Parke has been deaf since he was six years old. Although he can speak, he tries to avoid using his voice in public because people think he is able to hear them.
Simple things like going to get groceries is something he doesn’t want to do anymore. He said some of the safety measures, like face masks, make it even more difficult to communicate.
“It’s unnerving because you can’t ask for help,” Parke said. “If you try to ask for help like a normal person hearing person would, you would be able to understand each other, even through a mask.”
In his opinion, deaf people have been trained all their lives to be isolated.
Now when they go out, they can’t read lips anymore because of masks and can’t communicate via phone because of social distancing. He said it’s hard even when they are prepared.
“I actually had some things typed out on my phone and ready to show people, asking them a question. Almost every note has to start out with “I am deaf,” so that you understand if you talk back to me, I’m not going to understand you through your mouth,” Parke said.
He said their community knows its for the best, but all aspects of life are even harder now. For them, it’s safety over being able to communicate.
For the hearing community, he’s asking us to just have patience.
