There are two classes in Falkirk on a Monday – one for beginners and another for advanced lipreaders.

The classes cover various topics, and we have also had a few outings where we discover how difficult it can be to have a conversation with background noise.

We discussed this the following week after the outing. We have been to a garden centre and the Kelpies in Falkirk.

Every week in the class, we try a different theme, for example, we once had a “Red Jumper Day”; on another day, we discussed “dances all over the world”. As a result of this, we did the Gay Gordons to see if there were any difficulties in hearing each other or seeing each other.

It was such fun and we soon realised how difficult it was to figure out what we were doing and where we were for each step. This video gives you an idea of the fun we had!

We have also had a “hat lesson” for Brain Tumour Awareness Day. Homework is given at the end of every lesson, as this gives members of the class a clue as to what the lipreading lesson will be about.

Learning together is great fun, and by building up lipreading skills, and learning through coping strategies and problem-solving, we are continually gaining confidence.

As well as face-to-face classes, I also deliver an online class, which is great for me as well as for the students, because I am also lipreading myself on the screen to see how some words are more difficult than others.