Live Translation

For a non-vocal person, Lip Reading Translation is often the most precise, expedient, and reassuring means of short-term communication.

Effective communication is reciprocal in nature, and dependent on accurate feedback. If a person is unable to communicate clearly, whether with family, medical staff, attorneys, or others, it is likely that some of their needs are not being met, or that their rights are not being respected.

The ability to communicate one’s own thoughts or concerns (as opposed to merely responding to yes or no questions) is a basic cornerstone of mental and emotional health and self-determination.

Medical

Most live Lip Reading Translation (LRT) is done in a hospital or medical facility for people who are non-vocal due to mechanical ventilation or a tracheostomy. It is especially helpful for those patients who are too weak to write, or who have paralysis, burns, or injuries that prevent them from moving more than the face and mouth.

• LRT is available for English speakers only.

• LRT is provided for people who are intubated via a tracheostomy rather than an endotracheal tube.

• The non-vocal patient must be alert enough to “speak,” and to establish a confirmation protocol with the translator. Heavily sedated patients or those slipping in and out of consciousness present challenges to effective translation.

To schedule Seattle-area hospital visits, contact SignOn, Inc. at (206) 632-7100.

For all others, please use the Contact Page.

Other Settings

LRT is also extremely useful for other situations in which a person's speaking voice is not clearly intelligible to a listener. This may be due to physical conditions of the speaker (such as aphonia, or acute laryngitis) or environmental/technical conditions (such as a live video conference in which the picture of the speaker is clear, but there is little or no sound).

For more information, feel free to contact me.