DEAF WATCH----October 1997 Greetings, I had spent the month of October travelling by car from New Jersey to California. I was a pleasant deviation from the stressful year. I was able to regroup and strengthen myself for the next 12 months of intensively educating the Deaf and disability communities. I even took the time to visit the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee. There I was able see and learn a lot of things about the blacks involvement in the civil rights movements. I also find a lot of similarities the problems black activists had endured in their quest for equality with what some Deaf and disability activists are experiencing now. This has been a very pleasant vacation. My gratitude goes to William Cross for assuming the bridge of this 'battleship' while I was away and for keeping this on course. The first 12 months have been a total success! Using the Deaf Watch Newsletter, I have advocated, educated, empowered, and assisted hundreds of Deaf and disability consumers of their basic rights. Deaf Watch has already far exceeded it's resolutions promised to readers in it's January issue!!!. The next year will be very instrumental in forming a new Deaf/disability organization in Orange County, California which will compensate for the shortcomings of the local Deaf and disability organizations in which these organizations recently have been increasingly highly selective on acting over certain issues regarding the Deaf and disability communities. We need organizations who are willing put up fights on our behalf than just bury their heads in sand and pretend the problems will go away. Pretty soon the Deaf Expo will be in Pomona, California and to those of you planning to go there, I hope to meet you as I will be there on all 3 days of the expo! The Editor ************************************************************* DEAF WATCH GOLD AWARD STARTS NEXT WEEK Five months after the Deaf Watch Awards program started, Deaf Watch Newsletter has recognized scores of Deaf websites for promoting the Deaf community. The simple requirements of linking the website to Deaf/disability resources, Deaf schools, Deaf associations, and Deaf media has been well received. But there are truly dedicated Deaf websites and Deaf Watch has plans to recognize those websites with a shiny brand new Deaf Watch GOLD Award badge. Our thanks goes to Levi's World Internet services (www.leviworld.com) for creating such a beautiful badge. The minimum requirements for the Deaf Watch GOLD Award is ten.. yes TEN (10) links to each of 4 categories. There are a few websites out there that meets these qualifications and Deaf Watch Newsletter is looking forward to recognizing those dedicated Deaf websites with the Deaf Watch Gold Award. Another note is the that new website is done and will replace the one presently online. The new look is a lot smaller and more resourceful than before. You will find the new site to be faster loading, easier reading, and more informative. The changes will take place next week. Be sure to take a look at it. ************************************************************* SPRINT CALIFORNIA RELAY SERVICE RETURNS California Public Utilities Commission Responds To Customer Demand for Relay Competition WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 1997 -- Deaf, hard-of-hearing and other persons who use telecommunications relay services (TRS) to communicate by phone now have a choice of providers in California, following action by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to allow Sprint to return to the market. On Thursday, Sept. 11, Sprint again began providing relay service to deaf, hard-of-hearing and other people in the state. Sprint was previously the single vendor for the California Relay Service and discontinued service in October 1996 when a new contract was awarded to MCI. Over the past year the administrator of the relay service, the Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program of the CPUC, received numerous complaints about service under the new provider. "My office has been very concerned about the poor relay service offered by MCI," said CPUC Commissioner Henry Duque in a statement June 11, 1997. The commission's introduction of a second TRS carrier in California "treats these problems with the medicine that MCI recommends to others: competition and customer choice," Duque added. During the first week of calls this month, Sprint experienced a 69 percent jump in call volumes, indicating a tremendous demand for the quality of Sprint's relay service. Sprint Customer Service agents have been overwhelmed with positive response from customers that have been waiting for Sprint to enter the marketplace and offer competition. Sprint's new toll free numbers for the California Relay Service are 888-877-5378 TTY, 888-877-5379 Voice, 888-877-5380 ASCii, and 888-877-5381 Spanish. For additional information, Sprint Relay Customer Service may also be reached at 800-676-3777. All local calls to Sprint California Relay Service are free of charge and all toll calls are billed at a discounted rate. (www.sprint.com) ************************************************************* EUROPE-WIDE ADA-LIKE TREATY OF AMSTERDAM? Last year the European Commission in Brussels adopted a new European Community Disability Strategy based on Equal Opportunities. This is a very significant development in the European region and can be obtained by writing to: European Commission DGV, Unit E.3 Rue Josef II, 27 Brussels Belgium B-1049. Also the new draft Treaty of Amsterdam contains very significant new legal powers - potentially capable of supporting a kind of Europe-wide ADA look a like law! Let's all embrace and support the Treaty of Amsterdam! ************************************************************* THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN REFUSES TO TEACH ASL The University of Michigan has refused a proposal for ASL to be taught. See article in _The Michigan Daily_ at: http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily letters to the editor can be sent to daily.letters@umich.edu After reading the article it would be very much appreciated if you would send your comments to the editor. The resons for the proposal being refused are confusing as those who are interested will see in the article. But if I in my very biased view understand it right, the university is arguing that one class is not enough while students and the Modern Language Department are arguing a need to start with one and not an entire curriculum, and then to build upon that. The School is arguing what appears to be a need for an entire Deaf Studies program, but such would be doomed to immediate failure without some foundation to build upon. While the lofty goal of antire Deaf Studies Program is a wonderful thought, it appears to be an an administrative device to stop the REAL possibility of it in the long run. That is, once there is ample support from the student body in the intro class it will be difficult for the university not to have follow-ups. Of course that is only my opinion. Richard C. Eckert Graduate Student Department of Sociology University of Michigan rceckert@umich.edu ************************************************************* Disability Lawsuit List. Non-symtomatic HIV, "Regarded as Disabled", and new trial for Deaf women's suit. Runnabaum v. NationsBank of Maryland (4th Cir en banc 8/15/97) Non-symptomatic HIV is not a disability under ADA. The court affirmed summary judgment for an employer who discharged a non-symptomatic HIV employee on the grounds of poor performance and improper professional and personal conduct. In a lengthy tour-de-force of ADA law, the court found no prima facie case, and no pretext. Plaintiff's facts: he represented he was not handicapped; no actual disability; no symptoms; no effect on sexual function or procreation (his lover didn't know); decision- maker learned of HIV only after deciding to discharge; several other employees were known to have HIV; poor performance record. Deane v. Pocono Medical Center (3rd Cir 8/25/97) "Regarded as disabled" does not entitle employee to accommodation. Although injured and unable to perform all the tasks of her job, plaintiff conceded she was not actually "impaired" under the ADA definition. She claimed she was "regarded as" impaired by her employer, and sought reasonable accommodation. Held: An employee who is "regarded as" disabled is not entitled to accommodation unless she is actually disabled. Therefore, unless she can perform all the functions of her job, she can be discharged. Bronk v. Ineichen, 54 F.3d 425 (7th Cir. 1995). Court remanded for a new trial a suit by two deaf women against a landlord who refused to let them keep their dog. The case was sent back because of a procedural problem concerning the jury instructions, but the court expressed skepticism about whether the requested accommodation to the landlord's no-pet policy was "necessary" in light of the very sparse evidence that the dog had been trained to assist the plaintiffs. ************************************************************* This month's recipients of the Deaf Watch Award. Newfoundland School for the Deaf (http://www.k12.nf.ca/nsd/) This is a good site. ASLNOW! (http://www.aslnow.com) New and promising site for Deaf Culture! Canadian Association of the Deaf (http://www.cad.ca) Exceptional Site! Ministry Among Deaf Native American Children (http://members.aol.com/wisdomw/Ruthe/index.html) Excellent site! Silent Thunder (HTTP://www.velocity.net/~lrose) Good site with a great name! Casey Key's Hideaway (http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/5045/) Neat site! ************************************************************* "I felt dehumanized" After David Schultz was told he would no longer be certified as a lifeguard for the YMCA ************************************************************* "I'm still an actor. I'm not going to have my trade taken away. I'm on a mission to represent those with disabilities. I shall return." Michael Zaslow ************************************************************* Letters from readers. Hi to all !!!! & this is for Deaf Women! I am the Sec: of South Australia Deaf Women`s Support Group, and I would like to announce that we have a homepage for our group for you to visit us and to see what we are there for to do for Deaf Ladies in South Australia. We have other Deaf Ladies Support Group in other states of Australia too. Ladies or anyone who are interesting in visiting us go to: http://dove.net.au/~rodneys/sadwsg.htm could you sign in our guest book please as our group are very proud of this homepage and sharing it with other Deaf Ladies too. thanks. Kathleen Stanbury.... sec. for SA Deaf Women`s Support Group. --------------------------- Hello Everyone :-) Humpty Dumpty is now "sitting on a wall" on our SignWriting Web Site! He is so cute - an egg with blue shorts and a baseball cap, sitting on red brick! And you will see that the American Sign Language is so descriptive...showing him "falling" and "striking the ground" and "breaking apart". The poor egg :-( The wonderful illustrations are by Deaf artist, Lisa Moore. I had the fun of coloring them myself in Photoshop. I always loved to color when I was a child :-) It is written in American Sign Language by Deaf authors Darline Clark and Dave Gunsauls. We are slowly building a series of children's stories. At present we have two booklets ready: Goldilocks and Humpty Dumpty. In the future we will also have Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. You will find Humpty "waving hello" on our home page at: http://www.SignWriting.org May this beautiful story be a blessing to you and your children - Please feel free to write anytime - All good wishes - Valerie Sutton mailto:DAC@SignWriting.org http://www.SignWriting.org The DAC Deaf Action Committee For SignWriting Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA (619)456-0098 voice (619)456-0010 tty (619)456-0020 fax SignWriting is a way to read, write, and type the movements of signed languages. ------------------------------ The United States Constitution says that "any powers not reserved for the federal government or to individuals (as in the Bill of Rights) belong to the separate States." In the original Constitution, there is no mention of "rehabilitation, health care, social services or education." These duties were SUPPOSED to belong to the individual States. There was never supposed to be a "United States Department of Education," and arguably, that government agency, and the "United States Department of Rehabilitation" are unconstitutional. The Democrats have long been in favor of "equality," so they tried to "equalize" schooling, health care, rehabilitation, etc. by creating federal government agencies that would force all States to give "equality" to the people in the various states. This means more control by the national (federal) government and more cost for national agencies. On the other hand, the Republicans believe in the right of the separate States to have their own responsibility for Education, Health Care, Rehabilitation, and other Social Services. They say, correctly, that the States know their own populations the best, and that the federal government has no Constitutional authority to tell the States what to do for Social Services. The Republicans want SMALLER national government, and more power to the States to run their own Social Services programs. The history of the United States has been a "bouncing back and forth" between the position of the Democrats and the position of the Republicans. You can see the two sides today. The Democratic President, Bill Clinton, wants "National Health Care" for all citizens of the USA, while the Republicans want to close the US Department of Education and give control of the education systems back to the States. Is it better for the States to handle Education, Health Care, Rehabilitation and Social Services (Republicans)? Or is it better for the national (federal) government to make National Rules and National Agencies that might not meet the actual needs of the people in the different states (Democrats)? Is it better to give more DIRECT control of the Social Services programs to the people in the States, so they can get services adjusted more easily to what they really need (Republicans)? Or is it better for the National government to handle Social Services so people need to wait up to sometimes 6 years or more to get their complaints solved by appealing to national agencies (Democrats)? These questions have been in the minds of people since the United States began, over 200 years ago. There are good and bad things, benefits and detriments, on both sides. The United States Constitution DOES NOT authorize the federal government to have agencies like the US Department of Education or the US Rehabilitation Administration. The Republicans are right about that part. But the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights says that "all men are created equal" and are entitled to "equal protection of the laws." So the Democrats say that National Agencies are the only way to make sure everyone in the USA gets the same benefits of the law, no matter where they live. The Democrats are right about this part. So, which position is right? BOTH OF THEM! Which position is based on the US Constitution? BOTH OF THEM! Which position do YOU prefer? Think about it and tell your elected politicians! THAT is your Constitutional right, and you should definitely say what you think, and how the decisions of government affect your own life! P. R. Caswell, B.A., M.S., J.D., C.P.D.C. prc@webtv.net "The best job in life is helping other people to make their dreams come true." ------------------------- Dear editor, Kervorkian’s "methods" infuriate me. Statistically, assisted suicide prevention results when true health care provides equal mental & health treatment, pain management, and access to these services. Fear of nursing homes highlighted most assisted suicide request (AJC Oct 11, 1996). A 1997 Gerontology study revealed 30% would rather die than to go to a nursing home (USA Today/other papers) . People go to a nursing home not because they grow old- but because they become disabled. This fear & ignorance needlessly murders valuable people! Yet anti-abortionist take Kervorkian as a sign of God to defend their view, but fail to support true disability rights & health care. Likewise pro-assisted suiciders negate any discussion opposing their view, pointing to “pro-choice” wording. Yet people with disabilities are deemed "terminal" or "in-chronic pain" are denied health care and suicide prevention. What choice-death or condemnation for living? What about real choice and real health care? It seems as if society proclaims that we (people with disabilities)can be a thrown-a-way population --falling through the cracks no matter which side we turn. The 'pro-lifers' use us as tool for their agenda, yet 'pro-choice' says we should have right to kill our selves. Are these not oxymoron’s? I do not claim to have the answers, but we need to start looking at the problem through the eyes of those who are being denied access to basic human rights. Zan Thornton, BSW, AAS Interperting for Deaf POB 15392 Atlanta GA 30333 (404) 288 8346 -------------------------- I am happy to have discovered this NEWS GROUP. Why? Let me explain. I am 58 years young and have been extremely deaf for 18 years. Please don't ask why because the 6 doctors I have seen don't know. I live on an island called Key West which is 120 miles from Miami and 90 miles from Cuba.It is a small island (3x6) miles. A deaf person is pretty much alone here. I think there are 6 other deaf out of the 35,000 people living here. The mentality is 'No mentality'. A deaf person is to be stared at or ignored. I went into the local post office for some assistance and asked the desk clerk to please talk louder or have some one that will so I can get the service I wanted. the lady said "no" and asked the manager to usher me out. I had to explain that I have problem understanding due to deafness. This manager then went into a speal and talked to me as he would a two year old. When Sears still had a catalog dept they had phones on the wall to give orders over the phone from the book. I asked at the window if the lady would please call for me and she said"NO, it is not my job". My friend, which is deaf, could not get a Sears credit card because at the time he did not have a phone and one needs a phone to get a card. At the time, there were only two deaf people on the island and really no need for a phone. We have cable T.V. and now the school board wants to televise the meetings on the local channel. The county commissioners now have the meetings on T.V.. I wrote letters to everyone that I could think of and asked for captioning for the meeting. I received phone TTY calls from many people saying I was "unAmerican because I asked for the added expense of captioning. I tried to explain that it is the law(ADA) and they would not listen to me. They, more than one, said, "Look, no complaint, no compliance, so would you stop complaining?". One person that attacked me has a lawyer for a wife. They know the law. They did try to buy me off by agreeing to vido tape the meetings and mail them with in a month. They can't understand that one has to know what is going on when it is going on, not a month later. One finall thing and a important one. I had to goto court for a minor thing and my wife and I requested a 'terp'. The day of my court date I saw a woman walking down the isle towads me with a book under her arm. The closer she got the more I knew I was in trouble because I could read the books title and it said, "The Joy Of Signing". When I signed ":Whats happening" to her she said,"What? Please finger spell it." She also said that "there is a woman waving to you from the back of the room", It was my wife signing to me. So, why am I happy to know this group exists? Well, because I noww realize that I am not the bad guy. I am not crazy. I am not a stupid person all alone. I now know that other people in this world have the same problems and it is the hearing people that have the problem not us..... Thank you edkw@CONCH.NET (Newsgroup he was referring to was Deaf-l@siu.edu) ------------------ Dear Editor, Thanks CL for the open truth about the "Christian coalition"(cc) and "Democrats ... bandying ... phrases like 'family values,' 'government accountability' and 'workfare.'" Luckily Rep. McKinney & Lewis possess the moral courage & history to confront & speak the truth! However cc’s record reveals attacks on people with disabilities and African Americans unless it benefits cc politically (and monetarily). Locally and nationally- cc ripped any disability-friendly amendments to Welfare reform or education. They fought for religious exemption in ADA and other laws: Some buses like Greyhound still deny elderly & disabled persons rides because of the loopholes supported by the coalition. Disabled children can legally be denied an education! Their web page mentions disability as handicap (like the n-word to us!)-- only in fortifying anti-abortion stance--and conclude this is why assisted suicide is wrong. A majority of assisted suicide request would be prevented if true health care and pain management was offered along with equal treatment & access services. People go to a nursing home not because they grow old- but because they become disabled. Fear of nursing homes highlight most assisted suicide request. A 1997 Gerontology study revealed 30% would rather die than to go to a nursing home . Has the coalition done anything to help the 1.5 million disabled Georgians or the 48 million Americans with disabilities? NO! Has the coalition helped families? No- just hurt the poor, elderly, disabled, and feed the rich. The Christian coalition is neither! Zan Thornton POB 15392 Atlanta GA 30333 (404) 288 8346 --------------------- A dear friend of mine has become deaf later (60's) in life. He wants me to put together a portable voice-recognition system for him. This is basically a laptop with voice-recognition software that he can carry and enable him to join in conversations. I've seen a few commercial voice-recognition packages available lately, Dragon, and one other by IBM that might work. Do you know of anyone that has successfully done this? Appreciate any feedback, Larry Solomon lsolomon@solta.com ------------------- HI: my name is Randa, i have been in the u.s for the past 13 years legally , i support my self (no state/gov't assistance) and been going to college and would like to stay in the u.s. for the rest of my life, i am 47 yrs old and am deaf woman and i can support my self and have an education. i am from the middle east (Lebanon) and they dont have the access that the u.s. has for the handicaped. i have no family here in the u.s. my parents have passed away years ago. i love the u.s. and have gotten acustomed to the way of life here, if i go back to the middle east i'll have a very difficult time optaining a job, do to my diasbility. i havd had an attorney working on this case for the past 7 yrs and feel that may be i need some help from the national handicaped assoc. or any other organization that may help me with this delima. if anyone can help me in this matter i would appreciate it so much. please e,mail me at the following address since i dont always have access to this computer and my friend can forward the messages to me. screen name is ams854@aol.com or (310) 791-1756 ask for ADIB ------------------------------------------------------------- - DEAF WATCH - Federal ID Number : 33-0765412 - Circulation by EMAIL : 251 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 ------------------------------------------------------------- - The Gift Giving Season Is Back! - 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@BBS.HWSYS.COM - - Mailing lists are not sold/given to anyone. ------------------------------------------------------------- - Need to stay on the net? 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