Table 3.

Major categories from the open-ended survey response to the question: Are there any strategies that you find especially helpful when talking to someone who is wearing a face mask? If so, please list them below.

Major categories	Codes	Exemplar quotes	Younger	Middle-age	Older
Active repair strategies	Clear Loud Repeat	“…I ask them to repeat or rephrase…” “I usually have to ask them to speak louder, articulate better, speak more slowly”	118	100	142
Nonverbal strategies	Face to face Active listen Nonverbals	“Looking at the person face to face when we both has [sic] masks on.” “Look in their eyes and read their body language. Focus on them only, and try to drown out distractions”	137	63	92
Written/captions	Transcribe Write	“I use a captioning app on my iPad, so I can listen and read what is being said. It takes a little longer to understand I have difficulty responding before the conversation moves on, but at least I understand more.” “Asking them to write down what they want to say.”	4	32	46
Advocate	Advocate	“I tell them I have a severe hearing loss, wear hearing aids and usually read lips…” “I have printed on my plain gray mask, ‘DEAF' with arrows pointing to my left ear and ‘hears a little' pointing to my right ear. For my purple mask, I bought pins. One says, I AM DEAF and I added arrows toward my left ear. The other button says, I AM HARD OF HEARING PLEASE KEEP YOUR MASK ON AND SPEAK UP. I have received compliments on both.”	4	25	51
Environmental strategies	Position Environment	“Turn my ear toward them” “Resort to an area with less noise…and move an ear closer to the person.”	28	23	16

Note. The quantitative data reflect the number of participants per age category in each of the major categories.