"If everyone is wearing a mask, I just have to stay at home sleeping , " sighs Alexis Bouzinac, 39. This smiling bearded man is deaf. If he doesn't read your lips, it's impossible for him to decipher your words.
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis and the proliferation of masked people in public space, its difficulties have increased tenfold. "It's like the person has a sign in front of them and I don't see them anymore. Communication is completely cut off ”.
Anouchka Arroyo, who is deaf and teaches French sign language, also had a hard time deciphering the words of a security guard when going to the Post Office. "The security man wanted to talk to me but he had his mask on his mouth. I did not understand what he wanted to tell me "
Transparent masks?
"I still hope that people will be able to adapt to us," pointed out the professor. The hearing can indeed all act on their scale in order to be better understood by deaf or hard of hearing people.
On the one hand, by lowering their mask briefly while keeping their distance or by writing what they want to say. Another solution could be to wear suitable transparent masks. A woman from Toulouse has just launched a kitty to try to develop her first prototypes in France.
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Another alternative is to learn French sign language. To be sure to stay in touch well beyond this crisis.