About this Project
When students who are deaf, deafblind, or hard of hearing return to their classrooms or attend in-person events with social distancing requirements, considerations will need to be made to ensure that the students are in accessible and inclusive environments. These three videos have information and advice on how to achieve this.
Information for DHH Staff: Student Access During COVID-19
13:17
06/12/2020
— 1. Struggles with limited access to facial grammar, speechreading while wearing masks
a. Problem: Limited or no access to the facial expressions and important parts of the linguistic communication in ASL
b. Solution: Input from students, interpreters and teachers of deaf/hard of hearing will be gathered.
2. Social Distancing:
a. Problem: lack of access to direct instruction due to social distancing and distance learning.
b. Solution: Input from students and teachers of deaf/hard of hearing will be gathered.
Information for General Ed Staff: Student Access During COVID-19
9:14
06/12/2020
— 1. Struggles with wearing a mask and speechreading teachers and peers with masks
a. Problems: No access to lips and facial expressions to fill in missing auditory information. Auditory signal is distorted by masks.
b. Solution: Input from students and teachers of deaf/hard of hearing will be gathered.
2. Social Distancing
a. Problem: Distance makes speech signals weaker and speechreading more challenging due to smaller facial features.
b. Solutions: Input from students and teachers of deaf/hard of hearing will be gathered.
3. Social Impact
a. Problem: Lack of access to peers wearing masks during class
b. Solutions: Input from students and teachers of deaf/hard of hearing will be gathered.
Information for Parents: Student Access During COVID-19
9:03
06/12/2020
— 1. Communication implications of wearing a mask.
a. Problems: Don’t have access to lips and facial expression to fill in missing auditory information. Auditory signal is distorted by masks.
b. Solution: Input from students, parents and teachers of deaf/hard of hearing will be gathered.
2. Social Distancing
a. Problem: Distance makes speech signals weaker
b. Solutions: Input from students, parents and teachers of deaf/hard of hearing will be gathered.
