DV/SA and People with Hearing Loss

DV/SA and People with Hearing Loss Assuring Welcome, Communication and Program Access, Community Involvement and Agency Representation

1. Deafness and Hearing Loss Quiz • Quiz: not for collection or judgment – just for review and discussion of facts

1. Most deaf people have parents and other family members who are deaf. True _____ False _____

2. American Sign Language is a “true” language, with vocabulary, syntax, idioms and dialects. True ____ False ____

3. Most deaf people wish they could hear. True ____ False ____

4. People with hearing loss are the single largest “disability group” in the USA. True ____ False ____

5. If you do not know sign language, writing back and forth will work with deafclients, victims, perps and others. True ____ False ____

6. A deaf child with parents who hear and do not sign will develop more and better language skills than a deaf child with signing deaf parents. True ____ False ____

7. Deafness does not indicate lesser potential or actual intelligence. True ____ False ____

8. By the year 2015, as much as 15% of the entire population will have hearing loss. True ____ False ____

9. For most situations, a friend, child or family member can interpret for policeor emergency professionals. True ____ False ____

10. Hearing aids give close to normal hearing for most people with hearing loss. True ____ False ____

11. People who are deaf/blind require specially trained interpreters. True ____ False ____

2). Those deaf people: • Do not attend meetings or activities • Show up but do not participate • Attend once and never again • Expect an interpreter 24 hours a day • Are not interested in volunteering or working with us • Won’t call on the TTY • Won’t bring “their own” interpreters

3). Why not? • a). Importance of using consistent PR; having deaf professionals as speakers and trainers, not just “clients”, need for ASL interpreters (or other services or equipment) for events and services – for events, give deadline for requesting interpreters to save money; put out bids for competing interpreters or referral agencies: this is a great way to cut costs and assure access.

b). People with hearing loss are visual: facial expressions, comments addressed to others or with mouth covered, poor lighting, exaggerated speech, etc. are disincentives to attend or come back. Make sure that all of your staff are aware of the need to extend common courtesy to those with hearing loss, as well as an awareness of visual cues and agency representation.

c). Interpreters are either professional or they are not. Unless an interpreter is a licensed or certified professional, they should not be interpreting for any service, advocacy activity or issue that requires confidentiality or knowledge of DV/SA or related terminology. Keep in mind that the interpreter is not “for the deaf person”! The interpreter is to facilitate communication between two or more parties who do not comfortably speak each other’s language. The interpreter’s skills and certification level have great bearing on not just what the deaf person says, but what you say to the deaf person!

d). Meetings, events, activities with deaf people: what happens…deaf people or hearing people in a meeting of peers do fine: hearing people use sound to know when to “jump in”, respond or make a comment, and deaf people use vision. When (usually very few) deaf people are in a “hearing” meeting or event, the time-lag with ASL interpreters or CART makes it impossible for those with hearing loss to participate equally – the interpreter/CART reporter is 1 – 3 sentences behind the actual conversation. Someone needs to take responsibility to “run” the meeting: participants must be informed that only one person speaks at a time, anyone desiring to speak must raise a hand and be recognized, and there should be no “sidebars” during the meeting. Deaf people may have one or more comments or questions, but cannot break into the overlaps and quick segue of speech and often become annoyed, bored and burned out of trying to participate in hearing/deaf activities and events.

e). Terminology: just as individuals will decide that they are disabled, gay, black, senior, Latina or “whatever”, people with hearing loss make their own decisions about how they are labeled. The term “hearing impaired” is a medical/rehab term that focuses on a “lack” instead of a capacity. The terms most often used are deaf/Deaf, hard of hearing, deaf/blind, late deafened, oral deaf. People who are “hearing” cannot all hear, speak, write or process information equally well. People with hearing loss in any particular category are equally diverse: there are subtle variations and sometimes huge disparities.

f). A single employee or volunteer who is deaf or with hearing loss may (or may not) be an expert at knowing their own group’s needs, but they may know nothing about DV/SA. Make sure they get training, and empower them about agency information, resources, locations of staff and equipment, etc. There is nothing as daunting as being isolated (physically or due to communication) and feeling stupid and uninformed. Make sure that any verbal announcements are written and provided to this personnel, and make sure that they have the chance to provide you with communication options if there is no interpreter. Meetings, group activities, trainings, evaluations and other required and critical work functions need to be made accessible by providing ASL interpreters or another mode of communication that assures the individual with hearing loss of getting adequate information.

g). If your agency has a TTY or staff are expected to use Phone or Video Relay, be consistent! Make sure that those answering the phones know how to use these services, and that they should speak to the caller/client, not the Operator! It only takes one or two oversights or incidences of “rudeness” or carelessness for word to get out to the community that “they are not deaf friendly”. Giving incentives to staff for their fluency in this area can make the difference between grudging agreement to work with those with hearing loss and an agency that is known for its access.

h). Make sure that your services, systems (alarm or entry system), media products, etc. are in accessible format, and that deaf staff, clients, volunteers or visitors can access these items. Again, it only takes one mistake (a deaf person stuck in an elevator with no way to communicate; a person with hearing loss watching a movie that is not captioned; an alarm or entry system that cannot be used or heard by someone with hearing loss) or oversight for your agency to be labeled negatively – this can take a long time to overcome.

4). Remember your training and knowledge! Those closest to a victim are more likely to be perpetrators! Your lack of knowledge about communication is absolutely not a reason to allow a boyfriend, husband, girlfriend, parent, teacher or friend to “interpret” or to “help communicate”. Get a professional interpreter, write back-and-forth, gesture (until the interpreter arrives), but do not allow any other person to witness a session, a discussion of the problem, or a referral to any other party – doing this could re-victimize the victim, enrage the perpetrator or confirm the victim’s belief that no one will help them or understand the problem.

If a client ever refuses a professional interpreter, have ready a waiver for them to sign stating they were offered this service and they refused it. This should be signed, dated and witnessed.

Email contact: mwambach@dawcas.org

DV/SA and People with Hearing Loss