The wearing of opaque face coverings can cause stress and communication issues for members of the Deaf community, people with hearing loss and anyone who relies on lip reading. One of our beneficiaries told us:
“I have found it very, very difficult to communicate with someone wearing a facemask. BSL relies on facial expression and lip patterns; none of which I can see if someone is wearing a mask. I have had to write things down and when I have asked people if they can remove their mask they said ‘no’ I had to resume writing. This is quite tricky as English is not my first language, so it is extremely difficult for us both to understand."
So what can be done to make communication clearer, whilst still keeping to the rules?
To encourage the use of good communication techniques, which will help everyone - particularly people who need to lip-read - to understand and be understood, we've created a handy poster with some useful tips. Download it here or alternatively, if you would like some colour printed versions of this flyer for your organisation, community or project, please contact us at info@signal.org.uk quoting “Make Communication Clear Flyer Request”.
Would you like to support our campaign to Make Communication Clear? By making a donation today, you will help Signal to make sure that people who need to lip-read are not left behind during the Covid-19 pandemic. To make a donation, simply click on the Donate button at the top of this page. Thank you.
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