Many Protective Masks Inhibit Communication with Deaf Community, UA Advocate Says

By Bryant Welbourne
University of Alabama

With the use of personal protective masks as a tool to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, those who are deaf have to adjust their normal means of communication.

Kent Schafer, a University of Alabama doctoral student who works with the Alabama Department of Mental Health’s Office of Deaf Services, has been a longtime advocate for the deaf community. As someone who is deaf, Schafer provides a personal perspective to his work and relates to issues in communicating with those wearing protective masks covering the mouth.

According to Schafer, American Sign Language is broken down and analyzed in the five separate features of hand shape, palm orientation, location, movement, and facial expressions. When one wears a protective mask, the element of facial expression is removed.

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