An Avcilar Municipality's worker presents a protective face mask which allows reading lips designed by Mayor Turan Hancerli for families who have hearing impaired members in Istanbul on May 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Osman Orsal)
Istanbul decides to produce specially designed tailor-made facial masks for people with hearing disabilities amid COVID-19 pandemic, making lip-reading possible.
ISTANBUL, May 27 (Xinhua) -- A man in his 20s with hearing disabilities arrived in a center in Turkey's Istanbul on Wednesday to try on a transparent facial mask that he ordered.
"Are you happy with the mask? Can you follow me?" a municipal official for the Avcilar district on the European side of the city asked him, her mouth was visible for lip-reading as she also wore a transparent facial mask.
The Avcilar Municipality has recently decided to produce specially designed tailor-made facial masks for people with hearing disabilities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic after observing that regular masks seriously limit their communication, making the lip-reading impossible.
Avcilar Municipality's employees make protective face masks, which allow reading lips designed by Mayor Turan Hancerli for families who have hearing impaired members in Istanbul on May 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Osman Orsal)
"These transparent masks, however, enable disabled people to read lips and communicate with others decently," Ilyas Ozturk, a project manager of the municipality, told Xinhua on Wednesday.
So far, the municipality delivered nearly 1,000 free see-through masks to people in need, either in the district or in other parts of Istanbul upon their requests.
Several people living in other provinces across the country also contacted the municipality, asking for the special masks to be delivered to them.
"We are getting many demands through our call centers, or social media accounts," Ozturk added.
Ozturk recalled that the municipality recently received an order from a citizen in the southern province of Antalya.
An Avcilar Municipality's worker presents a protective face mask which allows reading lips designed by Mayor Turan Hancerli for families who have hearing impaired members in Istanbul on May 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Osman Orsal)
"As soon as he received the mask, he put it on, took a selfie, and sent it to the municipal team with gratitude," he said, noting that they are receiving a considerable number of appreciation messages every day from the users.
Sometimes citizens send their masks back to the municipality, requesting some adjustments, Ozturk continued.
"As the masks are tailor-made products, our production teams can easily perform necessary adjustments in line with the demands of our citizens," he said. "But, nearly 95 percent of them are happy with their masks."
A total of 12 municipal workers have been working at the mask manufacturing center, producing 4,000 to 5,000 regular masks per day.
An Avcilar Municipality's worker presents a protective face mask which allows reading lips designed by Mayor Turan Hancerli for families who have hearing impaired members in Istanbul on May 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Osman Orsal)
"We have a huge production capacity at the center," he added. "Therefore, we can easily reserve part of our production for the needs of people with hearing disabilities."
According to gesture experts, there are many facial gestures when communicating through sign language. But as the facial masks became mandatory in many locations due to the COVID-19, people with hearing disabilities are having difficulties in communicating with others.
"Therefore, these kinds of specially designed masks are making their lives more comfortable during this crisis," Ozturk added. ■