face masks

[coldwarenigma]

This isn't a moan about their use or effectiveness, I know they are a necessary item at the moment but I find I struggle to understand what is being said to me by those using them. I much prefer people using a visor, although even they muffle sound.
I need to see facial expressions and mouth to understand what is being said.
I have auditory processing disorder and struggle with sounds/noise/direction. I find myself saying 'pardon' 'sorry, I didn't catch that' or plain 'what?' frequently. Its worse at work, retail worker.
I wonder how much people are being excluded from interactions because they need visual cues to participate fully.

I am with you. I am very hard of hearing and have been for a long time. I have hearing aids but I don't find them much help. I used to have ENT problems as a child which affected my hearing and the only way I coped was by lip reading. It makes telephone calls virtually impossible, same as watching tv - I need subtitles.

Even before lockdown, some people appear unable to comprehend me saying 'I can't hear what they are saying if I can't see your face.' They ignore it and I keep repeating I don't understand until I'm blue in the face and they are pissed off hearing me say it. The last time was with a different nurse at the surgery and she got so irritated that she wrote everything down rather than make the effort to ensure I could see her lips.

You have my full sympathy, OP.

I hear volume but don't distinguish sounds if there are multiple sounds so speech, music, phones, general clatter leave me unable to pick out what is being said.
It must be horrendous for those who rely on lip reading, and utterly frustrating.
One day last week there was so much noise bombarding me and then a customer was trying to talk to me, getting closer and closer...I felt panicky, I have never felt that bad before.