I suspect that it goes beyond lip reading. Deaf people can't speak as well because there is no feedback mechanism of hearing their own voice. So you need a mech

I suspect that it goes beyond lip reading. Deaf people can't speak as well because there is no feedback mechanism of hearing their own voice. So you need a mechanism for them to communicate outbound in addition to the inbound lip reading. That can be via writing, text to speech, a human interpreter, etc... The problem is costs. I wonder what people would say if you required mom and pop stores to have sign language interpreters? It would drive many out of business. Now look at spiraling Medicare costs. We have similar expectations for the elderly and it is increasingly untenable. We need a lot more automation to maintain or increase this level of social support services. Another issue is what we classify as a disability. As another commentator mentioned, what about lack of strength, intelligence, etc? There is a vein of American culture that is trending that way. It basically spreads the costs to other parts of society, directly and indirectly. Tricky since most people are actually disabled temporarily or permanently in one way or another. Color blindness, myopia, bad hearing, on crutches from tearing an Achilles, etc...