Lip-Reading is probably the most important aid for deaf and deafened people. We all lip-read unconsciously. It is not separate from hearing. Rather the brain automatically puts together information from the eyes and ears to work out what the speaker's mouth is doing and what we ordinarily call hearing is extracting the speaker's message from that compound representation. For deaf and deafened people the balance has to shift with more emphasis on visual sources of information, but anything that hearing can provide is absolutely crucial.
Signing is associated overwhelmingly with deaf people.
It takes many forms. Fingerspelling can be used to transmit words from an oral language using the fingers instead of the mouth. Signed English uses English structures with special signs. Ability and Intelligence - Deaf and hard of hearing people are on a par with hearing people in terms of intelligence and ability. However, fulfilment of their true potential may depend on their receiving suitable and adequate communication support.