Since the Covid-19 virus became a global pandemic, there has been a real hunt for masks in shops and pharmacies, but these are few and far between and have led people to ingenuate themselves into creating home prototypes that are as effective as possible to reduce contagion, using fabric or waterproof crosspieces to cut out and ear springs.
To wear it properly, the mask must cover the mouth, chin and nose well, but some wondered how deaf people would do it.
An American student, 21-year-old Ashley Lawrence, driven by her mainly sign-language studies, comes to a thought.
The face, lips and body gestures are very important for deaf people, so the classic masks are not helpful for these people, as they would not allow them to express themselves.
Ashley, with a sewing machine and a lot of effort, together with her mother, starts the creation of fabric masks with a frontal part on the transparent mouth, so that the interlocutor who is a doctor or a health care worker can read the lips. All to be shipped free of charge to various cities in the United States.
To make these special masks, Ashley uses new sheets and a roll of plastic, but in order to be able to appear new material, she launched a fundraiser on GoFundMe. The campaign immediately responded positively by raising more than three thousand dollars from March 31 to April 2, thus reaching the goal. The proceeds were donated to Hands&Voices, a non-profit organization run by parents of children with hearing or hearing disabilities.
Ashely then thought to share the work with a tutorial so as to be of support to anyone in the world who wants to make the masks.
At the studio there is also a second model of mask. It is designed for those who have hearing aids and cochlear implants and closes either on the neck or behind the head.
Ashley doesn’t stop there, however, and she is also thinking about making a second model of mask, designed for those who have hearing aids and cochlear implants and it closes either on the neck or behind the head.
These masks are special because in addition to their purpose they can break down the communication barrier that deaf people or people with sensory disabilities are often forced to live.