Lip reading is something a lot of people rely on. Especially when it comes to the hard of hearing population, they need to watch peoples mouths when they are speaking. One girl in particular that I know said COVID-19 pandemic negatively effected her life when masks were mandated because of the fact that she relied on lip reading. People's facial expressions matter as well because when one's auditory system is not functioning well, they are trying to make sense of the words being spoken by lip reading as well as the facial expressions that come along with talking.
I didn't realize how much of a lip-reader I was until the pandemic began. I find myself having to ask others to repeat themselves all the time. I am curious to see how the mask affect the pandemic babies growing up without facial expression.
ReplyDelete