Personal Thread on COVID-19, Masks and Deafness #deaf #masks #NHS #OTs @elly_chapple @Claire_R123 @GeorgiaVineOT @OT_Expert

1. I am a hearing aid user & lip reader. I need both to be able to communicate effectively with people, especially in my role as an Occupational Therapist

2. As a deaf person and as an Occupational Therapist I have always been aware of the impact the environment has on our disability. If we don’t get the environment right, then our environment can be our worse enemy.

3. At the beginning of April 2020, one single change to the environment has made me more disabled than I have ever been in my life - the introduction of masks!

4. I can no longer use my lip reading skills to help me discriminate between different sounds/words to help me interpret accurately what is being said. To give you an insight, I am able to interpret 95% of what is being said using both hearing & lip reading.

5. Using my hearing alone, I can only interpret 30 to 40% of what is being said and this is only if the environment is quiet with no auditory distractions.

6. I had seriously underestimated how much I rely on lip reading until that ability was taken away from me. As a result, I can no longer work directly on the hospital wards to support my colleagues and work with the patients. I have so many emotions about this:

7. Guilt – my colleagues are putting themselves at risk every single day whilst I am office bound.

8. Frustration – at myself because I know I can do so much to help in my role as an OT but can’t because the introduction of masks have prevented me from using my lip reading skills to support my hearing.

9. Anxiety – what does this mean for the future? How long is this going to go on for? Is it wearing masks going to become the new norm? How can I get pass this communication barrier?

10. Disappointment – I feel let down by society. This pandemic has really highlighted how wide the gaps are in society awareness of deafness. Why has it taken a pandemic to realise masks are a significant communication barrier for the hearing impaired?

11. The single flaw in the design of the masks is that it is not see through. I am aware that someone has recently designed a see through mask in USA and many deaf people have been signposted to this including myself.

12. However this is useless unless it is recognised that every single mask need to be replaced by a see through mask and worn by every single person.

13. Reality is that this is not going to happen at least not now during the pandemic when masks are scarce but I do hope that in the future this is something that we can learn from and change the design of all face masks so that see through masks becomes the norm.

14. I am not looking for sympathy but I do want to raise society awareness of this issue so that we can learn from this and do our best to ensure that this does not happen again in the future.

15. In the meantime, please check with your family, friends, colleagues, patients, etc. who are lip readers and ask them how best you can support them and to break down the communication barrier.

16. If you provide a public service whether you work in a shop or on a hospital ward, these are the things you can do to help:

17. Ensure there is a plan in place on how to communicate with deaf people especially if removal of masks is not an option.

18. Use gestures and sign language. If you don’t know how to use sigh language, now is the time to learn it.

19. Write things down – use a mini white board, or pen and paper or text/type.

20. Use communication apps that convert speech to text such as Otter. They are not perfect or 100% accurate but they will help.

21. If you can, wear a protective face shield or a see through mask.

22. Where possible keep environment quiet and talk clearly and more loudly but only for those who can interpret some sounds and words using a hearing aid alone.

23. In the meantime, I am working hard to find other creative ways of supporting my colleagues i.e. doing their admin work, providing emotional support, making drinks and ensuring they have eaten, etc. If you have any other ideas on what I can do to help then do let me know!