DEAF WATCH----DECEMBER 1997 Greetings, It's time to make the famed New Year Resolutions again. This Year's resolutions were all accomplished by summer's end. Next Year's resolutions are: 1) To increase circulation by at least 25%. 2) To organize and establish a new Deaf organization in Orange County, California. 3) To RIGOROUSLY enforce ADA accessibility in Orange County, California making it a better place for the disabled to live and work. They may seem simple but they will be a real challenge for me. My new organization 'Deaf Workers of Orange County', is dedicated to protect Deaf people who work in Orange County, California. We must unite because now-a-days employers in Orange County, California are developing new subtle (secret) methods of discrimination and experimenting them on their disabled workers. And in recent cases, they have been successful. This organization is already gaining interest among Deaf workers. The first meeting has been scheduled for January 22, 1998. I am very excited to be given the opportunity to develop an organization that protects Deaf workers by educating and providing them with information and local resources they need. Deaf Watch's participation in the United Nations International Disabled Persons Day which was held on December 3 was a total success. Our website was blitzed with thousands of visitors! This shows that the interest in the Deaf community is very strong. Next year, we'll do even better! I predict problems getting the Deaf Watch Newsletter the nonprofit tax status. This project has benefitted the disability community. Why can't we get the non profit status if Jack Kemp's political group could get the non profit status earlier this month by the IRS. Kemp's group had benefitted the Republican party and politically conservative causes. If Kemp can get it for his group, then why can't I get it for my Newsletter? My newsletter is a lobbyist. Let's see some fairness here! Deaf Watch wishes you all a happy and prosperous 1998!. The Editor ************************************************************ LETTER TO PRESIDENT CLINTON CALLS TO ATTENTION ON 1998 AGENDA ----------------- December 5, 1997 President William Clinton The White House Washington, D.C. 20505 Dear President Clinton: Under your leadership more than 10 million Americans are benefitting from an unprecedented expansion of the American economy. I challenge you to extend the benefits of this economic expansion to Americans with disabilities by accepting the challenge of assisting one million Americans with disabilities to obtain employment over the next five years. Americans with disabilities are excluded from the opportunities for employment arising from the emerging Information Economy. According to the Census Department, the employment rate for persons 21 to 64 years of age was 82.1% for people with no disability, 76.9% for people with a non-severe disability and 26.1% for people with a severe disability. The low rate of employment among people with severe disabilities is the result of the systemic barriers to work facing us. Evidence from recent studies and General Accounting Office (GAO) reports cite the fear of losing health care, and its long term services, prescription medications, and assistive technology benefits, as the primary barrier to employment. In addition, financial disincentives to work, lack of choice of service providers, the complexity of work incentives, and the lack of employment opportunities all conspire to prevent us from working. We are now seeing Republicans plant their puppets in disability organizations for the purpose of destroying them. Valerie Marino's purely political appointment by Connecticut Republican governor Rowland to direct the Connecticut's Commission on the Deaf and Hearing Impaired and the resulting problems within the agency is a CLASSIC example of the republican efforts to diminish the quality of living amongst the Deaf and hard of hearing communities. This agency is on the verge of being dismantled and a few of my friends living in Connecticut are moving out of the state to find employment. I ask that you use your leadership in two ways to assist one million Americans with disabilities over five years to work. *One, accept this challenge by announcing it in your 1998 State of the Union Address. *Two, direct the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Treasury to work with the Senate Finance Committee and the House Subcommittee on Social Security of Ways and Means to enact legislation in early 1998 eliminating systemic financial, health, employment training, and opportunity barriers to employment for people with disabilities. Your leadership in accepting this challenge will assist one million Americans with disabilities to participate fully in the American dream and to realize the promise of the accessible bridge to the 21st century. I eagerly anticipate your response to my challenge. Sincerely, Richard Roehm ************************************************************* RALPH NEAS ENDORSED FOR CONGRESS Justice For All is proud not only to announce, but to also wholeheartedly endorse Ralph Neas for U.S. Congress from the 8th District in Montgomery County, MD. Ralph G. Neas, a longtime friend of the disability community and one of the masterminds of crafting the swift passage of the ADA, officially announceed his candidacy for the U.S. Congress on Monday, November 17, at the Clara Barton Center for Children in Cabin John, Montgomery County. Ralph is the former director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR)(14 yrs/LCCR),community leader and teacher, and is currently President and CEO of The Neas Group, a consulting organization for business and non-profit groups. Neas also helped to establish the Children's Charities Foundation, which assists at risk-children in Montgomery County and in the Wash. area, and is a founder of the Guillain-Barre Syndrome (aka French Polio)Foundation International. Ralph and Katy Neas gathered Monday, Nov.17th at 1:00p.m. at the Clara Barton Center for Children at 7425 MacArthur Blvd, with supporters to officially kick-off the campaign. Justice For All encourages others across the country to either run for Congress or find someone as skilled, disability knowledgeable and unafraid to do battle for what's right as Ralph G. Neas -- U.S. Congress!!!!!!! JUSTICE FOR ALL!!! Becky Ogle bogle@erols.com Fred Fay Justice For All Moderator jfa@mailbot.com ************************************************************* Dr. I. King Jordan reacts to ASLNOW movement at Gallaudet University by Dr. I. King Jordan "Gallaudet is and will remain a university that serves deaf and hard of hearing students no matter how they choose to sign. At Gallaudet, direct, visual and interactive communication will always be a top priority. To that end, Gallaudet is and will remain a university where everyone -- students, faculty, teachers, and staff is committed to the learning and clear use of American Sign Language and English in all aspects of University life to meet the needs of the students we serve. Since it was chartered by Congress in 1864, Gallaudet has carried out its mission as defined by federal law. That mission is to provide model programs for deaf and hard of hearing Pre-College students: exemplary undergraduate programs for qualified deaf or hard of hearing undergraduates; and professional training for hearing, deaf, or hard of hearing graduate students. As a result, Gallaudet has always welcome students from a variety of communication backgrounds. Today, more than ever, our deaf and hard of hearing students reflect the rich diversity of the American deaf community. Some Gallaudet students are profoundly deaf; some are hard of hearing. Some were educated in residential schools, some in the mainstream. Some have cochlear implants. Some come with a great deal of experience in the deaf community, others from high schools in which they were the only deaf student. Some come from other countries and arrive knowing only their native sign language. Some sign ASL fluently; some sign more like English; some don't sign well at all. These differences notwithstanding, all our students thrive in a community where clear direct visual communication is the expectation. Discussion about sign communication on this campus has been continuous, although results of this constant, intense scrutiny may not always be widely known. Currently, the campus is engaged in a more public discussion, precipitated by a demand that American sign Language become the official 'speech' of the University. I am pleased that Student Body Government leaders, who are the elected representatives of undergraduate students, are now framing that discussion so it will focus sharply on what has always been the clear communication that is the right of every member of the Gallaudet community. One milestone in the long history of improving sign communication at Gallaudet is the Statement on Sign Communication at Gallaudet University, which articulates Gallaudet's position on this matter. That is also my position. Developed through an inclusive process with input from students, faculty, teachers, staff, alumni, and board members, the statement recognizes the complex nature of sign communication on the Gallaudet campus and affirms the right and responsibility of everyone to understand and be understood. At the same time, it points to the need for "sign communication at Gallaudet to be inclusive, respectful and flexible." It forcefully supports the notion of communication diversity and affirms our goal of meeting the visual communication needs of each individual. Adopted by the Board of Trustees in 1995, it states that Gallaudet University is a bilingual community in which both American Sign Language and English thrive." The Statement recognizes that American Sign Language is a key part of communication at Gallaudet. I, too, value ASL. During my presidency, I have encouraged and supported research aimed at enhancing the use, study, and preservation of ASL. The result of this effort is obvious: more ASL courses in the curriculum, the Department of Deaf Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Center on ASL Literacy and Training, which works with the entire community to improve the level of sign communication skills. Most recently, a faculty, student, adm-inistration [sic] task force began work last spring to identify the range and variety of best practices in visual communication in classrooms and suggest ways for them to be adopted and evaluated. Like the Gallinule University Vision Statement, the Statement on Sign Communication is a star toward which the University is steering. We have already embarked on that journey. It is up to all of us to continue to chart the course, to work collaboratively to devise creative ways to meet the communication needs of every student and to make our pledge of clear, direct visual communication a reality. Any effort to force our community an official language violates the spirit of inclusion that is America and that Gallaudet has embraced for more than a century. Congress has repeatedly rejected the notion that making English the official language of the United States is necessary to assure the future of American culture. In other words, the United States has no official language. Deaf culture like American culture, is strong, vibrant, and thriving; it has always been and will continue to be very much a part of what shapes our unique university. However, the different perspectives and beliefs that individuals from other cultures bring also contribute greatly to the Gallaudet identity. Individuals with different communication backgrounds and signing styles will always have a place on our campus. To exclude or suppress individual choice is never in the best interest of the University or the students we serve. No university worthy of the name would adopt a position that seeks to suppress debate and exclude all other perspectives. I take pride in the fact that I have made it a mark of my administration to welcome ideas, no matter how controversial. Any group has the unquestioned right to express strong beliefs without fear of reprisal or intimidation. I look forward to continued open and inclusive, but sometimes difficult, conversations that will help us move closer to our communication idea." Source: ON THE GREEN, October 1997 Posted by Jean Boutcher jeanboutcher@JUNO.COM ************************************************************* TTYSCREENER V. BREAKS ANOTHER COMMUNICATION BARRIER A new product announcement was released on Monday, November 3, 1997. The product as I referred to is the TTYSCREENER V. The product illustrated is shown on the DEAFWORKS' website at www.deafworks.com/ts_why.html. PROBLEM: An apartment/condo complex has a security gate that requires a visitor to go up to a phone board where the visitor picks up a handset and pushes the button that corresponds to the apt/condo in question. Inside the apt/condo the resident's telephone rings, upon acknowledging the visitor's call from the gate phone the resident pushes a button to let the visitor in the gate. The major dilemma is the accessibility of the deaf resident. Since the gate phone rings the apt phone and there is no tty at the gate phone the resident has no way of telling if there is a visitor or a "hearing person" calling without a tty or relay service. The options of a tty at the gate phone, which will not answer all the problems (ie. it could too easily identify a particular resident as deaf and create a safety issue for the resident); also considered a separate phone number that would be attached to the system (a monthly cost that can be prohibitive). SOLUTION: Due to modern security at the complexes, the wall buzzer panel type is now considered as an obsolete technology. Replacing the wall buzzer to a telephone has increased security for several reasons. Unfortunately, the security companies didn't think about deaf residents and visitors. To solve this problem, use TTYSCREENER V (TS V) to do the dirty work. This is a perfect ADA compliance unit for deaf residents. ATTN: Harry Gibbens, Jr., MTS TTY: (801) 465-1957 The DEAFWORKS Company FAX: (801) 465-1958 P.O. Box 1265 VOICE RELAY: (800) 877-8973 (USA) Provo, UT 84603-1265 VOICE RELAY: (800) 346-4128 (UTAH) E-mail: harryjr@deafworks.com Internet: www.deafworks.com ************************************************************* CODE SETTLES WITH BIBB COUNTY OVER 600 PLUS DISABILITY CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINTS November 29,1997 -Atlanta & Macon, Georgia The Coalition on Disability Education (CODE) recently negotiated a settlement with Bibb County over the 600 plus complaints against that county for violations of children with disabilities civil and educational rights. In the past Bibb County schools allegedly would hire a ‘dog’(1) or a ‘warm body’ (2) instead of qualified professionals to work with people with disabilities. Now in the historical agreement, Bibb County will continue to be monitored and must hire qualified and appropriately train personnel. For the past two years, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has investigated the complaints and reached a settlement to ensure equal access for all. This is the first time Bibb County has been held accountable for its denial of access and now must comply with the law! For years, Bibb County as well as other counties, have literally and figuratively denied our children access to an appropriate education. This is just the start of our series of complaints and suits against the state-until we have full compliance to the letter and the spirit of the law that we get qualified interpreters. In addition, we finally got the Department of Education (DOE) to take responsibility for educating and providing appropriate training and adequate supply of professionals in Georgia (see attached FAQ). Hundreds of Deaf children, as well as other children with disabilities, have been ignored and denied access and equal education. This results in under employment and unemployment plus welfare! WE must be pro-active now because in the long run it will hurt all of us if we do not educate our children appropriately now. For more information or how you can become active, call us at the Disability Action Center of Georgia (404) 687-8890 or toll free (800) 239-2507 v/tty for this statewide coalition of parents, friends, and our families fighting for our children’s lives and rights! (1& 2) statements made Oct/Dec1995 Bibb County Board Meeting (also in local paper and local cable) ### FAQs-Frequently Asked Questions About Deaf and Interpreters prepared by CODE Ó95- 97 Zan Thornton, BSW, AAS Interpreting for Deaf Who Is Given Primary Consideration to Assistive Devices Including Interpreters for Deaf? Who chooses the kind of interpreter/device? 28 C.F.R. § 35.160(b)(2): “In determing what type of auxiliary aid and services is necessary, a public entity shall give primary consideration to the request of the individual with disabilities” What Are The Qualifications of Interpreters According to the Federal Laws? Federal (national) laws define “qualified interpreter” as: 28 C.F.R.§ 35.104: “. . . an individual who is qualified is able to interpreter effectively, accurately, and impartially, both receptively and expressively, using any necessary specialized vocabulary...To satisfy this requirement, the interpreter must have a proven ability to effectively communicate the type of information being conveyed.” A proven method can included certification or state quality assurances like the Q A by GRID*. The term is further defined by 34 C.F.R.§104.1-.10,104.33(b)(1)(i)(2);104.37-104.39,100.15, and more What Are the Qualifications of Interpreters According to State Laws? Georgia laws define “qualified interpreter” as: OCGA 24-9-101: “Qualified interpreter” means any person certified as an interpreter by the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) or approved as an interpreter by the Georgia Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (GRID). OCGA 24-9-100: “It is the policy of the State of Georgia to secure the rights of hearing impaired person who, because of impaired hearing, cannot readily understand or communicate in spoken language and who consequently cannot equally participate in or benefit from proceedings, programs, and activities of the courts, legislative bodies, administrative agencies, licensing commission, departments, and boards of the state and its subdivisions unless qualified interpreters are available to assist them.” What Does The Federal Law Say About Equal Access to All Federally Funded Services? If group/agency/organization gets any federal funds, it must do the following: PL 101-336 CFR § 35.160: “ A public entity shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services...to afford individual with disability an equal opportunity to participate, and enjoy the benefits of a service, program, or activity conducted by public entity”. These include federal, state, local, territories including DOE, 911,& legislative 201 (1) p.II-26 Section 504 Rehabilitation Act of 1973: ”No otherwise qualified handicapped individual shall solely by reason of his handicap, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Does The Department of Education (DOE) Have to Ensure Training to Qualify Interpreters? Yes-GA DOE must provide training to para-professional & interpreters to make sure there are enough qualified interpreters? 34 C.F.R.§300.381-.383[p.42]:”The (state educational agency) SEA ...must ensure an adequate supply of qualified personnel...including special education and related service personnel and leadership, including development, updating, and implementation of plan & system of continuing education of regular and special education and related service personnel to enable these personnel to meet the needs of children with disabilities...” Means that Georgia DOE must pay for and provide training to interpreters & para-professionals Who Is Responsible for the Education of Deaf Children (and Others with Disabilities)? Department of Education State Level is responsible for providing equal access and adequate supply of qualified interpreters 34 C.F.R.§300.600(a)[p.63]:”the single line of responsibility with regard to the education of handicapped children...to ensure implementation of all provisions in this Act...(is) the state educational agency (SEA) shall be responsible.” Means that Georgia DOE Superintendent is bottom line responsible for compliance and GA Board of Education who oversees the activities--contact them at: GA DOE Board 2066 Twin Towers East- Atlanta, Georgia 30334-5001 (404) 656-2800 e-mail: policy@doe.k12.ga.us C.O.D.E. ©97 Coalition On Disabilities Education (800) 239-2507 v/tty e-mail: adaptgazan@mindspring.com believes each child with disabilities merits a quality education that includes: Equal access, opportunity, and effectiveness as non-disabled *Qualifications: GRID (404) 299-9500; ADA : SEDBTAC (404) 888-0022; For Interpreters call SLIS: (770) 270-2204; this information is also found in “Effective Communication” Ch.7 of ADA and Public School-Self Evaluation Guide thanks to Sandy Marchman and Jeanette Lorch Deaf Activists in Georgia for their hard work related to CODE Zan Thornton adaptgazan@mindspring.com ************************************************************* VALUABLE ADA RESOURCES FOR YOU The following information has been assembled for your use. General ADA Assistance : 1-800-949-4232 V/TDD 1-800-522-4369 V/TDD Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund : 1-800-466-4ADA (4232) V/TDD U.S. Dept. of Justice - Office on the ADA : 1-800-514-0381 TDD 1-800-514-0301 Voice Equal Employment Opportunity Commission : 1-800-669-6820 TDD 1-800-669-4000 Voice U.S. Dept. of Transportation : 1-202-366-4567 TDD 1-202-366-1656 Voice ADA Accessibility Guidelines Access Board : 1-800-993-2822 TDD 1-800-872-2253 Voice Feel free to pass this information around. ************************************************************* Disability Lawsuit List. A Northwest Washington cooperative has agreed to pay $180,000 to the estate of a disabled man after denying him permission to operate a business as a consultant from his home. Hailed by fair-housing advocates as a breakthrough for disabled people because it expands fair-housing laws by giving the disabled the right to work at home. The lawsuit was brought by the estate of Joseph Palmour, who died last March of complications from muscular dystrophy. The cooperative decided to settle now because of mounting legal costs. Residents in other units of the same complex were allowed to work from their homes as artists, authors, and telemarketers. Only a handlful of residents using the "Not in my backyard" attitude prevented Joseph from working in his home as a consultant. This settlement is the first of it's kind because it gives a disabled person the right to work at home. ************************************************************* This month's recipients of the Deaf Watch GOLD Award. Bernds Homepage (www.taubenschlag.de/bernd) Excellent Deaf German site! ************************************************************* This month's recipients of the Deaf Watch Award. PAH, MD (Promoting Awareness in Healthcare, Medical and Deaf) (http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/smd/stdnt/pahmd/welcome.htm) Excellent Site! National Deaf Services (www.jimcromwell.mcmail.com/nds.htm) It's a good site. Amy's Oasis (http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Lagoon/1152) Great Site! DeafZONE (Http://www.deafzone.com) Excellent site! A must see! ************************************************************* "They were more interested in issues and didn't think of my handicap. They thought of me as a person." Deaf educator Kevin Nolan hours before he was elected as Mayor of Northampton, Massachusettes. ************************************************************* "What causes problems are the structures of society that make it difficult to be disabled in that society. It's the lack of access," Kenny Fries Author of "Body, Remember" ************************************************************* Letters from readers and site visitors. JBliss Imaging Systems Announces New VIPinfoSoft Version Release We are pleased to announce that Version 2.1 for both VIPinfoSoft™ and VIPinfoSoft Plus is now released. VIPinfoSoft and VIPinfoSoft Plus Software programs are designed to be used by people with low vision or by blind people. They integrate OCR and synthetic speech technologies together with visual presentations of text to optimize the speed and ease of reading printed and electronic documents. The programs are highly adjustable for customization to the user’s vision. VIPinfoSoft Plus adds the features of e-mail, memo editor, address book, autodial, and printing to VIPinfoSoft. Version 2.1 adds the following great new features to both VIPinfoSoft and VIPinfoSoft Plus: * Books on CD: These books can be read in any of VIPinfoSoft’s Views (i.e., Marquee, RSVP, Word Wrap, and Image). As usual, speech can be turned on in the RSVP and Word Wrap Views. We have prepared over 600 books (e.g., including "Tale of Two Cities", "20,000 Leagues under the Sea", "Huck Finn", and "Dracula") and stored them on a single CD! This is a very exciting feature, providing a technology that revolutionizes "Talking Books"! At present, only CDs that have been prepared by us are readable. We have indexed this first CD by dividing the books into sections and some sections into subsections. This makes it easy to go to a particular place in each book. There is also a "Bookmark" function so places can be saved for easy return. The purchase price of this first CD, together with the indexes on a 3.5" floppy, is $49.95. In addition, Version 2.1 has many other improvements and refinements, including a method for obtaining grade 2 braille printout from scanned and keyed-in files, the ability to save files to 3.5" floppy, and templates for specifying the sections of a page to be read and the order in which they are read. The price for VIPinfoSoft is $795 and for VIPinfoSoft Plus is $995. A demo CD, which is a full program that lasts for 30 days, is available for $25 including shipping and handling. (The $25 is deductible from the purchase price.) To order, contact JBliss Imaging Systems, 650 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose, CA 95129, toll free: 888-452-5477, 408-246-5783, e-mail: info@JBliss.com, website: http://www.JBliss.com. ------------------------------- Hey everybody... Just another thought came to me...if we do write our papers and congress persons...I think we should include this known fact: (which I for one am really angry about) ......... Israel receives over $5 billion annually from the American taxpayer. Israel is one of the riches countries in the world, with a per capita income of $19.000, yet receives $1,200 per person from the United States with no strings attached. American needs the money for it's own people, for the disabled, the sick young and old. We have got to write and let them know we won't put up with it anymore!! THE $5 BILLION IN ANNUAL FOREIGN AID TO ISRAEL HAS GOT TO STOP NOW!! Make sure you put that in every e-mail or letter you write to the media or to whoever... they think we don't know about this or are too apathetic and won't complain...Let's show them what we want!! Kat KatKallen@aol.com (Editor's note. Kat never meant any hatred to anyone but is implying the fact that were still feeding a country that is almost self sufficient. In my own opinion, we should just shave $25 million off the foreign aid purse each year and use the money to support ADA enforcement and create better tax incentives for our employers to hire and fully accommodate disabled people. $25 million less is not going to hurt countries bad. It is only a drop in the bucket. $25 million each year can do a lot of good to the American disabled. This is something that is practical and that can be attempted by hopefully our soon maybe-to-be first Deaf Congresswoman in Minnesota.) ---------------------------------- The CD-ROM version of the AUSLAN dictionary, "Signs of Australia", was launched this past week. It has some 4000 signs dynamically- presented and, when it is available shortly, I will send you a disk. I wish you all the best of the season's greetings and the hope for a prosperous and peaceful new year. Harry Blackmore Dr Harry Blackmore Tel: +61 8 9245 1474 Fax: +61 8 9245 1430 Mail: 43 Newborough St., Scarborough, Western Australia 6019 ------------------------------------------------------------- - DEAF WATCH - Federal ID Number : 33-0765412 - Circulation by EMAIL : 267 Subscribers - Chief Editor/Editor : Richard Roehm - Orange County, California - Internet : Deaf@activist.com - Nesmuth@bbs.hwsys.com - Nesmuth@concentric.net - DEAF WATCH Http://www.deafwatch.com - Http://home.hwsys.com/users/roehm/deaf.htm - Visit Http://home.hwsys.com/users/roehm/nez.htm --------------------------------------------------------- - Education is the best gift that lasts a lifetime! - Help someone subscribe to The Deaf Watch Newsletter ---------------------------------------------------------- - SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION - To be added to the mailing list, send "SUBSCRIBE" - To be deleted from the mailing list send "DELETE" - to this address NESMUTH@HWSYS.COM - - Mailing lists are not sold/given to anyone. ------------------------------------------------------------- - Need to stay on the net? Try DeafWatch's own - "Keeping You Connected" sublink which is packed - with graphical links to FREE email providers. -------------------------------------------------------------