Masks everywhere...what about those who have a hearing impairment

[Greysparkles]

Just that really.
I have a hearing loss in 1 ear, and have to wear a mask at work. I never realised how much I rely on lip reading!!

It's difficult and mine is only a mild impairment. I really feel for those who will truly struggle if this comes into force in more environments

[daisychicken]

Speak up about your hearing loss - people will be accommodating

In my experience, some people are accomodating but many are not.

[MitziK]

Speak up about your hearing loss - people will be accommodating

Sometimes, yes, they will be.

But there are equal numbers of people who will turn away, put their hands to their mouth, walk ahead of you, mumble, do a great imitation of a ventriloquist, suddenly talk at you like they would to a foreigner (ie, full volume, which bloody hurts those of us with Tinnitus and we still can't understand you, and with pidgin English 'You...Go...Bye...Now?') or tell you they can't be bothered in one way or another.

One of the first things I learned to lipread was 'fuck's sake' muttered under the breath.

[JingsMahBucket]

@daisychicken
With masks, I won't understand anything and will often not know if someone is speaking to me. I have already faced difficulties with shop staff wearing masks and reacting badly when I explained I couldn't understand them and that I was deaf.

Do you mind me asking what this looks like, people reacting badly? I want to know so I can help step in if a fellow customer needs assistance. I’ve been slightly in own world lately standing in grocery store lines and I’d like to be able to spot cues. Thank you.

[JingsMahBucket]

@MitziK

Speak up about your hearing loss - people will be accommodating

Sometimes, yes, they will be.

But there are equal numbers of people who will turn away, put their hands to their mouth, walk ahead of you, mumble, do a great imitation of a ventriloquist, suddenly talk at you like they would to a foreigner (ie, full volume, which bloody hurts those of us with Tinnitus and we still can't understand you, and with pidgin English 'You...Go...Bye...Now?') or tell you they can't be bothered in one way or another.

One of the first things I learned to lipread was 'fuck's sake' muttered under the breath.

Jeebus, that’s horrible.

[daisychicken]

@MitziK

Speak up about your hearing loss - people will be accommodating

Sometimes, yes, they will be.

But there are equal numbers of people who will turn away, put their hands to their mouth, walk ahead of you, mumble, do a great imitation of a ventriloquist, suddenly talk at you like they would to a foreigner (ie, full volume, which bloody hurts those of us with Tinnitus and we still can't understand you, and with pidgin English 'You...Go...Bye...Now?') or tell you they can't be bothered in one way or another.

One of the first things I learned to lipread was 'fuck's sake' muttered under the breath.

Yep all this. Then there are those who like to 'joke' and test if you really are deaf. Or those who say you are 'putting it on' because you hear/understand some words and not others. It wasn't funny the first time. It gets more and more hurtful as time goes on.

[daisychicken]

[quote JingsMahBucket]@daisychicken
With masks, I won't understand anything and will often not know if someone is speaking to me. I have already faced difficulties with shop staff wearing masks and reacting badly when I explained I couldn't understand them and that I was deaf.

Do you mind me asking what this looks like, people reacting badly? I want to know so I can help step in if a fellow customer needs assistance. I’ve been slightly in own world lately standing in grocery store lines and I’d like to be able to spot cues. Thank you.[/quote]
I would say if you are hearing, you will hear the comments. For me, its the rolling of eyes, the turning away and refusing to interact, the laughter, the angry/irritated stares. Sometimes a combination of all. Its hard to describe when someone is like this with a mask on as yes the mask hides a lot, but it is obvious. Especially when the other person is standing there apologising, explaining and asking if they could write it down or speak into their phone etc.

[MitziK]

If they are facing you, there's a drop to the shoulders, the area under the outer corner of the eyes hardens (as opposed to crinkling up when smiling), the jaw hardens and the eyebrows lower and they generally inhale more deeply. If they're slightly to the side, they turn more away from you or dip their chin down. Their lips either hardly move or they're suddenly far more exaggerated. Often the voice deepens and it'll be much faster or too slow because more people find deeper voices harder to understand - speaking too slowly is like expecting you to read War and Peace by being posted a single letter every second for the next million years, by the way


As I've still got reasonable hearing on one side whilst the other is mostly screwed for siblance thanks to the hiss, I can detect trouble brewing for others - I've pulled up bus drivers before now because they're being dicks to schoolchildren who are wearing hearing aids - well, when I've seen their lips through the Perspex screen from a distance, at any rate.

[EmbarrassingAdmissions]

wrt Daisychicken 's earlier remark - this is a decent explanation about why "lip-reading" is a misnomer and the name makes it seem much more straightforward than it is:

aeon.co/videos/why-lip-reading-is-like-putting-together-a-puzzle-without-all-the-pieces

NB: the people in this are face-on to the camera, in good lighting, have clear enunciation etc. It's very different to many real-world settings.

[daisychicken]

Yes, only 30-40% of words are understood by lipreading and this goes up to about 60% if you are lipreading someone whose speech pattern you know well. But it really isn't like "reading a book" but more like a puzzle with pieces missing!

[daisychicken]

I should say a lot of things affect lipreading - accents, lisps, facial hair, chewing gum/food, not being face on, exaggerating lip pattern when speaking, shouting to name a few. But the difficulty with a mask, is it removes any possible chance to see clues to help interpret what is said plus any sound the Deaf person can hear is muffled.

[bluebluezoo]

With masks, I won't understand anything and will often not know if someone is speaking to me. I have already faced difficulties with shop staff wearing masks and reacting badly when I explained I couldn't understand them and that I was deaf

This. I have an auditory processing disorder, while my hearing is technically fine my brain can’t interpret the signals properly.

I only realised how much I lip read when i got glasses, and realised I couldn’t “hear” without my glasses

I get a lot of passive aggressive comments from people who think I’m rude because i don’t respond to their greeting when in fact i simply haven’t heard it.

Masks are a nightmare for me. Especially in a noisy or busy environment which really affects my ability to hear...

[Freetodowhatiwant]

I am really struggling. Thankfully my only interaction conversation so far has been with people in shops but I’ve just made a wild guess at what they’re saying. I would really struggle if we had to wear them in a workplace.

[bluebluezoo]

I should say a lot of things affect lipreading - accents

I found it weird when I realised I lip read accents . I can watch things on mute and the voice in my head will be accented..

[daisychicken]

@bluebluezoo

I should say a lot of things affect lipreading - accents

I found it weird when I realised I lip read accents . I can watch things on mute and the voice in my head will be accented..

I can lipread accents too on tv but it's much harder in real life - more noise, stress I guess!

[Haenow]

I feel for you and those who rely on lip reading.
I don’t know if I can tolerate a mask due to my chronic lung disease (and I am exempt) but if I do wear a mask, I’ll make sure to get one that aids hearing impaired people.
Thanks for this thread. It’s very important to have these discussions, to bring it to the attention of the public so we can all do something to minimise any difficulty.

[JingsMahBucket]

@daisychicken and @bluebluezoo yes regarding accents and languages. I have a friend / former coworker who’s Italian and was born deaf but not mute, and refused to learn Italian sign language as a child because he didn’t want to be cut off from 95% of the population. He also had a hearing aid. I used to visit their Italian office and we worked closely together, hang out during and in the evenings.

He knows 5 languages including English and can read lips in all 5 languages. I would practice my Italian with all my coworkers but I’d also switch between that and English. He told me that I’d have tell him when I was switching so he could essentially switch his mental language filter and read my lips properly. :) We spent many times at dinners writing down in English or Italian what we were trying to say. He’s a fun one and taught me a lot about pacing my speech for others to catch up with me, whether non-English speakers or hearing impaired people in general.

[JingsMahBucket]

Oh! And eventually he got the inner ear surgery about 3 years ago now and underwent speech therapy to modify his speech impediment (is that the current and correct term used now?).

[jackparlabane]

Oddly I'm finding the masks OK, because it's highlighting how many people now have problems understanding with them, not just me - I live in a very multicultural area so many people can understand English reasonably in normal circs, but find understanding a non-native language harder with background noise, masks, etc.

Apart from a supermarket trolley guy taking forever to switch to simple nod/shake/point in answer to my questions, I haven't had a problem yet in person. But then I don't try to understand random people - I get through public transport with just the signs, etc. My colleagues are on video so don't have masks then - but I can't understand conversation of more than a couple people, which is being a problem. Remote speech-to-text reporters can't manage much better than I can, with all the technical jargon and unpredictable topics, so I have to manage with autocaptions, hearing aids and meeting notes (and calling up people later).

I don't use BSL except a little with a couple friends, despite a AtW advisor recommending it - her own interpreter said there was no way my work could be interpreted in real time.

As for telling when people are reacting badly - look at people. The huffing, eyerolling - same as when someone is being less-than-helpful because a customer has any disability or is of a race the service provider doesn't respect, etc.

[idontlookoldenough]

I work in retail and at due back to work next Monday, I’m pretty much completely deaf in one ear and I hadn’t even considered how I’ll cope when I’m back at work, I can’t hear a thing if someone is talking on my bad side and have to concentrate hard once I realise someone is speaking and watch their lips.

I have a hearing aid but I just can’t get on with it, I should probably try and get it adjusted again but I think I’ve got that used to not hearing over the years that I won’t ever be able to cope with it.

[Editress37]

Masks are being made for deaf and hard of hearing people. They have clear plastic across the mouth/lips. They do look weird, but can be helpful
www.theclearmask.com/product
www.designboom.com/design/student-creates-transparent-masks-deaf-hard-of-hearing-04-08-2020/

[daisychicken]

[quote Editress37]Masks are being made for deaf and hard of hearing people. They have clear plastic across the mouth/lips. They do look weird, but can be helpful
www.theclearmask.com/product
www.designboom.com/design/student-creates-transparent-masks-deaf-hard-of-hearing-04-08-2020/[/quote]
Masks with clear mouth areas are being made and can be made yourself but.. everyone needs to wear them. I can wear one (and will be doing so) to help others who lipread but I need you to wear one for me.