Madam Speaker, May is Speech and Hearing Month in Canada. Masks and screens have kept us safe but are also barriers to communication during this pandemic, fundamentally changing how we connect and communicate with one another.
Picture a nurse struggling to provide information to patients through layers of PPE, a newcomer trying to follow conversations without the help of facial expressions, a student straining to learn as the teacher freezes on screen yet again, an infant trying to understand the world through people’s faces or a senior navigating ever-changing technology. These communication breakdowns encourage a sense of empathy for people with communication disorders, who live with this reality every day.
This May, we thank the speech language pathologists, including my wife Rose, audiologists and communication health assistants, who, during this pandemic and beyond, are committed to helping Canadians of all ages to speak well, hear well and live well.