For People Who Are Deaf Or Hard-Of-Hearing, Masks Can Be A Barrier To Communicating

When Dean Martin of Ware, Mass., was hospitalized with COVID-19 in April, the experience was even more isolating for him than it is for many other patients. Martin is deaf, and it was hard for him to understand the medical staff.

“The doctor would come up to me in multiple layers of masks and coverings and PPE, but I was only able to really see his eyes,” Martin said through an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. “And he would keep talking, and I tried to encourage him, give him a pen and paper, and he’d write a short note, and give it to me.”

Sometimes the doctors would use a device called a video remote interpreter, so Martin could see in sign language what they were telling him. But for the most part, he was alone. When he was able to go home after about two weeks, Martin said it was a relief to have his wife, who is also deaf, taking care of him.

“Just being able to ask, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ and be able to sign that to me and have that communication” was important, he said.

For people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing, the communication challenges caused by this pandemic aren’t just in hospitals. Masks have become a ubiquitous and essential part of our daily life, but also pose a serious obstacle for those who have partial or no hearing. Between 15 and 20 percent of American adults are estimated to have some level of hearing loss.

Boston University Deaf Studies Professor Andrew Bottoms experienced the obstacle posed by masks at a Trader Joe’s market recently. He remembers trying to explain to a mask-wearing cashier through gestures that he’s deaf. But the cashier just looked at him.

Read the rest of the story at GBH’s website.