Quick-Panwala, who describes herself as very deaf, relies on lip reading to communicate. She says that in the middle of her pregnancy, when the Covid-19 crisis began, she was concerned that she would not be able to communicate with doctors and nurses when wearing protective masks.
“I like to say lip reading is my super power and masks are my kryptonite,” said Quick-Panwala. “I am completely disconnected from communication unless someone comes to speak to me personally so I can lip-read and understand what is being said. I knew right away that I was going to need some form of communication access.”
Her doctors at Sutter Health’s California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco helped ease her worries by offering transcription services for her prenatal appointments. But as her expiration date approached, she knew she would need something else to follow the doctor’s real-time instructions in the delivery room.
That’s where Isabella Appell, 17, comes in. The Thousand Oaks, California, high school student has been making facial masks since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Appell is not hearing impaired, but said he has always been interested in learning sign language and is part of several Facebook groups for deaf people.
“I realized there were a lot of comments about how scary it was for them right now and how difficult it was for them to communicate,” Appell said. “I started researching how I could accommodate these masks for everyone.”
Since March, when the pandemic closed her high school, Appell has been sending emails and receiving requests from customers, then diligently sewing the masks, day and night, from her upstairs bedroom.
Isabella’s mother, Renee Appell, is impressed by her daughter’s dedication to supporting the deaf community during the pandemic, while at the same time continuing her demanding school work.
“She would do homework or study until 10 or 11 at night, and then cut and sew until two or three in the morning and start the whole process again early the next morning,” said Renee Appell. “When she finds something she believes in, she gives her everything she has and dedicates herself to this cause like we have never seen before.”
Once the masks are ready, Renee takes them to the post office while Isabella does her homework. Her mother says the masks have brought the family closer together. “We have all helped in small ways,” said Renee Appell. “It has become a family project: setting up the website, photography, responding to emails, preparing masks for shipping, delivery to the post office, and other things.”
“I think the biggest challenge is getting the materials,” said Isabella Appell. “I personally love making these masks. I would do it in my spare time. I would do it all the time. But I am lacking materials, so I would really appreciate any kind of fabric donation or sewing help.”
As for Quick-Panwala, she gave birth to a healthy baby named Axel on June 6. It was a smooth delivery, so she acknowledges the caring doctors and her willingness to wear the talking masks that Isabella Appell sewed and sent to her.
“Having the masks available … really made a big difference in my ability to communicate in the delivery room. There would have been so much I missed,” Quick-Panwala said.
“That, as a teenager, this is what [Isabella] We decided to focus on – to facilitate our need for access and to help the deaf community to communicate right now – I am so grateful that her interest in this area led her to do this, “she said,” already help me and the many other people who have been caught between having to communicate and having to wear these masks. “
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