Masking communication

I wanted to look at mask wearing here. I should  clarify that this post is in no way a complaint about the reasons or need  for wearing masks during the COVID-19  crisis, nor presenting some ‘right’ not to have to use them, but rather what they represent (or don’t) for blind people.

 

I’ve discussed here previously about the issues of facial expressions and eye contact and they seem to have been brought into particular focus with the current need to wear masks in public spaces.

 

Although I think I understand  the role that facial expressions play in sighted people’s communication, I have been surprised at the level of fervour expressed by some about the extent of what is lost                                                             of their ability to communicate through wearing masks. It is as if the barrier of the mask represents a severance of their only means to understanding the truth and feelings behind speech, the honesty (or not) of reactions and responses. Other than what is expressed by the face, there is apparently a sense that there’s no means  left to judge these things by.

 

It is as if the ‘smile’, grimace, sneer or smirk are  only conveyed facially. It surprises me because it is hard to acknowledge how common it may be to think that, if the only way to judge underlying meanings, emotional content and honesty is through the observation of facial expressions, blind people must be thought to inhabit our own world of innocent unawareness (or is it unaware innocence) of the reality of true communication.

 

The reality of it is that there are probably only two things that have changed for me through mask-wearing – volume and getting attention. The volume of voices has decreased, and with it the intelligibility of speech (particularly in noisy environments). Separately from this, I’ve found that Without the ability to make eye contact, it seems to be harder than ever for people to realise that I’m speaking to them. I’ve even found myself the only customer in a shop and yet the person behind the counter or stacking the shelves doesn’t seem to register that the fact that I’m facing them and speaking, might indicate some desire for communication with them. Perhaps I just need to learn to project my voice better.

 

I’m quite enjoying the levelling that masks have brought though, and with it, a reduction of that all-pervasive sense of superiority that eyesight seems to encourage and that so many people wear proudly (if unconsciously). 

 

Each time I hear claims that real communication is difficult if not impossible through masks, I wonder about how blind people have really been viewed in the past and it puts past comments about our ‘insightfulness’ or ‘conversational ability’ into a new and less positive light.

 

It seems hard to convey that the mask has made no difference to my interactions because other than a bit of volume, I’ve lost nothing in what I hear of what people convey through their voices. The loss is for those who have not listened to more than the words and relied entirely on what they see of the face to support them.