"Ive been working with a deaf man for 20 years. He's an excellent lip-reader. Recently I met his friend, who uses sign language. I tried to communicate with him and couldn't. I was shocked. Can't all deaf people read lips?"
Most hearing people share one same misconception of the deaf community, they think all deaf people can read lips. From personal experience, before my deaf friend taught me signs, she was able to read my lips but I had to speak slower and with more emphasis. If she still didnt understand what I was trying to say I would get out a pad of paper and pen to write it down. Important thing to remember is only 30% of all spoken sounds are visible on the lips. Many sounds like "b" "p" and "m" are virtually impossible to distinguish by watching the mouth. Every deaf and hearing person is different, and some may be able to read lips better than others. Everybody makes use of some degree of speechreading at times. For deaf, its s survival skill.
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