My Face Mask Blocks More Than COVID-19

A large part of successfully living with ALS is to face each challenge with a positive mindset and find workable solutions so I can continue to move forward with my life. Lately, a 4-by-6-inch piece of cloth — yes, a face mask — is putting me to the test.

What’s the backstory?

Although I have ALS-related dysarthria, I’m proud of the many ways I’ve managed to keep using my natural voice. For example, when my voice’s volume became too soft to be easily heard, I solved the problem by using a portable microphone. Then, while waiting out the shelter-at-home guidelines, I have had a daily practice of speaking drills to help keep my voice primed and ready for fun post-pandemic conversations.

Recently, the governor of my state allowed hairdressers to open, and knowing my salon had all the safety measures in place, I jumped at the chance to finally get my hair cut. Plus, I looked forward to getting out, being around other people, and doing something normal again — even something as simple as a haircut.

My visit to the salon

Finally sitting in the hairdresser’s chair, I felt positively giddy. Jazzy music played in the background, hairdryers hummed, and we quickly began chatting away with all the small talk that goes along with getting a haircut. We both wore masks.

About halfway through the haircut, I realized my hairdresser and I were having two different conversations! She was telling me a story about her granddaughter and I was babbling on about my husband’s cooking.

Now I know I’m not easy to understand in the best of conditions, so putting a mask across my mouth only makes my mumbling even worse. No matter what I did — talking louder and slower, repeating sentences — nothing helped. The mask blocked my words from being heard.

Of course, I could just pull my mask down and talk, but that would defeat the purpose of wearing a mask. Face masks provide up to 80% protection against the virus, and like them or not, they are our new normal, for now.

Am I the only one?

Later at home, I searched the internet, wondering if anyone else had problems talking while wearing a mask. But all I could find were a few references about people with hearing aids having trouble understanding others and how masks prevented lip-readers and the deaf from understanding anything at all.

I needed help with having others understanding me.

My solution

I’ll admit that not finding a ready-made solution was frustrating. I knew there were others like me who were experiencing problems talking through a face mask. But we’re in challenging times and everyone is renegotiating pre-pandemic social habits, so a solution will come in due time.

Meanwhile, I’m falling back on the principles of good speech that I already know work:

• Eliminate as much background noise as possible.
• Face the person I’m talking to.
• Relax and take time to enunciate every word.
• Be ready to use alternate simpler words, or say the sentence in another way.

Plus, next time I’ll try wearing my portable microphone along with my face mask. Who knows, I might even start a new trend!

By keeping a positive attitude and finding workable solutions, I believe we can learn to live well while living with ALS.

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