Masks and Lip Reading… Oh, What Fun!

I decided to write about my experience wearing my “I Am a Lip Reader” mask while going to a local clinic to see a specialist……..

First of all, I just have to state that I simply hate wearing masks.   I cannot breathe properly, and they steam up my glasses.  They also rip out my hearing aids.  Yes, yes…I know….I need the kind that tie behind your head and I need to put shaving crème on my glasses (prevents steaming up on them) I get it….it’s just all a pain in the neck. But I know the importance of a mask and the fact that they are mandatory in some places, so I am not making an issue of this…..

Honestly, people have no idea who is hard of hearing and who is not. Most just assume all people can hear normally as they do.  SO, in order to tell people about my situation, I ordered one of the many masks that are available from Etsy that have written messages on them.  I ordered the one that said “I am a Lip Reader.”

Here is my personal experience wearing this when I visited a local specialist at a local clinic.

First of all, I might add that the day before my appointment, I got a reminder message which stated that I was to come alone.  As a hearing-impaired person, I always have someone with me to back up what I miss in conversations, so I immediately called the clinic back and told them my situation.  Within minutes, I was cleared to bring my spouse with me.  It was that easy….

At the clinic, we approached the front desk to check in.  The person at this desk, immediately read my mask and pulled her mask down to speak to me.  She spoke clearly and precise.  It was wonderful!  We were told to wait in the waiting area for the next procedure.  I was called back for it and the person doing the testing didn’t lower her mask, but; she spoke directly to me (she faced me) in a clear voice.  And since there was no background noise to interfere with her talking, I heard perfectly.   Finally, we were told to wait for the doctor.  I got called back for him and when he entered the room, he sat down directly in front of me and he too spoke in a loud and clear voice.  He did not remove his mask,  but did all the right things for me to be able to hear and understand him.

All in all, my experience was absolutely great.  Everyone was wonderful and I didn’t miss any words due to the fact they knew about my condition.

SO, let’s face it, if you have this issue, people are not mind readers ….you have to tell them that you may not be able to hear them well with a mask on.  If you let them know ahead of time,  they can choose to either lower their mask or speak to you directly, clearly and louder.  And, with this Lip Reading mask, I didn’t even need to say a word.

I would definitely invest in some of these amazing masks and buttons that are made for hearing impaired people.  Just by wearing them, the whole anxiety of not knowing whether or not I will hear them is gone!  One less stress in today’s world!!