LAGUNA HILLS : Lip Reading Expressly for Partially Deaf

It bothers Margaret Cahill that she occasionally offends people.

The 67-year-old woman is deaf in one ear, and because of that disability she doesn’t always hear what people say to her.

Last month, for example, at her granddaughter’s law school graduation, Cahill said, “her boyfriend spoke to me, and I didn’t acknowledge him. He told my granddaughter, ‘Your grandmother’s ignoring me,’ and she told him that I’m deaf in one ear.”

People like Cahill who have a partial hearing loss may have the most difficulty in social situations, said audiologist Felice Kolda, a nun who works at UCLA’s Hope for Hearing research institute and is now conducting a lip-reading class in Laguna Hills that counts Cahill among the participants.

“There are 28 million hearing-impaired people in this country,” Kolda said. “People in the middle, between severe and no hearing loss, have a hard time dealing with their problem.” Her classes, Kolda said, are for those people.

Lip reading is not just understanding what word is being formed, she said. It also deals with physical cues such as body language and facial expression.

“Just one word such as ‘entertainment’ or ‘politics,’ and the individual knows what vocabulary is going to be used and what names will be mentioned,” she said.

The elderly are not the only people with hearing difficulties. In Los Angeles, Kolda said, she runs a group session for those 15 to 45 years old.

“For business people, they need to hold onto a job,” she said. “Sitting around the boardroom, they need to pick up on quick repartee.”

Kolda’s classes, sponsored by UCLA, run for eight weeks and cost $90. Information: (714) 499-2740.