College Student Creates Transparent Face Masks For The Deaf And Hard Of Hearing

Nowadays many countries are suffering from a lack of medical equipment – especially face masks. Which prompted people to make masks themselves. But this is hard for the Deaf and hard of hearing who rely on lip reading for communication.

Ashley Lawrence, 21, a student at Eastern Kentucky University who studies education for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, noticed that since so much of the population now are opting to wear protective face masks and this induces her to start making transparent face masks.

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Student Ashley Lawrence noticed no one makes masks for the deaf and hard of hearing who rely on lip reading for communication

Ashley Lawrence

“I just saw that people were making masks on Facebook for everyone to have instead of the throwaway masks, and I was like, what about the deaf and hard of hearing population?” an interview with Lex 18, Ashley Lawrence.

Ashley Lawrence

Ashley Lawrence

On a GoFundMe page titled, “DHH Mask Project,” Lawrence said she would distribute her specialized masks for free to those who request them so they can provide them to their doctors if they need medical attention.

Ashley and her mom making masks with a sheet of clear plastic in the middle, making the mouth visible. Lawrence says that the mask will help out people who read lips or rely on American Sign Language (ASL).

Ashley Lawrence

She wrote, “Those who rely on lip-reading or ASL [American Sign Language] to communicate are often cut off from their source of communication when doctors and nurses don surgical masks.”

Ashley Lawrence

For anyone who wants a mask, she suggested emailing [email protected]. However, she noted they are struggling to meet the high demand.

Ashley Lawrence

“I’m not charging anything for them because I think that if you need them, then you need them and I don’t think that you should have to pay for them,” Lawrence said to Lex18. “So we are sending them out for free whenever we have people asking for them and if they’re foreign, then maybe we’ll charge shipping, but other than that they’re completely free.”

After posting her creation on Facebook, Ashley started receiving numerous requests for these transparent face masks and she would post a YouTube tutorial soon for everyone could make these masks for themselves.