How deaf students in Gozo are adapting to face masks
Face masks have made it harder for deaf children to understand their teachers in the classroom, so a Gozo NGO is installing systems that amplify the teacher’s voice across the whole classroom.
The sound system is not expensive and is portable, meaning it can be moved from one classroom to another, and also benefits students with normal hearing, especially if they are soft-spoken, or are sitting at the back of the classroom.
Face masks have made life more challenging for deaf people the world over. In the UK, where one in four children were being taught by staff wearing masks, charities had warned deaf pupils will suffer academically.
More recently, Hong Kong researchers came up with a new transparent face mask, which they say allows those with hearing impairment to see people’s lips move when they speak.
Locally, the Gozo Association for the Deaf (GAD) is promoting the use of the Soundfield system, which adapts to the classroom’s acoustics and background noise, eliminating all interfering noise that make it harder for children to understand the teacher.
Wearing a mask adds another layer to challenges already faced by deaf students, such as the room’s acoustics, background noise...