sign Language courses and a notetaking course. The next obvious course to undertake was a lipspeaking course. I had no idea what it would involve but a deaf lady told me I would be good at it – so I did.
Lesley (on the left) lipspeaking at the Houses of Parliament.
What is lipspeaking?
A lipspeaker is a hearing person who has been professionally trained to be easy to lipread.
Lipspeakers reproduce clearly the shapes of the words and the natural rhythm and stress used by the speaker. They also use facial expression, gesture and finger spelling, to aid the lipreader’s understanding. We ‘pare down fast speech to a lipreadable pace without changing the meaning and make speech look and ‘feel’ interesting – providing the speaker is of course!
Some of us have additional sign language skills. I am about to collect my BSL Level 6 evidence, so often, I provide lipspeaking with sign support. This seems to be requested now more than before.
What kind of people do you work with?
We work with Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people. Anyone who uses English grammar rather than British Sign Language can often benefit from using a lipspeaker.
How much does it typically cost?
Fees for lipspeakers vary greatly depending on the location of the venue and the travel time for the Lipspeaker. There are only around 40 working, registered lipspeakers in the UK so demand and supply can often affect price.
At Lipspeaker UK, we try and save travel time and costs to the client by acting as a hub, making sure that where possible, we find a lipspeaker near to where the job takes place.
Fees vary between £100-£150 per half day and £200-£250 for a full day. Often, the job will only be for an hour or two but the travel could be three or four hours in each direction, hence the enhanced half day fee.
How can people book?
It’s easy to book a Lipspeaker at Lipspeaker UK. You can visit the website (www.lipspeaker.co.uk) or email enquiries@lipspeaker.co.uk to find out more about the services we offer – and try it out!
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wix4ever
March 26, 2013
I think lipspeaking is an excellent service both for deaf audiences and for people speaking to deaf people. My understanding is that lipspeakers don’t just repeat what the speaker is saying. They “clean it up” by taking out the repetition, deviation and hesitation, and they do this while continuing to listen to what the speaker is saying next. Real multi-tasking!
LESLEY WEATHERSON
March 26, 2013
You are absolutely right. We ‘pare down’, removing redundant language, repetitions, false starts to make everything lipreadable. This is easier when someone is talking’ live’ as opposed to reading a script. But simply repeating at fast speeds is not lipreadable so we are trained to remove language without changing the meaning. Many thanks. Lesley
Jimmy Craw
March 26, 2013
I am profoundly deaf (deafened) and I would not consider using a hearing lipspeaker to help with dialogue when I visit my doctor/hospital etc because it is imperative to understand fully what
is being said I am very much aware their are thousands of words that sound alike but have
different meanings therefore I make sure important conversation is written down.
I doubt the hard of hearing who have h/aids would use lipspeaker’s nor the born deaf who
rely on sign-language interpreters.
What would be the best way to integrate mutal conversation between all hearing impaired
categories and the hearing world? Well I can see no reason to stop the introduction of sign-language becoming a topical subject within the national schools curriculum.to eventually made
compulsory as a necessity.
Editor
March 26, 2013
For me, lipspeaking is an interesting alternative to other forms of support, I think there are people who might feel it really suits them – as it’s English based and they may not know BSL. Of course, if you’re a BSL user than BSL interpretation is the way to go, but as Lesley said, she knows BSL as well so she, and other lipspeakers may also be able to clarify things in sign language as well as through lipspeaking. Personally, I haven’t tried it but I’d really like to give it a go and see what it’s like! Charlie
LESLEY WEATHERSON
March 26, 2013
Charlie, I will offer you a free lipspeaking session at a time to suit. Lesley
Editor
March 26, 2013
Wow thanks Lesley! I’ll report on it for our readers. Cheers Charlie
LESLEY WEATHERSON
March 26, 2013
We support many deafened or those born deaf to have access at many different appointments including doctors and hospitals.
I am a qualified nurse and midwife so many clients feel reassured that not only do I understand what’s being said, I will convey any messages accurately and precisely.
A sign language user wouldn’t use a Lipspeaker but someone who uses English grammar but prefers signs in addition to lipspeaking could use a Lipspeaker who has, for example, BSL 3+
mjfahey
March 26, 2013
I recently had the opportunity to listen to an artist talk at the Harris Art Gallery in Preston, I have known the artist around 9/10 years but this was the first time I followed his words perfectly. I am a profoundly deaf lipreader who had been thinking of learning BSL because I have little hearing left… lipreading is hard and tiring but with more lipspeakers around I think this will be the way forward for me,… try it you will be suprised how easy it is when using a pro lipspeaker compared to just anyone.
Lidia
March 26, 2013
This is great article and well done to Charlie for bringing it to wider domain! I have observed Lesley when she worked supporting me and another deafened lady and this support works very well for social communication. In reality you get word for word in English without translation. The Lipspeaker is far more flexible than electronic notetaker ( which I use sometimes) and even more flexible than speech to text reporter especially when used in networking situation. We need more Lipspeakers but we also need more lipreading classes so potential clients are better equipped to receive this vital service. Lidia
Lesley
March 26, 2013
I’m profoundly deaf, with english as my first language, have basic bsl knowledge, I found lipspeakers very invaluable, once you have “tuned” in to their lip patterns. I can say that Lesley herself is very easy to lipread and is willing to use some signing to aid/reinforce/backup her excellent lipspeaking skills. I am proud to have known you when you first started out, and am really delighted at how far you have achieved. You are definitely one of best lipspeakers in UK. Thank you.
Deafiladvocate
March 26, 2013
Hmmm, the art of lip reading is not an exact science, so for me I’d prefer the clarity of speech to text (aka palantypist) reporter as I can then relax and catch up on screen what’s been said if I switch off which we do as humans from time to time.
Lip speakers demand 100% attention!
Andy
March 26, 2013
It has become obvious in recent years that there are far, far more lipreaders around than signers. It came as a surprise to me to find that out, that was ten years ago! Since then we have seen a wide number of alternative communication media come along to ease the comprehension barrier. For example there are several versions of Internet communication. There is texting. Pretty soon there will be video conferencing via tablet and 4G. For those with residual hearing the clarity of the mobile phone has helped them to start using it for voice calls. All of these things have eaten into the use of sign, most of which is not in fact BSL it is SSE. Sign is extremely useful in the deaf community but it is a barrier to good communications with hearing people. I can’t see that changing now.