DEAF WORKERS OF ORANGE COUNTY PROJECT -- DEAF WORKERS WEEKLY BULLETIN -- FEBRUARY 27, 1999 Greetings, Once again I am pleased to be rolling back to normalcy after a long hiatus to prepare myself and recover from a successful open heart surgery. Right now I shouldn't be doing anything until 6 weeks after surgery but my spunk and ambitions are too big to follow my Drs' orders to the letter. News has been piling up and it is not a big effort to run this weekly bulletin. This bulletin will soon carry political material as many of the year 2000 campaigns have already commenced. Just prior to the surgery I was delighted to see that the California Democratic Council has approved my two resolutions submitted to help people with disabilities. I will have these resolutions on next week's bulletin. Next step is working on getting a bill to force CA insurers to provide coverage for sign language interpreters. I feel this will eliminate a number of problems between California health care providers and their patients with hearing disabilities. I will be contacted by a legislator next Monday to get this ball rolling. You will be kept posted as this develops. Finally I am happy to be going back online with the advocacy projects. Lots of work still need to be done to help Californians with disabilities empower themselves and lead productive lives so they can be contributors to society not as dependents. Richard Roehm ---- CLOSED CAPTIONERS FAIL SPELLING TESTS By TERESA GUBBINS - The Dallas Morning News DALLAS -- As grammar sticklers know, typos turn up regularly in closed captioning, the word-by-word display of what is being said on screen. "Theorys" instead of "theories." The errant "e" in "includeing." Or the word "mayor" used to describe a female horse. Captioning has bloomed since 1993, when all new televisions 13 inches or larger were required to have a built-in closed-caption decoder. Originally developed to make TV accessible to the deaf and hard-of-hearing, closed captioning is now a regular TV screen feature in bars, restaurants and health clubs. Last year the Federal Communications Commission ruled that, by 2006, almost every show must be captioned. Steve Joyner, president of Southwest Captioning Service, says spelling does matter. "I've had people ask me, `Don't you all have a spell-checker on that thing?"' he says. "Well, yeah, we do. But it goes a lot deeper than a command of the English language." Of course, all captioners, who usually work from their homes, should be good spellers, says Darlene Parker, a captioning supervisor at the National Captioning Institute in Vienna, Va. If captioners do make mistakes, she says, it's usually due to the intense pressure of transcribing something live and the quirks of the equipment. All captioners are former court reporters, because the profession's stenographic machine is the only one fast enough to transcribe human speech. A speedy typist on a traditional typewriter keyboard can do 100 words per minute; using court reporters' shorthand, captioners can do 250 words per minute. Most people speak 200 to 250 words per minute. The stenographic machine, Parker explains, "is based on phonetics and syllables. It's very much like learning a foreign language, combined with manual dexterity. They hit more than one word at a time, like chords on a piano." Mistakes appear most often on live programs such as news or sports, says Jay Feinberg, marketing director at the National Captioning Institute. "Pre-recorded shows like `Seinfeld' or `Third Rock From the Sun' are captioned `off-line' and should be error-free," he says. With live broadcasts, though, you have to be able to type as fast as someone else can talk. Another noticeable glitch is when captioners omit or change words. Sometimes paraphrasing can't be avoided. "I remember I was doing a presidential debate between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale," Parker says. "Reagan said the word `Armageddon.' I'd been there all of three weeks. I knew it wasn't in my computer's dictionary, which meant I would have to key it, letter by letter. I thought, two Gs, two Ds, no way I can. Then I thought of `world destruction' -- a synonym that was close and conveyed the meaning. "You have to think on your feet," she says, "like a translator." ---- WORK INCENTIVES IMPROVEMENT ACT AIMS AT GETTING SSI AND SSDI PEOPLE BACK TO WORK Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (S.331) "President Clinton unveiled a new initiative that will remove significant barriers to work for people with disabilities. This three-part budget initiative, which invests $2 billion over five years, will help provide better health care options for people with disabilities who work, a $1,000 tax credit for work-related expenses, and invest in technology that can enhance their ability to participate in the workplace. ...The Work Incentives Improvement Act is a historic bill produced through the bipartisan efforts of Senators Jeffords, Kennedy, Roth and Moynihan in collaboration with leaders in the disability community and staff throughout the Administration. It is the centerpiece of the President's initiative to provide economic opportunities to people with disabilities." HIGHLIGHTS The significance of this initiative is that it funds the Work Incentives Improvement Act, thereby removing the a major barrier to passage for this important legislation. The President's budget proposal will include a three-part initiative to bring greater opportunity to Americans with disabilities: 1. Funds the Work Incentives Improvement Act. Health care, particularly prescription drugs and personal assistance, is essential for people with disabilities who work. The President's budget funds the Work Incentive Improvement Act, that would: Ø. Improve access to health care by expanding states' ability to provide a Medicaid buy-in to people with disabilities who return to work; Ø. Extend Medicare coverage for people with disabilities who return to work; Ø. Create a new Medicaid buy-in demonstration to help people with a specific physical or mental impairment that is not severe enough to qualify for health assistance, but is likely to lead to a severe disability in the absence of medical treatment; Ø. Modernize the employment services system by creating a "ticket" that will enable SSI or SSDI beneficiaries to use a range of public or private providers for vocational rehabilitation. If the person goes back to work and achieves substantial earnings, providers would be paid a portion of the benefits saved; Ø. Create a Work Incentive Grant program to provide benefits planning and assistance, facilitate access to information about work incentives, and better integrate services to people with disabilities working or returning to work. 2. Provides a $1,000 Tax Credit For Work-Related Expenses For People With Disabilities. Under the President's proposal, workers with significant disabilities would receive an annual $1,000 tax credit to help cover the costs associated with employment, including, special transportation and technology; 3. Improves Access to Assistive Technology. This new initiative will accelerate the development and adoption of information and communications technologies that can improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and enhance their ability to participate in the workplace. ---- UTAH DEAF ASSOCIATION ATTACK UTAH GOVERNOR'S EDUCATION BUDGET PLANS Gov. Mike Leavitt has short-changed children with special needs in his proposals to improve public education, members of the Utah Association for the Deaf said Friday. While the governor proposed spending millions of dollars on literacy programs, his budget sought to fund about half of the money sought in Utah Schools for the Deaf initiatives. For instance, schools for the deaf requested $440,000 for interpreters; the governor recommended $240,000. The schools requested $530,000 for growth; the governor recommended $370,000. The proposal sends the message that deaf students are second-class citizens, parents told Lt. Gov. Olene Walker. Walker agreed that funding for deaf student programs was not what it should be, but she told the association that this is a tight budget year and the governor asked all agencies to give a little. She urged the association to lobby the Legislature to ensure its needs are met. From Utah Desert News (Editor's note: Utah has long been known to channel funding for disability programs to their now scandal plagued olympic programs. In this case recent funding for new roads to olympic venues was originally earmarked for the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind!) ---- DEAF BLIND WOMAN GETS ROBBED BY PURSE SNATCHER A 73-year-old deaf and blind woman on her way to church was knocked to the pavement and robbed on Thursday, according to Spokane police. A friend was walking the woman to a car on the 300 block of North Napa when a man ran up to them and grabbed the older woman's purse strap. The woman was knocked down and the robber ran out of sight with her purse. He was described as white, 25 to 35 years old, about 6-feet tall, 170 pounds. He wore a white T-shirt and dark pants. The stolen purse was a large, dark-brown vinyl bag. It contained a checkbook. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at (540) 456-2233. ---- 13 STATES WITHDRAW FROM L.C. & E.W. CASE The Supreme Court will hear the Olmstead v L.C. & E.W. case sometime this spring. If the Supreme Court overturns the lower courts which have ruled in support of integrated services, people with disabilities will lose a big chunk of their legal right to be integrated into their communities. Governors from 22 states signed on to a brief asking the Supreme Court to hear the case and overturn the lower courts' decisions. To date, 13 states have been successful in removing their state from the brief. ADAPT of Pennsylvania was successful in obtaining cooperation from its Attorney General to remove the State of Pennsylvania from the Olmstead Supreme Court Amicus Brief. Alabama has officially declined to join the L.C. amicus brief. On Friday afternoon, January 29, 1999, the Alabama Attorney General's office notified the Attorney General in Florida about this decision by letter. Through its action, the leadership of the state of Alabama, particularly Attorney General Bill Pryor, responded to the concerns expressed about the L.C. case by Alabama citizens with disabilities. After an action on January 15 by eight members of Delaware ADAPT, Delaware’s Attorney General, Jane Brady sent a letter to the Attorney General of Florida withdrawing amicus support for the overturn of Olmstead. In addition, Maryland Attorney General Joseph Curran has withdrawn Maryland from supporting the amicus brief. ---- WISCONSIN DRIVING SCHOOL TO SETTLE ALLEGATIONS OF DISCRIMINATION A private driving will now provide sign language interpreting services to all deaf students during driver’s training courses, under an agreement reached [Jan. 21, 1999] with the Justice Dept. This agreement resolves a complaint filed in March 1997 by Evelyn Olson, whose son is deaf, alleging that the Wold Driving School violated Title III by refusing to provide a sign language interpreter when requested. The school argued that a person who is deaf could successfully complete the driver’s education course by studying videos, written tests and worksheets. This is the Justice Dept.’s first agreement that addresses the provisions of Title III of the ADA requiring “effective communication” in order to protect the rights of student drivers who are deaf or hard of hearing. For more information, call DOJ’s ADA Information line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TTY) or http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm. To obtain a copy of the full press release, call the DBTAC at 800-949-4232. ---- BRITISH SOCCER COACH LOSES JOB OVER IRRESPONSIBLE DISABILITY REMARKS Associated Press LONDON -- Glenn Hoddle was fired as England's soccer coach Tuesday after reportedly saying the disabled were "paying for the sins of an earlier life." Hoddle's three-year stay ended amid public condemnation regarding his remarks about reincarnation attributed to him by the Times of London on Saturday. While organizations for the disabled were the first to call for him to go, Prime Minister Tony Blair joined other lawmakers and media in assailing the comments. Hoddle was dismissed after meeting with the Football Association, the governing body of English soccer. Hoddle, who is threatening to sue the Times, has denied making the remarks and insists he was misinterpreted in the interview. But even Blair called the comments "very wrong," and Sports Minister Tony Banks said Hoddle's position was "untenable." As pressure mounted on Hoddle to quit, he said Monday he saw no reason to resign. "I'm not going to resign over this because at the end of the day I didn't say those things," Hoddle said in a TV interview. "It couldn't be further from the truth from what I believe about the handicapped and the disabled. The work that I've done with them over 25-26 years is there for everyone to see." While Hoddle insists his comment was taken out of context, he has yet to precisely spell out what he said about the disabled during the disputed ] interview. "More than anything I am dreadfully sorry and very sorry that this has caused sadness to other people," he said. "But at the end of the day I made the mistake and I want to put the record and say that these people are not being punished for their sins." The flap comes 10 days before England plays World Cup champion France in an exhibition game at Wembley Stadium. Among the possible coaching successors are former national coach Terry Venables and the FA coaching director Howard Wilkinson, who took over Tuesday as interim coach. Hoddle had been criticized even before this dispute. His player personnel decisions were questioned in the media and he has been blamed for England's poor showing during qualifying for the 2000 European Championship. England is in third place in its group behind Poland and Sweden. Hoddle's strong Christian beliefs prompted ridicule in some newspapers. He was mocked for enlisting a faith healer before the World Cup to help players recover from injuries. ---- NCOD GETS NEW LEADER Sunday, February 14, 1999 A Transition at CSUN Transitions are always bittersweet events. So it is with leadership changes at the National Center on Deafness at Cal State Northridge. After 42 years in deaf education, current director Herb Larson is retiring. Last week, his replacement was announced: a 32-year-old who has worked in the U.S. Department of Education and taught at Gallaudet University, the nation's oldest and most prestigious school for the deaf. Merri C. Pearson, who is hearing-impaired and can sign fluently, will oversee a large staff and manage a budget of $2 million. She will also be at the center of a debate over how best to educate hearing-impaired students. Schools such as Gallaudet emphasize deaf culture and teach entirely in sign language. Some educators argue that hearing-impaired students should be part of mainstream education. Founded in 1972, the Center of Deafness allows hearing-impaired students to take regular-session classes at CSUN. Larson's leadership helped guide the center to national prominence, and he will be missed. But change can be good, and Pearson's experience in fundraising and national contacts should help expand the center's reach and raise its profile. Los Angeles Times. All Rights Reserved ---- CHINESE DISABILITY STUDENTS FEAR UNIVSRSITY CLOSURE AMID ASIAN ECONOMIC WOES BEIJING, Feb. 15, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) A university offering the chance of a better future for millions of disabled Chinese people shut out of state-run colleges is staggering under the impact of the Asian financial crisis. "We have been in serious financial difficulties for six months now, since the Asian financial crisis hit," Yantai Yongkang Disabled People's University President and Founder Ren Zhixin said on a recent trip to the capital to lobby for government funding. "I have been to the Civil Affairs Ministry, the State Council (Cabinet) and visited many other officials asking for financial support, but also to report on the magnitude of the problem," Ren said. The cost of a year's tuition at Ren's college is around 7,000 yuan ($845), but he charges his students just 1,200 yuan ($144), subsidizing the university heavily from his import-export company, which has been particularly vulnerable in the current economic climate. Millions of people have been denied the chance to attend state-run universities on the grounds that they "fail" a compulsory health check. "You might have already been accepted in terms of your grades, but then you have to do a health test and only 'normal' people get in," said a professor at Yantai University in northern China's Shandong province. Repeated rejections from state-owned universities cause despair, even leading to suicide among talented young people who have a physical disability. The university's President Ren Zhixin, a peasant-turned-businessman from Shandong, was so incensed by the situation that he invested 30 million yuan ($3.6 million) to set up the university, which admits only people who have passed college entrance exams but failed the health check. "I knew a family whose daughter killed herself because she couldn't get into university. This had a very deep impact on me," said Ren, who has no disability himself. Currently, Ren's university has 600 students including blind, deaf and wheelchair-bound people, midgets and albinos. Many of his staff have had special training in catering to their needs. He cites official figures as saying around 60 million people in China have some form of disability that would hinder their chances of progressing beyond high school. "I went on business trips to about 10 different countries and they all treat disabled people better than China does," he fumed. "Even in Hong Kong they have special ramps and textured paving at the pedestrian crossings." The streets of China, instead of helping handicapped people get about, often end up as their workplace and even their home. A top Cabinet official warned recently that more than seven million impoverished handicapped people had no guarantee of a basic standard of living. Unemployment was cited as the biggest evil they faced. Wang Shijie, who was top of his class throughout his schooling, has ended up selling fancy lanterns sculpted from aluminum drinks cans from his wheelchair outside a Beijing hotel. "My leg was crushed in the Tangshan earthquake in 1976. My teacher told me not to even bother applying for university because I wouldn't get in," said Wang, who was always first or second in his class throughout his schooling. Wang, who enjoyed a brief period of fame when he presented one of his intricate aluminum lanterns to United States President Bill Clinton, winning a thank-you letter from the American leader in return, says the sense that disabled people are useless pervades Chinese society. "The word most people use -- cripple -- contains the Chinese character for 'waste,' implying something that is no good to anyone." "It goes back to the Confucian scholarly tradition, when you could not be accepted into the civil service if you had something wrong with you -- even a nervous tic in your face," he said. ---- NEZ'S CYBER MALL SUPPORTS THE DEAF COMMUNITY Nez's Cyber Mall is a fundraiser project that will help support the newly created Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center. This mall has been designed with accessibility in mind. All commissions generated by sales activity within this mall will be used to support the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center. Nez's Cyber Mall can be found at: Http://www.i-sphere.com/eyedeaf/deafmall.htm ---- NEWS FROM THE JERSEY LINE "USA-L News" - - - - Yahoo! News - Maine Headlines, Tuesday, February, 16, 1999 .... Baxter Superintendent Resigning - (FALMOUTH) -- The superintendent of the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf says he'll leave at the end of the school year. Roy Bishop is the state school's fourth superintendent in five years. He says he's worn down from serving as both superintendent and principal, since the latter job has yet to be filled. Bishop also says the school needs more independence from state government. - - - - Yahoo! News - New York Headlines, Monday, February 15, 1999 .... Hit-And-Run Driver Turns Himself In - (ROCHESTER) -- The man who allegedly killed a deaf college student in a hit-and-run this weekend in Brighton has been charged with D-W-I and leaving the scene of an accident. Dawan Albritton of Westfield, Massachusetts, was killed Friday night when a car hit him from behind while he was walking and threw him nearly 100-feet. Robert Goodridge turned himself in to police the next day. The Rochester Institute of Technology student died at the hospital. From USA-L News ---------------------- Letters from readers: TO: Deaf Community FROM: l.pribytkov@juno.com SUBJECT: PROBLEMS WITH COMMUNICATIONS AND RELAY SERVICE FOR NJ TTY USERS RUN BY AT&T DATE: January 31, 1999 Hello D&HH Community, we have problems with local and long distance carriers. They share their profit from us with Deaf Community organizations for preventing exposure their abuses! Let's act: 1. Initiate class action in violation civil rights based on disability; and/or 2. Change terms of Relay Service provision[The Board of Public Utilities is going renew contract with AT&T for providing Relay after 07/31/99. "BPU through it Relay Advisory Board has solicited input as for future services." according note of Stephen Gregory, Advocacy Representative SHHHP, greg515@iname.com [609-582-9798 fax] at Monthly Communicator. I tried to publish bellow concerns in NJ MONTHLY COMMUNICATOR. but Editor refused she instead sent them to AT&T and Bell Atlantic. Bell Atlantic got federal and state funds for Communications Life/Link up America Programs that provides reduced cost set up and $7 monthly credit that secures free phone service with 20 local units calls for low income people. Practically everyone eligible for any public assistance program is eligible for these programs too. Although 680 000 NJ residents eligible, Bell Atlantic allows use the program for a very few people by deterring imitation problems with certification eligibility in cooperation with state offices were assigned for certification. Nor NAD nor DD&HH nor other deafness related organization will even discuss the problems. During over four years assignment as my long distance service provider AT&T overcharged me in practically every bill with summary excessing $700. All overcharges were done for calls via Relay Center that runs by AT&T. And therefore they based on my hearing impairment. Some overcharges are appearing on bills practically every month and AT&T claims they have no them on my account file. I sent numerous times copies those charges by fax and mail; However they are still coming. AT&T particular often charges for calls carried several months before claiming its right to do it during one or two years. Everyone can order copies those months bills from Bell Atlantic if discharged them for checking if they really were not billed on time? Another distinct discrimination is practice charge me as a TTY user exclusively $5 for calls to Directory Assistance. AT&T runs NJ Relay Center that services TTY users in their communications with hearing people. AT&T prohibits Communication Assistants [CAs] to dial directly to Directory Assistance Centers, instead CAs required to call to a special AT&T 800-855-1155, that is TTY No too, number for TTY users with resulting charge $5 as it considered as an "Operator Assisted Call" contrary around $1 charge for direct dial to Directory Assistance that available for all hearing customers of AT&T! By the way charge for dialing to 800 number is a blatant violation regulations too. They have use 900 number for special charges excessing long distance rates based on time spent on line! More over AT&T excludes TTY users from possibility get long distance services from other carriers. They allow to TTY users get long distance service only from 7 carriers: 1. AT&T; 2. Allnet/Frontier; 3. LDDS; 4. MCI; 5. Metromedia; 6; Sprint; 7. Wiltel; However the 7th one is a wholesaler and never provides retail services! In addition those 6 long distance carriers AT&T allows to get TTY users Local Toll services from Bell Atlantic; However there are about hundred other carriers that provide better rates for their services, which are excluded for TTY users. For example QWest provides long distance service for $5 monthly fee and 9c/m with exact time billing after first 60 seconds. They don't charge any other monthly charges. Contrary best AT&T plan $5 monthly fee + $2.8 would be FCC taxes with 10c/m rate with every minute interval billing that means every second is subject to one minute rate 10 cents charge. One have consider that equipment most likely tuned for 55-60 seconds interval billing instead 60 seconds so consumer be charged 20 cents for 56-60 seconds instead 10. We can check only on faxes and faxes via computers exact time connections. These seems me sufficient for initiation Class Action Violation Civil rights based on disability. Sincerely Lev Pribytkov -------------------------------------------- In doing some research I ran across your website and thought I would pass on some information that might be of interest to your readers. The Wisconsin Public Service Commission has recently proposed a variety of changes to the Universal Service rules. Among these changes is the requirement that "announcements for vacant, changed, suspended and disconnected numbers" must be played in "TTY-readable format." The proposed order goes to public hearing on April 6th and is supposed to take effect before the end of 1999. Additionally, a number of other state public service commissions have requested the info from Wisconsin for their own evaluation. If you have any questions about this, I would happily do my best to answer them. Scott Stephenson - Director of Marketing Electronic Tele-Communications, Inc. 1915 MacArthur Road - Waukesha, Wisconsin 53188 (414) 542-5600 ext 294 - fax (414) 542-1524 - email scotts@etcia.com ============================================================== DEAF WORKERS OF ORANGE COUNTY Orange County, California Richard Roehm President Internet : Deaf@activist.com Deaf_Workers_OC@usa.net Website Nesmuth@worldnet.att.net Http://www.i-sphere.com/eyedeaf/dwoc.htm =============================================================== Circulation Information Direct Email subscribers : 64 Indirect Email Subscribers : 39 Feel free to redistribute this newsletter in it's entirety and if you are planning to add a mailing list as a subscriber then let me know for my records. 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