Category: Uncategorized

Mary Beth Pagnella, who has lived with profound hearing loss most of her life, prides herself on being an excellent lip reader.

But, amid the coronavirus outbreak, reading lips has become more difficult with state and federal officials recommending, and some requiring, people to wear masks in public.

“I feel so lost and out of place because (people) are wearing masks and I cannot read their lips,” Pagnella told USA TODAY. “Not being able to hear is hard enough. Now, lip reading is hard, too.”

Read the rest at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/27/coronavirus-face-masks-deaf-communication/3037302001.

Sorenson is responding to the FCC directive to provide direct-dial access by dialing 988 on your ntouch, which connects you to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Lifeline does not belong to Sorenson.

For more information on the Lifeline, please visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org

P.S. this applies to all other VRS or relay providers too. There are D/HH ASL hotlines out there also. If you prefer that, contact us or 988 can help you find that VP #.

(CNN) – The US Census Bureau estimates that about 11.5 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss. Yet months into the coronavirus pandemic, the White House still does not have American Sign Language interpreters at its televised public health press briefings.

Read the rest at https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/23/politics/white-house-interpreter-coronavirus-briefings-trnd/index.html.