Get used to eye contact cuz if/when you lose hearing you’ll be lip reading and trying to pick up cues re when to speak and what was said. Unless you have two hearing aids for stereo, where people look in a group is an excellent cue who is talking. And talking over people is an “I’m an asshole” cue that one should try to avoid.
(I wear hearing aids and always have; not correcting you; just typing/sharing y own observations to see if I learn anything)
I do plenty of staring at mouths (subconciously), and eye contact has always been a different thing than eyes-watching-lips, especially one-on-one. I'm not sure how it is for the normal-hearing, but prolonged eye contact has never been something I've done much of, my eyes usually regularly drop to the lips (or for those who I can hear really well, I won't be looking at their faces at all ;) )
When following in a group setting, I do watch eyes, but have that strong response of looking away if the speaker happens to make eye contact. And yeah, participating/interjecting in conversations is a weakness.
The whole masking thing though... has been new and rough. If I have to converse 1-on-1 with the other wearing masks, there's no lips to watch, but the eyes are still there! I haven't dug into it too much (spooky? eyes are just distracting non-lipreading motions?), but my brain does massively better at figuring out what is said if I look to the side (typically at the floor/wall). Whether or not I have any autism spectrum traits or not, I'm sure a higher percent of people wonder about such now, than they did a few years ago.
Masks + group of friends: I pretty much auto give up and idle on my phone; the culture of "don't question others about wearing masks" is too strong to feel socially comfortable with asking for masks to be removed. That's definitely excuse-making on my part, but my friends also are pretty good about removing masks when we're seated for dinner, etc. so I haven't been forced to ask for mask removal anyways...
What country is this? You just made me realise I haven't seen anyone wear a mask in person for ... months I think. I'm in the UK and covid has just become accepted as being here to stay. If anyone wears a mask here they are the odd one out, and I think people will assume they must be extremely vulnerable in some way since there is no societal or government pressure to do so, and catching it is kinda just a matter of time now.
I wear them also with severe loss. The eyes comment came from meetings before I got them. Many people “grow” into needing aids and go through a struggling period where many voices are just gone. Masks suck for deaf folks, but I can get a little from eye crinkles. And saying what a lot. And avoiding crowded, noisy restaurants as I’m screwed with or without aids.
There's another thread below that mentions a bunch of the same things you and I just did. Good knowledge and confirmation!
And agreed, masks have shown (what has been said plenty in the past), there's still a ton of readable emotion just around the eyes. Distracting, though!
Relating to the growing into needing/wearing them: I've worn mine since age 3 (and gone from analog to digital, with some tradeoffs of each), they're a constant, but I also have suspicions of my listening comprehension getting worse-over-time. But it could also just as well be increasing self-reflection/awareness + new experiences. (Just this month, mid 30s, first time visiting Germany, after 6ish years of German classes in middle/high school + college; confronted some real hearing limitations trying to listen to natives!)
