The masks also prevent deaf and hard of hearing individuals from reading facial expressions, which can be challenging since facial expressions are similar to tone of voice in American Sign Language.

Health care workers wearing masks have also encountered the issue with patients who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. One system where masks are essential is offering a "see through" solution.

The TSD said it is developing a plan for mask use following CDC and county guidelines, saying it is important to have visual access for American Sign Language grammar.

"Really, I don't feel barriers most of the time in my day-to-day life," Secord said while speaking through an interpreter who translated from American Sign Language using FaceTime. "With the masks ...

KBIA - The Missouri Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing announced today that they’re making clear, accessible masks available to Missourians.

After so much positive feedback from her patients, she's already put out another call to her helpers to get more masks made.

Desiree Raub is a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter. When someone is wearing a mask without a clear window, for a deaf person, it's incredibly frustrating.

Mask wearing affected my use of sign language as well: The facial expressions so important for conveying grammatical meaning in ASL had also vanished behind walls of fabric.

And when in-person therapy resumed, masking requirements made it difficult. Some of the dozen-plus speech and language therapists I spoke with said children found the masks distracting.

Use your ‘mask voice’ Even if you don’t typically pay attention to the way you speak, it’s a necessity when you’re wearing a face mask.

Sign language interpreters, who use facial expressions and lip movements alongside body movements to create more complex and culturally rich signs, also wear them.