RALEIGH, N.C. -- An audiologist hopes the hearing impaired can still communicate during the pandemic.

Dr. Sheri Mello of Raleigh Hearing and Tinnitus Center found out about clear facial masks online. She then asked her friends with sewing skills to put some together.

"We're using vinyl shower curtain or sheet protector, something that's clear, so when you put it on you can see my smiling face," Mello says.

She says the traditional face mask has made it harder to communicate with her patients.

"They really couldn't hear me or see my lips move. So, we had to do something," she says.

Mello has given away 50 masks within the last month. She donates one mask per request for free. She calls the innovation a game-changer.

"We all look at people when they talk and if you can't tell what they're saying or how they're emotionally receiving your communication, it's kind of hard," she says.

"I'm not personally a lip reader but I do know that I focus on other people's mouths because it helps me...to assume pretty well what they're saying," says Doug Dieter, one her patients.

He says the masks are helpful because he runs a small business.

"To be cheery, and smiling, and talking to someone and able to articulate what I do is very, very helpful in speaking with them," he says.