ABSTRACT 

Throughout history, the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) community has been marginalized by the hearing community. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the marginalization of the DHH community, affecting their physical and mental well-being. The main aspects of marginalization are inaccessible and unreliable health information, inadequate interpretive services during online schooling and the communication barrier resulting from wearing face masks and social distancing. These challenges will be investigated at both the individual and societal level - with policy implications in mind - by integrating three psychological concepts: self-determination, availability bias and autonomy support. The study objective is to identify obstacles and analyze how they impacted the DHH community using the three concepts. In the end, appropriate and inclusive recommendations will be proposed to enhance the DHH community’s well-being for future pandemics.

Keywords: Deaf andHard-of-Hearing (DHH) community, Covid-19, Mental Health 

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