It has been interesting hearing people talk about “Zoom Fatigue” and the impact it has on their mental health and well-being and how draining and frustrating Zoom Calls are etc and how they are looking forward to “in-person” meetings and conversations again.
While I experience Zoom Fatigue as well in video calls. I also experience this feeling pretty much everyday of my life. Especially in the workplace. Going back to the office won’t change this. In fact, depending on what hybrid model we end up with it may also make it worse. I don’t know yet.
All conversations require intense concentration. To lip-read you have to keep an eye on everyone — all the time! You can’t look away and you can’t always take notes properly. You have to actively listen or you will miss something and your brain is working overtime to translate what is being said (and fill in the gaps that your ears have missed). This is exhausting and draining. This is every day.
Hopefully now more people have experienced Zoom fatigue they will be more considerate of the experience of their deaf and hard of hearing colleagues. However, once they no longer have Zoom calls all day and they are back in the office I expect it will quickly be forgotten.
Read article on Limping Chicken: https://limpingchicken.com/2021/06/21/charlotte-hyde-deaf-people-already-have-a-name-for-that-why-zoom-fatigue-is-nothing-new/
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