Other submissions highlighted that face masks exacerbate many of the ableist attitudes in society around communicating with Deaf or hard of hearing people. Face coverings that completely obscure mouths further reduce effective communication for some disabled people, and within submissions there are calls to make clear face shields more common and easily accessible: “People are facing ableist and audist attitudes when it comes to other people communicating with us Deaf. People (general society) need to learn basic NZSL and learn how to communicate with Deaf people (there are a range of ways). There also needs to be an infrastructure in place for scenarios where it really is good to be able to see someone’s face and lipread and for facial expressions, e.g. more plexiglass shields, more face shielding.” (Submission) The right to a mask exemption is important for many disabled people. Some submissions highlighted that navigating the process for mask exemptions was unnecessarily difficult and stigmatising, particularly in education settings (such as schools): “Families were scrambling for information and applying for exemptions before term one started as there had been no communication from schools specifically for families of children with additional needs… [they were] grouped with the concerns raised by families wishing for freedom to not wear masks (for a variety of reasons) which is distressing and unfair.” (Submission) Some submissions also highlighted issues around navigating processes for vaccine exemptions: “This is an area where I think the space is really difficult. There is not a lot of knowledge around that mask and vaccine and other exemptions do exist for a reason…there’s not a lot of acknowledgement that genuine exemptions exist and that people are not just being anti-maskers or anti-vaxxers.” (Submission) “People who have suffered an adverse reaction after a medical treatment need special consideration to assess the risks of them having further treatment with the same medicine, or whether another approach should be adopted. The very narrow approach to exemptions creates extreme difficulties for those who have suffered vaccine injuries or post vaccine injuries which may have been caused or contributed to by the vaccine... The government’s ‘one size fits all’ approach towards management of COVID, accordingly discriminates against and has particularly serious adverse effects for people with disabilities, vaccine injuries or other special needs.” (Submission) 26 Inquiry into the Support of Disabled People and Whānau During Omicron