The Tedoma Technique

In the early 1930s and educated a school in Massachusetts developed a technique for two deaf and blind students being deaf they needed a way to read the lips of speakers but they were blind as well so that couldn't work. The technique consists of placing a hand over the face and neck of the person who is speaking so the thumb rests lightly on the lips and the fingers fan out to cover the neck and cheek. In this way they can feel the lips moving and the vocal cords vibrating and even the air coming out of the nostrils. Thousands of deaf and blind children have been taught this method and they can obtain proficiency in understanding language almost to the point of those with hearing.