When public health officials and news outlets spoke about “the new normal” back in the early days of the pandemic, no one could have fully predicted what that would entail. Over five months later, we now know that part of the new normal is wearing face masks pretty much anywhere we publicly go.
While it’s a great and simple way to prevent the spread of the very contagious COVID-19 infection, it has presented its challenges for those who often rely on lip-reading to communicate and interact with others out in the community.
To try and solve the issue, people have created masks with clear plastic windows that show the movement of the mouth, but they present their own challenges. That’s exactly why one woman came up with an even more clever way to help the hard of hearing and Deaf communities.
After speaking to a friend who is Deaf and listening to the many frustrations about trying to communicate with hearing folks while wearing masks, Naomi Grace was inspired to take action and help those in the hard of hearing and Deaf communities.
For hearing folks, we don’t necessarily think about how masks affect those who have a hard time hearing or can’t hear at all.
So, Naomi took it upon herself to create badges for folks who are hard of hearing or Deaf that make communicating out in public a whole lot easier.
The badges read, “I am deaf. I cannot lip-read through your mask.”
“To communicate with me, please be patient and use your mobile phone or pen and paper.”
Naomi started out giving the cards to people for free as a gift, and has now created free templates for anyone to print off themselves.
Naomi’s Facebook post is filled with over 500 raving comments from people who love her idea.
With an outpouring of support, Naomi has even created an online request form to keep up with the demand.
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If you’re not in need of a badge but would like to help, Naomi is also accepting donations to her PayPal to pay for materials and postage to support her efforts.
Naomi is also encouraging other hearing folks to step up and put their privilege to work.
“I ask “hearing folks” specifically to contribute because I believe it is the responsibility of those who experience privilege to use said privilege to bring about equity. We need to take care of each other,” she wrote.
Solidarity and compassion—we love to see it!
