WANTED!! Clear Masks for the Deaf to Enable Lip Reading

WANTED!! Clear Masks for the Deaf to Enable Lip Reading

Reading lips? That's a real challenge for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, with nearly everyone wearing face masks - an 'added barrier'.

Standard face masks have now become a 'must have' and part of our daily life as countries try to stop the spread of coronavirus. 

While it is a boon against the spread of coronavirus, masks can prove a bane for the hearing-impaired people who depend on lip reading to interpret the communication at an already difficult time.

For people who are deaf or have hearing loss, mask wearing risks isolating them, as many rely heavily on visual cases for effective communication, including facial expressions and lip reading.

But now charities and manufacturers alike are coming up with a solution.

America's Safe'N'Clear Communication mask, which has a clear window over the mouth to facilitate better communication, is one of those creations.

Main dans la Main (Hand in Hand), an association which supports the hearing impaired people in Northern France, has also created a similar mask.

Its founder Kelly Morellon devised a design that covers the nose but makes the mouth visible, and can be washed at high temperature to reduce infection. 

"The basic aim of these transparent masks is to allow deaf and hearing impaired people to read the lips of someone speaking to them.

But they are also very useful for autistic people, people with learning difficulties and small children who might be scared of masks or need to see facial expressions." Kelly said.

There have been calls for clear safe masks to be 'the norm'.

"I would just hope that people would be more tolerant and maybe try to invest in a new mask that has a see-through portion where the mouth is.

That's not a complete solution, honestly. But at least it's something, and it's a helpful step," one deaf person surmised.

What it comes down to is for hearing people to understand that not everyone communicates the same way.

Therefore how everyone experiences the new mask norms may not be the same, either.



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