Around 48 million people have some degree of hearing loss. Given the rise of wearing face masks in public, hearing-impaired people are struggling to understand those wearing ordinary masks as they muffle their voices. One way to solve this problem is to put on masks with clear windows.
When wearing such a mask, people can see your lips, which allows the deaf or hard-of-hearing to lipread and see facial expressions.
Alicia Austin teaches infants and children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Currently, Austin has many online lessons with her students, and she says that wearing a mask can make communication problematic. She says that children need to see facial expressions and recognition to learn, even if they do not have a hearing disability.
On top of this, window masks are also very helpful to people with diminished hearing, typically older people or grandparents, who rely on face-to-face interaction to understand
If your student is interested in learning more about initiatives behind popularising window masks, they may like to watch this video: How Window Masks Can Help The Deaf, Hard Of Hearing Amid The Pandemic.