"Communicator masks" help the hearing impaired communicate | Allen County - Your News Now

While it seems like mask-wearing is becoming more widespread in the area, it is impacting some people's way of communicating. That’s why “communicator masks” are now being made.

A person with hearing impairment can get up to 30% of their speech understanding through lip-reading, so when everyone started wearing masks because of the pandemic, it became an issue of communication for them.

Vanessa Lee, owner of Auglaize Audiology in Wapakoneta, has been making her own “communicator masks” for herself and her employees in preparation for the office to open back up. She says that the mask is good for more than just communicating with words.

“I had this mask on and they were like ‘wow, I can still see your face, I can still see your smile,’" says Lee. "And so it is a good way to communicate, not just with spoken language, but just with a smile because I think we’re all kind of missing that.”

Lee says that she hand-makes the masks herself, and it only takes about an hour to do. The clear plastic in the mask is clear vinyl, but she says a clear shower curtain will also work. 

*Click the picture below to view the entire PDF for directions on how to make a communicator mask.