With New York state now requiring people to wear masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19, one part of our community is facing a new kind of challenge.
Brooke Erickson, the assistant director of Deaf Services at the Center for Disability Rights, said, “Everyone right now is wearing a mask, and that makes it really tough, it’s an additional challenge for deaf people.”
Jackie Shertz of Rochester added, “So with the mask, I just feel like part of the message is going to be gone.”
Those are just some of the concerns of the deaf and hard of hearing community during the coronavirus pandemic.
Reading tone, feelings, and seeing reactions on people’s faces is tough when that face is covered up.
“With the facial expression and seeing the mouth movements, everything comes to me a lot easier if I can see the face,” said Shertz.
Erickson recently went in for testing unrelated to COVID-19 at a Rochester hospital and had to communicate with hospital staff.
She tells Spectrum News it took a moment, but a staff member removed his mask briefly so she could see his face and converse with him.
While that’s one option, there are other options besides removing that protective gear.
“I do know that there are plastic masks being made, that have the transparent window in front to be able to see lips,” said Erickson.
The masks are made by “SAFE ‘N’ CLEAR” and known as the “COMMUNICATOR MASK.”
The masks are out of stock right now, but Erickson says they are very useful to the deaf and hard of hearing community, and to medical providers.
“It’s not the fix all, I mean it just depends on the person because everyone is different, and deaf people, hard of hearing people, have different communication preferences,” said Shertz.
Advocates for the deaf community say the hope is that people in the hearing community will be more understanding and compassionate toward deaf people while the masking order is in place.
Alternate forms of communication could be written notes, repeating words, or safely and briefly pulling down your mask to speak.
— SPECTRUM NEWS