Face masks and deaf people

For deaf people (who are reliant on both lipreading and listening to follow spoken English) it can be a real struggle when people around are wearing face masks. It can bring feelings of anxiety and that in itself means that their listening capacity is diminished. It also impacts on the level of understanding in a very basic fashion. The visors are a little better but they echo and when you are deaf, you need all the help you can get.

Adults who are working with deaf children and adults are exempt as per the government guidelines for face mask wearing. These guidelines state that anyone who is with a deaf person is exempt from wearing one as they have to act as the deaf person’s interpreter.

This is an oral school for deaf children so we all rely on lip reading and facial cues, not a covered mouth or echoey sound through a reflective visor. We have a duty to ensure that Laycock School is a safe space for all children and adults including deaf children and adults. This means that the adults around our deaf children may not be wearing a face covering and it is important that we all understand and respect the reasons for this.