Face masks make it impossible for deaf people to lip-read what others are saying. Fortunately, someone came up with a solution. 42-year-old graphic designer Justine Bate from Manchester made face masks with plastic windows over the mouth to help herself and her 10-year-old daughter, Teona. Both mom and daughter are deaf. However, the masks quickly became popular when people heard about them.
Justine has been absolutely swamped with orders after she came up with the design and showed them off on social media. She was worried that Teona would have problems communicating with her friends at school if she couldn’t see how people’s lips are moving. Now, Justine’s making a lot of other people’s lives better, not just her family’s.
Her 50-year-old husband Carl, who is also her carer, wears a see-through mask, too. Justine sold 42 of her masks on May 27 alone. They cost only 5.99 pounds (and that even includes packaging and postage). According to Carl, they can’t make the masks fast enough!
Justine Bate designed face masks with plastic windows over the mouth to help deaf people lip read what others are saying
Image credits: Justine DB
Image credits: SWNS
Her masks became very popular and she's been flooded with requests ever since
Image credits: SWNS
She and her husband, Carl, have been busy making the masks nonstop
Image credits: SWNS
Image credits: SWNS
The masks cost only 5.99 pounds each (and that includes everything, including postage and packaging)
Image credits: Justine DB
Image credits: Justine DB
Image credits: Justine DB
Image credits: Justine DB
Justine initially made the masks to help her 10-year-old daughter who is also deaf
Image credits: Justine DB
It’s not just deaf people who want to get their hands on one of Justine’s masks. The family’s getting a lot of orders for people with dementia and children with certain types of autism who are scared of folks who walk around with full face masks on.
"It was not to do with making money, it was to do with doing something for our daughter for making her life easier,” Justine’s husband Carl told SWNS. “It's been so overwhelming. She's a bit apprehensive but she's been honest with people that it's not PPE quality as there is no filter.”
Carl pointed out that the deaf community can be a tough place to socialize; the see-through masks help bring deaf people together. "The amount of people who have come up to her and asked for these masks is quite overwhelming. She's loving the fact that she's helping others make a better quality of life in this situation,” he said.
He also stressed that they can’t put a filter in the masks because of the clear plastic: “You are defeating the object of the plastic."
It took the family around 4 days of testing out different styles before they got their final mask design right. “It wasn't easy. I had my ways of doing it and she's got her way—but her way was the best way."
People loved Justine's design and complimented her
