coronavirus pandemic — in particular, those with hearing impairments.For the last several weeks, Taylor Bardell and Matthew Urichuk have been sewing dozens of homemade, reusable masks fitted with a transparent section — “smile panels” — that allows those who are deaf or hard of hearing to read the lips of the wearer.
Canada’s coronavirus deficit soaring to $343B as feds warn of ‘permanent change’ to economy “I went grocery shopping for the first time when we had to wear masks, and we were just realizing how difficult it was and how strange it was to communicate like that,” Bardell said in an interview Tuesday alongside Urichuk.“We just started talking about how much harder it would be if you relied on lip reading,” she told 980 CFPL’s.