Mask wearing and deaf people

[sunshinesupermum]

As a deaf person myself I applaud Rose's brilliant achievement. However, when she goes shopping or has medical appointments, do people take off their masks so that she can lip read? In my experience only a few shops like Pets At Home and Waterstones do so. I had to take my cat for an emergency appointment at the vet yesterday and was reliant on my partner coming with me to understand how to treat her. I understand the need for masks, obviously, but most deaf and hard-of-hearing people rely a lot on lip-reading. Rant over. AIBU?

@Whingasaurus

Drip

Yep.

@sunshinesupermum

Momoblue I have one of these badges and point to it as well as say I need to lip read. It is more a case of when I need to be able to understand at medical appointments that make it so frustrating because they never agree to remove the mask. If my partner isn't with me (and it isn't always practical for him to be there) I cannot understand what is happening. I have no idea how deaf people in hospital with no support manage.

I have no idea how deaf people in hospital with no support manage.

They don't have to cope alone, at least not for appointments or speaking to consultants. If they're a BSL user, they can ask for a BSL interpreter. If they don't use BSL, they can ask for a lipspeaker, speech to text reporter, etc.

It's the hospital's duty to provide and pay for communication support (classed as a 'reasonable adjustment') under the Equality Act 2010.

I wouldn't remove a mask for a deaf person if I were in a place where they were required. Would the deaf person pay my fine if I got one because I wasn't wearing a mask when I had to because I'm not exempt? Doubt it.

I opened my mask to mouth a word or two to a lady who was struggling, then brought her over to what she needed, opening my mask once more. I nearly cried at how much she thanked me for me doing so little

@MorningStarling

I wouldn't remove a mask for a deaf person if I were in a place where they were required. Would the deaf person pay my fine if I got one because I wasn't wearing a mask when I had to because I'm not exempt? Doubt it.

You wouldn't be fined for removing a mask to allow a deaf person to lipread you. That would be classed as a reasonable adjustment.

I lost a lot of my hearing a few months ago. Almost over night. Masks make life so diffficult. Even if you dont lip read and wear hearing aids they muffle the sound. Fortunately most people have been good and offered to lower their masks when ive said im hard of hearing and cant hear them very well. I understand some people dont want too and thats their choice and right too. Ive ordered those cards that say hard of hearing etc.....the rubber wristbands look quite good too. Subtle but useful.

Hidden disabilities are not fun and now i have one myself i'm definitely more aware and conscious of those who also have them. Im currently trying to lip read and learn some basic sign language as when i dont have my hearing aids in its a nightmare trying to hear my kids.....that said the only perk of my situation is being able to mute my hearing aids when the kids are too noisy! Haha

BSL is one of the UKs official languages. My son wears hearing aids and I'm so proud that he has just adapted. I know that I have trouble hearing speech when people have their masks on. Clear masks are a great Idea

I read the other day that a medical grade mask with a transparent window by the mouth has been approved, so perhaps they will be more commonly available in hospitals etc soon.

As a deaf person, when in hospital i insist on verbatim notes being made by the nurse or doctor if it's something complex to explain. I have had to say "I'm deaf, please remove your mask" and because I speak clearly and assertively people do comply.

My issue is auditory processing and normally I use lipreading and visual clues to fill the missing gaps quicker. As it's not a "mechanical" issue, hearing aids wouldn't help and there isn't that visual clue.
I get through things like going shopping by following the script and looking at the total on the till. At least I hope the assistant is on the same script as me...

I avoid anything superfluous when mask rules are in as it's so hard dealing with the loss of visual communication. It's also bloody dangerous trying to read faceless people drifting around places like supermarket car parks when it's extra difficult to judge whether they're about to amble in front of a tonne of moving metal.

I'm temporaily abstaining from my youth group as the acoustics of the venue are poor anyway and I can't cope with the other leaders covering ⅔s of their faces. I miss them and the kids.

I don't ask people to uncover their faces, partly because it's difficult enough being exempt anyway (I get overwhelmed rapidly and was regularly melting down/ hyperventilating before stopping) and it's a whole other potential can of worms for upset. With the youth group, we have CEV leaders and there's the whole being seen to conform to organisation standards so it's easier to walk away and hope it's not too long before I can enjoy participating again.

I agree! I'm partly deaf and when someone comes into our shop wearing a mask and they need to talk to me, I literally can't hear them unless they have a particular loud clear voice so I'm forever having to explain I can't hear and could they please lower the mask. Most are brilliant about it but I had one man in who was a bit snotty, then started talking to me REALLY LOUDLY in a patronizing way and doing stupid ''deaf'' hand signs!

@Bigbum562021

I agree! I'm partly deaf and when someone comes into our shop wearing a mask and they need to talk to me, I literally can't hear them unless they have a particular loud clear voice so I'm forever having to explain I can't hear and could they please lower the mask. Most are brilliant about it but I had one man in who was a bit snotty, then started talking to me REALLY LOUDLY in a patronizing way and doing stupid ''deaf'' hand signs!

Oh god it is so cringe when people waft their hands about and think they're signing or something! Some of the judges on Strictly did this too, they would wave their hands and arms around extra expressively when talking to Rose. Like what are you actually trying to communicate with the arm waving go and learn some basic BSL maybe if you want to sign with a Deaf person.

sunshinesupermum
That is all I'm asking for, that people who work in fields where deaf people really need to lip-read, have a perspex mask to wear instead.

I was surprised and pleased to see that the nurses/greeters when I got my covid jabs all had perspex visors, and learn that they had them because it made it easier for people who needed to be able to lip-read.

I am not yet hearing-impaired, but I do try to think about people with poor hearing because while I was growing up I had an aunt who was only able to hear either children or those with very deep voices, nobody in the middle range, and saw all the problems she had because of this. If I hadn't had that experience I would probably be just another unthinking mask-wearer, though; there must be dozens of hidden disabilities I don't make any allowance for because I simply don't know about them. I'm not sure what I ought to do about this, apart from asking whether I can do anything helpful when someone looks a bit bewildered or unhappy.

@MorningStarling

I wouldn't remove a mask for a deaf person if I were in a place where they were required. Would the deaf person pay my fine if I got one because I wasn't wearing a mask when I had to because I'm not exempt? Doubt it.

You would be exempt while you were doing that - that’s one of the things specifically mentioned as a mask exemption. From the government website, exemptions include:

people speaking to or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading, clear sound or facial expressions to communicate

I simply say 'I lip read so will probably keep saying 'sorry?' ' and the vast majority lower their masks. And if they don't and have to keep repeating themselves well that's on them!

It has been in the legislation from the very beginning of pandemic that removing a mask for a partially deaf or deaf person is allowed so no there is no possibility of being fined for removing your mask for a deaf person to lip read
deafness ( partial or complete) is a disability and so with reasonable adjustment should be able to fully participate in society so it is not the minimal words necessary with mask off but everything a deaf person would wish to hear, obviously on a private basis it is up to the individual whether they remove their mask to speak to a deaf person but in a public sector capacity it would be disability discrimination to not do so
when I had my booster last week and I said to the nurse I could not hear well she asked my preference, i said speaking loudly if no background noise would be adequate but she was willing to remove her mask so I could lip read
most people are willing to lower their mask or if not my husband or daughter will if they are with me and then to repeat everything verbatim, on a couple of occasions only has someone queried this and I carry a copy of the Scottish rule with me they then got annoyed that is was taking longer but DH explained that as they wouldn't remove their mask he would to repeat it so I could lip read him and so of course it would take longer as everything was being said twice but as it was concerning me I had to understand not him
masks not only prevent lip reading they together with screens also muffle sound so it is doubly difficult
the worst expeerience was going to specsavers hearing test, and they wouldn't remove masks nor did they have clear ones if you are specialising in treating the deaf and want £1500 for a pair of hearing aids the least you could do was provide clear masks for your staff as when you have a hearing test your hearing aids are out when I complained they said the bosses said it was too expensive for clear masks
overall 17-20% of population has hearing loss and in the over 50's it is much higher also many people have glasses as well as hearing aids
many older deaf people are not confident about asking so pretend they have heard I do not pretend I have heard anything offically when I have notI always ask politely but expect people working in the public sector to fulfill their obligations to any diasbled person the pandemic doesn't absolve them from this

many older deaf people are not confident about asking so pretend they have heard I do not pretend I have heard anything offically when I have notI always ask politely but expect people working in the public sector to fulfill their obligations to any diasbled person the pandemic doesn't absolve them from this

So agree with this.

Thanks to all those who responded and who do understand. Please spread the message and help those of us, like Rose, who cannot hear.

If you’re a lip reader it’s worth using a lipspeaker for medical appointments too.

Medical professional here who always removers mask. Have done throughout the pandemic pre vaccines at my own risk. Often unable to distance due to home visits/working with children. I work with deaf community so it's a frequent occurance. 99% of colleagues do to. Not all health professionals refuse

I remove my mask for a deaf colleague even if she’s just in the room but I’m not conversing directly with her as it seems quite rude to do otherwise. We don’t cross paths a huge amount during the day but if she is there I don’t keep my mask on.

I deal with people in ny job.. i try and work out what they need. I often step back and remove my mask but have a code system when i get close we have cumminicated a sign system..i had a gentleman in wrong place couldn't understand last week in the end i took him where he needed to be, i have also communicated through paper abd pen , smart phones..

There are many ways but if you can let people know what you need it helps.

We were in the queue in Ikea last week, and asked the cashier if we could leave the items in the trolley. She made various physical gestures, and then I realised she was deaf, so took my mask off, back up a bit and asked her to repeat please, which she very kindly did.

My daughter later pointed out that when I didn't understand, that I apologised and said, 'I don't understand,' rather than blaming the person and saying, 'I don't understand you...'

Maybe a small difference, but we got there in the end.

Medical professional here who always removers mask. Have done throughout the pandemic pre vaccines at my own risk.

This is so short sighted

Do you tell CEV patients the risks you have unwittingly put them through? I really dont want the medical professional treating my CEV son to have been removing their mask multiple times a day.

I do think mid pandemic you need to explore more technology driven solutions like the speech to text

Mumblers have already annoyed me for many years. Mumblers who wear masks, grrr. And yes, I am well aware of various disabilities but the vast majority of mumblers are just too lazy to speak clearly. It's frankly ludicrous that these people are working in customer-facing positions when they can't communicate effectively. If you're wearing a mask, you need to make a point of speaking even more clearly than usual to mitigate for that. Cannot believe this has been going on for nearly two years and there are still people who haven't grasped this basic fact.

@Caramellatteplease

Medical professional here who always removers mask. Have done throughout the pandemic pre vaccines at my own risk.

This is so short sighted

Do you tell CEV patients the risks you have unwittingly put them through? I really dont want the medical professional treating my CEV son to have been removing their mask multiple times a day.

I do think mid pandemic you need to explore more technology driven solutions like the speech to text

Seriously?