Wearing a cloth face mask is a great way to slow the spread of COVID-19, but it카지노 게임 컬렉션s not good for members of the hard-of-hearing community who rely on reading lips and facial expressions.
Taylor Bardell, Artsci카지노 게임 컬렉션18, and her boyfriend, Matt Urichuk, both PhD students in the field of speech pathology and audiology at Western 카지노게임사이트 in London, are solving the problem by making face masks with clear plastic in the middle.
They were inspired to make the masks after they found it difficult to talk to each other during a trip to the grocery store. Neither are hearing impaired, but it made them realize face masks are a barrier for people in the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.
카지노 게임 컬렉션I completely understand and agree with face masks, but we need to be thoughtful about the repercussions,카지노 게임 컬렉션 says Ms. Bardell. 카지노 게임 컬렉션It makes communicating and accomplishing daily tasks very challenging. We need to be aware of how to keep people safe and allow the hard-of-hearing community to function.카지노 게임 컬렉션
Despite neither of them having any sewing skills, they found instructions online and quickly learned. They launched the Smile Masks Project and have now made and donated more than 125 masks, with requests to make several hundred more.
The masks are popular with family members who want to be able to communicate with their loved ones. There have also been requests from speech-language pathologists, audiologists, physicians, as well as people who run restaurants and retail businesses who want to communicate better with their customers.
카지노 게임 컬렉션It카지노 게임 컬렉션s really amazing to see that our masks are actually helping and making a difference,카지노 게임 컬렉션 says Ms. Bardell.
Some alumni who work with people who are hard of hearing are facing the same problem, including Bonnie Cooke, Artsci카지노 게임 컬렉션06, an audiologist at Kingston카지노 게임 컬렉션s Hotel Dieu Hospital Site.
카지노 게임 컬렉션I have many patients who wear hearing aids but they still rely on lip reading and being able to read facial expressions,카지노 게임 컬렉션 says Ms. Cooke. 카지노 게임 컬렉션I had one patient say to me that it would be better to mask the eyes because the eyes don카지노 게임 컬렉션t tell you much. It카지노 게임 컬렉션s how your lips and tongue move.카지노 게임 컬렉션
Ms. Cooke says her hospital카지노 게임 컬렉션s occupational health team is currently in the process of ordering and testing different types of medical-grade clear masks from national manufacturers, so hopefully they will be in the hands of staff soon.
Ms. Bardell카지노 게임 컬렉션s does not have the ability to make medical-grade masks, but there is still a long list of people and businesses who want them. She is hoping to recruit a few more volunteers to help meet the huge demand.
The positive impact of clear masks goes beyond the hard-of-hearing community. Ms. Bardell wears the mask when shopping and it generates many positive comments.
카지노 게임 컬렉션The masks get a great reaction from people because they can see our smile. It brings a bit of normalcy back,카지노 게임 컬렉션 says Ms. Bardell. 카지노 게임 컬렉션It카지노 게임 컬렉션s strange to talk to someone and not be able to see their facial expression.카지노 게임 컬렉션
All masks are donated free-of-charge, thanks to support from the Smile Masks Project카지노 게임 컬렉션s Go Fund Me page.
