Hearing impairment and the effects of the Corona disaster

Introduction

The Corona disaster has changed our lives dramatically.

Most people on the street are wearing masks, and internet conferencing has become more popular.

How did the Corona disaster affect the hearing impaired?

I would like to share my experience with you.

More convenient in terms of work

Increase the frequency of written communication

Due to the impact of Corona, we have been teleworking more and more, so we don’t have everyone at the office anymore.

This has led to an increase in communication using chat tools.

Chat-based communication is a big advantage for hearing-impaired people because they are not disadvantaged by deafness.

Also, with voice only, necessary information may be leaked, but with chat, this is almost never the case.

The ability to review the contents of a chat immediately afterwards is also a big advantage.

Inconvenience in terms of work

I can’t see my mouth with a mask.

The biggest problem for the hearing impaired with the Corona disaster is that the mask prevents them from seeing the other person’s mouth.

Many hearing-impaired people, who cannot hear as well as normal people, understand what others are saying by reading the movement of their lips.

For this reason, some hearing-impaired people may not be able to understand what others are saying at all if they cannot see their mouths through masks.

I have a cochlear implant, but it doesn’t mean that I can hear everything.

I understand what they are saying by looking at their mouths as well, so not being able to see their mouths means that one of my means of communication is reduced, making it difficult for me to hear what they are saying.

I can’t check it right away when I telework.

When I am working in an office, people at work are right beside me, so I can communicate relatively quickly when I want to, while reading their lips, being creative, and seeing what they are doing.

However, when teleworking, able-bodied people often communicate by phone, but I am not able to.

Therefore, even if I want to contact someone urgently, I have to wait until the person I am talking to can read the contents of the chat.

I often find myself fidgeting until I get a response because I don’t know if the person I’m talking to is busy or not.

Things that have become convenient in daily life

Not only in terms of work, but also in daily life, coronary heart disease has a great impact.

Increased number of online video calls

Until the corona disaster, most people used to communicate with each other by voice phone rather than online video.

However, more and more people are now using online video calls to avoid denseness due to the anti-corona measures.

I’ve never been on the ”phone with friends” before, but I’ve been using online video calls more often because I can see the other person’s face while communicating.

There are also apps that allow you to chat while making online video calls, which makes it easier for healthy people and hearing-impaired people to communicate with each other.

Things that became inconvenient in daily life

Hospital staff are now required to wear masks.

The hospital visits are particularly troubling for me.

All staff members are now required to wear masks, which makes it difficult for me to communicate with them because I can no longer see what the doctor is saying through the movement of my lips.

Not only is it difficult to communicate, but it also hides the expression on the face of the person I am talking to, so I am not sure if they understand what I am saying.

Finally

I went on to tell the audience that hearing impaired people were mainly affected by the Corona disaster.

I, in particular, think that the change in the means of communication was the most significant.

However, since this is just my experience, not all hearing-impaired people are affected in the same way.

I am sure there have been many other influences, but I hope this article will be of some help to you.