Face coverings inhibit ASL instruction during COVID, so schools have turned to clear masks
Updated Mar 15, 2021;
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For many teachers, covering their faces all day has become second nature during the coronavirus pandemic. But for Loren Hsu, an unobstructed view of her face is non-negotiable she relies on students being able to see her mouth.
That’s because Loren, an American Sign Language teacher at Arthur L. Johnson High School in Clark, is communicating in a language that is as much about the shape or placement of one’s hand, as the way one purses their lips or makes a facial expression.
Forging an accessible path
About a quarter of Americans have one or more disabilities. The School of Medicine is working to make success stories more common for students with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and mental health disorders. By Karen Nitkin / Published Dec 28, 2020
Grace Steward had always excelled in school, even in challenging circumstances. Diagnosed with major depressive disorder as an undergraduate, she took some time off, found effective treatments, and went right back to earning top grades.
Image caption: Grace Steward studies how psychiatric disorders influence decision-making at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
So she couldn t figure out why she was having such a hard time early in her doctoral program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.