Archives for June 2003

This originally appeared in The Tactile Mind Weekly in Trudy’s ON HAND column.

On a recent episode of 60 MINUTES, Mike Wallace reported that African Americans were moving back to the south to reclaim their heritage, intentionally choosing to live in black neighborhoods and areas. As I watched the segment, I quickly saw the similarities among deaf people who intentionally choose to live a “deaf life”–marrying deaf people, living in areas where many deaf people live, and using ASL without guilt or shame.

I just moved to a “deaf-school town”–a deaf school is located here–nearly 20 years after swearing I would never live in one again. Back then, I felt as if living in a deaf-school town was unrealistic and unhealthy. But you know what? I love living here.

I appreciate living in such a deaf-friendly town. I love having so many resources at my fingertips. I love being in a Deaf environment. Mind you, I socialize with hearing people, too (it’d be impossible not to).

But most of all, I love not having to explain my language and life choices. Perhaps it is best explained by a comment on the show: “I was so excited about being at a place where I could just kind of be myself and let my hair down,” remembers [preacher Cynthia] Hale. “I didn’t have to prove anything to anybody. And I think that’s what causes people of any race, any culture, to self-segregate.”

I nodded in understanding when Wallace said, “But for blacks, it’s coming back to their roots. Many who’ve moved South say they feel they’ve come home.” I certainly feel like I’ve returned to my roots.

See the full 60 MINUTES story at
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/12/60minutes/main558375.shtml (link no longer active)

Copyrighted material. This article can not be copied, reproduced, or redistributed without the written consent of the author.

This originally appeared in The Tactile Mind Weekly in Trudy’s ON HAND column.

Picture this:

You arrive at work and find out an interpreter who you don’t directly work with has spread a rumor, in both ASL and spoken English that you were in a “serious car accident.” You confront the interpreter about this ridiculous rumor. The interpreter denies everything to the point of panicked tears and wild gestures, even when witnesses support you directly.

After weeks of faxes, e-mails, and calls from concerned friends wanting to make sure you’re alive, that you’re annoyed. Then you find out from an interpreter agency that the same interpreter used your name as a reference two years ago (while you were living elsewhere), even though you never worked with this interpreter in a professional capacity at any time, nor socialized with him/her. In fact, you’ve always stayed away because you feel s/he cannot understand your ASL.

So you decide to file a grievance with the certifying organization. After six months of a failed mediation meeting (where you are literally prevented from leaving three times, though you are told you can leave the meeting at any time) and unnecessary delays, you lose the case. The ethics committee has decided that even though you have e-mails, letters, and verbal accounts that verify what happened, it’s all hearsay because you didn’t directly see the interpreter say the rumor and that the rumor was spread out of concern for a colleague rather than to deliberately harm you.

Would you be pissed?

I am.

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This originally appeared in The Tactile Mind Weekly in Trudy’s ON HAND column.

Yup. The Americans with Disabilities Act is here to nip us in the bud.

Two weeks ago, a friend went to her eye doctor to get much-needed glasses. They told her they had tried to contact her, because the interpreter wasn’t able to appear. My friend wanted to go ahead with the exam without the interpreter, but the office refused. She was told she had to sign a waiver in advance and would have to reschedule. Never mind that she had to take time off from work for the appointment.

I called America Online last Friday and two different “customer care consultants” told me they weren’t allowed to take my relay call because there was a TTY number available. I protested, saying I preferred to use relay. No luck; I had to resort to the TTY line. Whoever answered the TTY number was manning several different TTYs at the same time, so responses were v-e-r-y delayed. The delay was almost worse than an answering machine, so I politely signed off. I called back later via relay, and insisted that I be allowed to use the voice line. Thankfully, the third “customer care consultant” relented.

One of my roommates broke her leg in college, and went to the emergency room in Washington, DC. The hospital refused to put a cast on her leg until an interpreter could be called. She was told to come back in 48 hours, and had a temporary splint put on her leg. True story.

Welcome to the aftereffects of ADA lawsuits.

Copyrighted material. This article can not be copied, reproduced, or redistributed without the written consent of the author.