Masks can impact hearing impaired students, experts say

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Masks are now essential in many places, but what about those who rely on interpretive cues such as lip reading to communicate?

According to the Executive Director for Bibb County Schools’ Program for Exceptional Children, Jennifer Donnelly, students in the program suffer from mild to total hearing loss making it sometimes difficult to communicate with others.

Donnelly says during the pandemic, the program will conduct virtual meetings, use virtual apps and have a moderator to assist students. 

She says if ever students are in person, staff will wear a clear face covering enabling students to read their lips. 

She says this would be helpful at home too.

“In the deaf community, facial expressions, sign language are very dramatic. If you ever see an interpreter their entire body, face, mirrors what the words are saying and gives emphasis or can show that it was a joke just by the way they are phrasing or how their face is. So that expressiveness is important.”