As communities and businesses work collectively to implement safety practices to manage the risks of COVID-19, not all of the recommended measures are inclusive of everyone. For people who are hard of hearing or deaf, the impact of the use of face masks that hide the mouth has created additional challenges. Typically, people with hearing loss need to read lips and facial expressions for effective communication. Face masks that hide a person’s mouth interfere with the ability to understand and may have negative outcomes on the need to engage and be served due to misunderstandings and lack of communication accessibility.

To address this issue, The Canadian Hard of Hearing Association has partnered with the Como Foundation to launch the Share Your Smile Campaign.  The goal of this initiative is to manufacture and distribute “access masks” which have a clear lens to see your mouth. We know that being able to see facial expressions and to read lips significantly improves effective communication and connections for people of all ages and abilities.

EARN is proud to support any initiative that seeks to promote diversity, inclusion and accessibility both within our community and the labour market.  This is why we are especially delighted to support the #ShareYourSmile Campaign.

Please note that these masks are Canadian made and are approved by Ontario PPE Standards Program, Health Canada and meet the Federal guidelines on PPE’s.

Pricing ranges are available starting at $19.50 for 1-50 units and there are also potential discount opportunities.  For more information about purchasing, and any questions you may have, please contact:

Richard Plummer, Director, Business Development and Operations:  rplummer@chha.ca

613-526-1584 x 102

To find out more information, please visit:

https://www.chha.ca/get-involved/shareyoursmile/

We also encourage you to support the initiative on twitter with the hashtag #ShareYourSmile