The COVID-19 pandemic has brought drastic changes around the world. Quarantine forced everyone to be at home, without the opportunity to attend cultural events, children and parents have adapted to distance learning, online work, and the most important accessory of 2020 and 2021 – a mask.
Some people complain about the inconvenience and unusualness of wearing masks. Now imagine how Deaf and Hard of Hearing people feel? The problem is that masks do not allow a person with hearing impairment to read information from the lips and this is just one of the main complications of the life of the Deaf.
Many people, even without hearing loss, barely understand what they are being told behind the mask. During a pandemic, the presence of a mask for a person with hearing impairment is one of the most painful issues, because lip-reading is one of the few opportunities to more or less freely communicate and understand the interlocutor. The most important elements of communication for the Deaf are facial expressions, mimic, and articulation. All this helps to obtain information without the use of paper and pens.
For a person with a hearing impairment, the participation of a sign language interpreter is very important in all institutions, organizations, and establishments, wherever communication is required when receiving services. Transparent masks are a solution to the problem of wearing masks for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people.
The possibility of receiving sign language translation services makes life easier. Interpreters who connect to the online dialogue hear everything the interlocutor says and translate it into sign language in real-time. And everything that the Deaf person says in sign language, the translator voices for another participant in the dialogue. Thus, the mask does not interfere with free communication and understanding of each other.
As a reminder, we are currently collecting data from users who want to receive 270 minutes of video communication with sign language interpreters. We are compiling a wish list and will provide free access to sign language interpreters for people with hearing impairments after November 15.
This was made possible by the project "Barrier free Ukraine for the Deaf: Creating Conditions for Social Adaptation of People with Hearing Impairments", which is implemented by the NGO Public Movement "Social Unity" with the support of the Social Protection Fund and the Ministry of Social Policy.
You can fill out the form at: https://forms.gle/CFQjw1F8rVAFHRBc7
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