Living with severe high-frequency hearing loss means navigating a world of invisible gaps. For me, the drop-off is profound when it comes to unvoiced speech sounds—letters like S, P, F, H, T, TH, SH, CH, and hard C/K. These sounds rely entirely on pushed air rather than vocal cord vibration. Because I am profoundly deaf in that range, no hearing aid can restore them.
With every conversation, I rely heavily on lipreading. Being able to see someone talk brings back visual cues for S, P, F, TH, and CH/SH. However, certain sounds remain out of my reach, like the H and the hard C/K sounds. Successful lipreading requires effort on both sides of the communication equation. The speaker needs to get my attention, face me, be within six feet and in good lighting.
However, there are times when I can’t understand the main word because it’s invisible to my eyes and ears. Consider the word “cat”. I can’t hear or see the hard C or the T. The mouth opens and closes only. There aren’t enough visible lip shapes to pick up that short word so I’m often stuck trying to guess what my husband is talking about. A few times, it’s put us in a bad communication cycle. Leion’s caption glasses (feel free to change that to suit you) have changed that dynamic. The glasses hear the word “cat,” filling in that gap. The glasses hear that word from behind me too! That’s magic for me.
The magic doesn’t end with the cat. It helped to restore casual communication in the kitchen. When my husband and I are cooking, we don’t have to stop what we are doing and face each other to communicate. I see the conversation and I stay on task. We found that I can leave the room, up to a point, and understand what he says behind me. That’s first between us!
Caption glasses aren't a cure-all. Just like my remaining hearing and lipreading, the technology struggles with mumblers—though seeing the captions glitch on poor speakers actually validates my experience. It proves that the barrier isn't always my hearing, but sometimes just poor enunciation.
I’ve had the opportunity to test the caption glasses in an extremely noisy environment. As long as the person looks at me and tries to speak above the noise, the glasses lighten the cognitive load. They aren't a total replacement for lipreading or hearing aids, but as a new accommodation, they fill in the vital missing pieces of the puzzle and make connecting with the world remarkably easier. I am delighted with this newer technology!
About the Author
Chelle Wyatt | Hearing Loss Advocate & Co-owner of Hearing Loss LIVE!
Chelle Wyatt has lived with progressive hearing loss for most of her life. After a significant drop in 2007 brought her hearing loss into the severe range, she developed new communication skills and strategies to stay connected to everyday life.
Drawing on her lived experience, Chelle shares practical ways to navigate conversations with greater confidence, using communication strategies and technology. As co-owner of Hearing Loss LIVE!, she teaches lipreading classes that help people build skills for communicating with hearing loss.
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