Perspective: My mom is deaf and reads lips. But please don’t take off your mask.
, with over 800 positive tests and 18 deaths. As a 54-year-old woman who has smoked cigarettes most of her life, my mom is unsure if her body would be able to handle the coronavirus.
So, she began to tell customers who’d approach for help that she is deaf but, “please don’t pull your mask down!” Still, sometimes they would. Even when she went grocery shopping, she told the cashier, “I’m deaf and I read lips but don’t pull down your mask.” At first it worked, and he responded with a thumbs-up, but when she was grabbing her things, he pulled down his mask and said, “Thanks for shopping with us!”My mom knows it is a learning process. But nobody knows how long this will last.
businesses must require employees to wear masks and that they should train their employees on the possibility of removing their masks for people who rely on reading lips. But that part isn’t required.Theoretically, this can be done from six feet away since my mom can still see. Yet it’s still difficult because people tend to move closer when they realize someone needs to read their lips.
Now, though, when she and her boyfriend go grocery shopping, she tells him “shut up and keep your mask on,” because he has diabetes and severe asthma which put him at a higher risk. So now they text each other when they’re in public, and he’s learning ASL.Ian Mook, a friend of mine from college who is also deaf, relies heavily on reading lips.
My mom’s shoulder wound up getting worse, and the doctor pulled her out of work again, much to both of our reliefs. I hate the idea of her being unable to communicate with anyone all day. But how long will businesses and the public require wearing masks? When I asked what she’ll do when she eventually returns to work, she said she doesn’t know.
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