Mouth-nose masks make lip-reading impossible - a big problem for some people. The deaf Stefanie Schmidt seeks understanding. But that doesn't always work.
Paderborn (dpa) - "I'm deaf, need a mouth picture", is written on the mask by Stefanie Schmidt. White on black, in bold letters. And so that nobody really overlooks it, the 37-year-old from Borchen near Paderborn also wears a neon yellow safety vest.
"Deaf" is also on it. In this way, she makes it clear to her fellow human beings that she cannot understand them if a mask covers half their face. "It's like holding out the back of a book and saying, read it. You can't see the letters, so you can't read them either."
Everyday things like buying cakes are really complicated for Stefanie Schmid. The seller in the bakery refers to the regulations and does not remove her mask. Schmidt does not find out whether there is nut in the cake or not. This is actually important information, her mother has a nut allergy.
What the seller apparently did not know: she should have taken off the mask. In North Rhine-Westphalia, it is permitted to temporarily remove the mouth-nose cover for communication with deaf or hard of hearing people if this is absolutely necessary for a service, as the Ministry of Health of North Rhine-Westphalia informs on request.
"A covered mouth is best for protection against infection," says Daniel Büter, speaker of the German Association of the Deaf. He prefers to accept communication restrictions rather than the risk of getting infected. Not all deaf people are equally dependent on lip reading. Reading from the mouth is on average only a third for understanding. The hand movements and the entire context also played an important role, said Büter. "You can also communicate with your hands and feet."
Stefanie Schmidt has had a so-called cochlear implant that works like a hearing aid for ten years. With this, she can hear voices, but to understand what she has said, she has to see the lip movements and the facial expression. It worked better in the electronics market than at the bakery, she says. There, the consultant immediately removed the face mask and talked at a distance. When it came to contract details, she put the mask back on and continued with pen and paper. There are also various apps that can convert spoken language into text and vice versa. In the meantime, masks with viewing windows are also on the market.
"Corona has also created communicative accessibility that was not there before," says Daniel Büter. Many press conferences with information about the spread of the virus are currently being translated live by sign language interpreters. The Ministry of Health in North Rhine-Westphalia offers a sign telephone with information about the corona virus. Such offers must also be maintained and expanded in the period after the crisis, Büter demands.
Stefanie Schmidt especially wants an open and understanding attitude towards pigeons. "Some people shout at me and get louder and louder. They think I have to understand them sometime," she says. "I live in two different worlds and cultures, with hearing and deaf people," says Schmidt. With her masks and vests, she wants to make that clear to others.
Stefanie Schmidt's blog