Hearing difficulties are more common than most of us may think – but how many people do something about it?

Research undertaken by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People shows that on average, people in the UK with a hearing aid take 15 years to have the device fitted after the problem first becomes apparent. Courier reporter Sundari Sankar tried to put herself in the position of a hard-of-hearing person by going along to a lip-reading class at Warwickshire College.

Warwickshire-based tutor for deaf students Jo Hobbs says common signs to look for include needing the television sound to be louder than the rest of your family and feeling that people are mumbling all the time.

She said: "My advice is, if you have even a small inkling that you might be experiencing hearing problems, go to the doctor's for a hearing test. The sooner you find out there is a problem, the sooner you can learn to deal with it."

And lip-reading is one way to do so. As part of Deaf Awareness Week, which ended on May 8, Warwickshire College's Leamington centre held a one-hour lip-reading 'taster' session so people could see if it was for them.

Sat round desks in a classroom, intently focused on the teacher writing on the whiteboard, I am transported back to the days of kindergarten.

And not just because of the surroundings. Learning to lip-read is like learning a new language and requires a lot of concentration.

The first hurdle to clear is recognising the shapes people make with their mouths using different letters.

'M' is apparently one of the easiest to spot because you have to close your whole mouth - but when asked to silently say a series of words using the letter in front of a mirror, I discover that I open my mouth a lot less than Ms Hobbs. Would people be able to lip-read when I was talking?

We play a number of kindergarten-style sentence games where we had to figure out a list of things Ms Hobbs has to do before she leaves home in the morning and what she carries in her handbag.

While this may sound patronising, it is clearly necessary to begin at such basic levels, as words often run into each other and a lot of letters look the same.

As Ms Hobbs says, lip-reading is a bit like putting together a jigsaw puzzle and there is a lot of guess-work involved.

While it is easy to guess what was being said when in the context of the games, I still have problems working out certain words.

Speaking after the session, Ms Hobbs said: "Someone I know told me that she thought a friend had said to her, 'It drives me to distraction when my corsets are new', when what was actually said was, 'It drives me to distraction when my daughters argue'."

The most useful aspect for me is the opportunity to put myself in the position of someone with hearing difficulties - even if it is only for an hour.

One of the other participants tells the group: "When you tell people you have problems with hearing, they tend to talk over you or speak very loudly or exaggerate they mouth movements - which makes it even harder to figure out what they are saying. Often they are embarrassed."

By the end of the session I am rather exhausted due to the concentration required - I could not imagine having to lip-read all the time.

Ms Hobbs, who has been a teacher of the deaf for 25 years and a lip-reading tutor since 2004, says: "People often feel left out in party environments and other social situations.

"The biggest thing about losing your hearing is that you lose your confidence - often people feel stupid.

"But in a lip-reading class, I can say why you have made a mistake by comparing words and you are with other people making the similar mistakes so you can laugh together.

"You become far more confident about asking people what they are saying - it's far less embarrassing to get somebody to repeat themselves than to just pretend that you have heard."

Ms Hobbs says lip-reading classes can benefit people who experience all levels of hearing difficulties, from those who are just beginning to lose their hearing to people who are profoundly deaf.

She adds: "I make sure that everybody in the class can follow. It's difficult to measure progress with lip-reading, but I do notice a huge leap in confidence as the course progresses."

Places on a 30-week course at Warwickshire College's Leamington centre in Warwick New Road are £30. The next course will start in September and students can attend either daytime or evening classes.

The aims of the course are for heard of hearing students to

• gain confidence in communication in everyday situations




• understand the difficulties in communication experienced by a hearing-aid user and learn ways to overcome these




• find out where to get support




• meet, discuss with a learn from other hard of hearing people

To book a place, call Pauline Dingley on 318161 or email pdingley@warkscol.ac.uk