😷😷😷😷😷😷
I see your eyes, but I can't read your lips.
You are telling me something, Not a clue what that is.
I see your mask move. I know there are words.
There is information, that just can't be heard.
You speak a bit louder. What is that for?
I'm deaf I can't hear you. A fact you ignore.
I know you are trying, I will not get mad.
But 'mask isolation' is making me sad.
When will this end? When will that be?
When we all take our masks off
And I can be free.
This amazing poem was written by a lovely friend of mine who wishes to stay anonymous. It describes perfectly how I feel with masks. I'm wondering how much longer we will be wearing them or whether this is something I'm really going to have to learn to live with long term?
I am really enjoying my new job but masks are still such a minefield. I attended a training course yesterday and all the attendees had to wear masks but the trainer could wear a clear one. I heard all that was going on but missed the banter and the comments/suggestions from my colleagues. I had nominated one of my colleagues to be my lip speaker and he was brilliant, whenever we had to break out into discussion groups he and I would go outside and so we could chat. He also has a very deep voice so I could understand him better than anyone who was softly spoken. It's a way of life that I'm sure many people are struggling with. I don't want masks to be the norm, it does make it difficult to read expressions and to fully understand what people are trying to say.
The clear masks were not supposed to steam up but they did. It made it difficult to lipread but the trainer was very helpful and changed it for a new one when it was needed and she repeated a lot of what was said by my colleagues.
It is a daily struggle, I'm still doing all this minus one hearing aid - I still don't have an audiology appointment yet. So my hearing is distorted at the moment anyway. On the plus side though, my new colleagues have been very understanding and are keen to help out in any way they can. 😷