#deaflivesmatter - except in Kingston
Frustrated, I decided I would address the Democratic
Mayoral Debate & Kingston's inaccessibility for the Deaf
The Kingston Democratic Mayoral Debate last night (8/25/15)
& the inaccessibility to the event as well as to events, programs &
services in Kingston, has me on my soapbox so no comedy in this blog today - just frustration and addressing the inaccessibility to Deaf residents of Kingston to anything much less a mayoral debate.
After an email back & forth with one candidate in last
night’s debate that was one sentence from him & one sentence from the
League of Women Voters of Kingston who ran the event – has me beyond livid when
it comes to full accessibility as per the ADA law for inclusion of Deaf people
in our city. The event was NOT interpreted NOR captioned to provide equal
access to all citizens but when I offered to interpret the event, I was sent a
one line email “they said it’s ok if you come” with no regard to the profession
nor required accessibility and this email was sent to me at 2:36pm – the DAY OF
THE DEBATE with an assumption I would be available, and would do it for free. Without
any forethought as to the LAW requiring accessibility as per the ADA law. Not
that anyone besides Noble made any effort at ALL though. In reality it’s up to
the hosting party (in this case the League of Women Voters and the Temple who
hosted it) to provide this access. So at least one candidate out of the entire
bunch made an EFFORT.
Regarding the debate: I’m quite sure measures were taken to
be accessible to the mobility impaired. The fact that the hearing impaired, ASL
using population of voters were considered to understand what was going on was
not considered by those running the show, much less that it was completely
blown off in the emails, is outright discrimination to the Deaf population of
Kingston. No captioning, no interpreter, but I’m sure ramps were in place,
special seating up front and so forth, in order to be considered “accessible”
but it was not. It was not even considered to be of any importance by anyone
but you! That’s outright discrimination, pure and simple. The organizers, host
nor your opponent gave a single thought to the Deaf voters of our region to
make the debate fully accessible to everyone.
There was no access to the Deaf
population; a voting, tax paying, working population of people who have no
idea what's going on because nothing is captioned nor interpreted for them in
their language, which is required by the ADA Law. There are usually Spanish
interpreters (which is not a disability nor required by law but a population
that is not learning English is more favored than citizens who do speak English
but can’t hear & need an interpreter to have access like everyone else – it’s
not a choice not to learn a language), ramps for wheelchair users & so
forth, but nothing is ever done for the Deaf population. It's absolute
discrimination in its most passive aggressive form.
The lack of
education to emergency services in terms of understanding hearing impaired
people’s needs is sorely lacking as well. When there is a weather emergency or
something similar & responders are out trying to find/help people they don’t
realize that deaf people can’t hear them calling to assist them & back to
the telephone issue, the Deaf person can’t call to GET help!
Regarding
interpreters as required by LAW as per the ADA:
When an
interpreter is needed, the general responses are: “you can read lips”, or an attitude of “you
can speak therefore you can hear” or “we can right back & forth” etc.
IF an interpreter
is found, the services are expected for free or a cut price for some reason.
Instead of respecting the education, knowledge, skill & time of the
interpreter is not considered in terms of expecting payment for these services,
which is mentally & physically exhausting.
#DEAFLIVESMATTER
#EQUALACCESSFOR ALL
So many topics
addressed in the debate were about “minorities” that only includes “the people
of color” population. Deaf people are a minority & their communication
accessibility is a right as outlined in the ADA Law. But the current Mayor’s
open door policy is a bunch of bunk: open door when someone needs an
interpreter to address him? When calling the office to sit down with him, a
staffer states that the person “needs to bring their own interpreter” & so
forth? No that’s not an open door policy. If perhaps both candidates addressed
the true need for full communication accessibility, education of & for the
Deaf, had someone who is deaf in offices consulting, representing &
provided an interpreter at every event they attend, speak at or public event
they address – nobody has a true “open door policy” nor is creating fully
accessible communications or information to the public in its entirety. There
is no consulting, no accessibility, no education, and no support being offered
to the Deaf population of Kingston. That includes this debate, as no Deaf person
can understand it, leaving each Deaf voter out of the loop with no idea what
either candidate stands for. The offer of accessibility was blown off by the
people running & sponsoring the event & those included in the debate
including those filming it to put out to the public.
The League of
Women Voters as well as the Temple Emmanuel where it was held & whose
brotherhood sponsored the event, should have made a concerted effort to assure
this event was accessible to EVERYONE & not with an assumption by anyone
that interpreting services were ‘free’ or a “they said you can come” kind of
response. The deaf population of Kingston is the MOST ignored population and
yet their needs are required by LAW – but are not followed nor is a precedent
nor example of this accessibility being provided anywhere in this election, by
anybody. Honestly, being told “they said it’s ok for you to come”. This message
at 2:36pm the day of the debate.
Their response to
your brief message said: “as long as this individual is regarded as impartial
with no ties to either candidate, its fine” – ‘it’s fine’ & the entire
sentence is completely ignorant as to interpreters for the Deaf and the ADA law
as it relates to the Deaf. Interpreters have no partiality towards anyone while
interpreting – their job is to provide communication from English to ASL &
from ASL to English. Period. So even an interpreter with ‘ties’ to someone can
interpret at ANYTHING as part of a qualified or certified interpreters job is
to remain impartial & just facilitate communication no matter the arena.
That there was an
assumption that these highly qualified services to provide ADA accommodation is
provided free is outrageous. The assumption that an interpreter can just show
up at such an event without any prior discussion as to pay, placement & so
forth in order to provide such ADA accommodations as per the law, is also mind
boggling. There was no following the ADA law at this event (nor most events
connected to this election or anything else in Kingston for that matter), &
is outright discrimination against a group of people whose disability via
communication inequality & whose needs for such communication accessibility
is required by LAW – is the perfect example of how inaccessible Kingston truly
is and that only people in wheelchairs, the elderly, the Spanish or the “minority”
of people of color’s needs are more important than those of residents of Kingston
who use American Sign Language as their primary mode of communication. The
League of Women Voters should be ashamed of themselves for not making SURE this
was a primary concern prior to the day OF the event & then expecting you to
relay a message to me that says “they said it’s ok if you come” which to me
indicates it’s ok to come as a member of the public not as a person
facilitating communication as per the ADA law – which is NOT free & is not
expected to BE free to make things accessible to Deaf people.
It’s insulting to
me as a hearing impaired/Deaf person (who uses a very expensive – (paid for out
of my pocket ALD, as no devices or communication enhancers for the Deaf are
paid for by insurance or anything else for that matter) that connects via my
hearing aids to a mic’d source that allows me to interpret at the highest level
of certification. I am quite sure that nobody involved would expect to put
forth their education, experience & high skill set to work for free at
their job. I’m sure that people who make accessible ramps & so forth are
paid for their efforts & materials. The same goes for providing these
required services to the Deaf as per the ADA Law. The fact that this was all
done last minute & just blown off, is very discouraging and is outright
discrimination to the Deaf population in meeting requirements of the ADA Law.
Very discouraging
indeed.
As for the debate: the League of Women Voters were
running the show & it was also produced/hosted by, Congregation Immanuel
hosted, said they have many of these ‘community minded’ events – but clearly
not inclusive nor accessible to all. Their ‘brotherhood’ sponsored it &
neither they nor the LOWV managed to make it accessible to everyone.
If the debate had been considered to be fully accessible,
there would have had to have been promotion to the community that it was going
to be interpreted, the interpreter would have had to have been fully visible throughout
(standing between the moderator & the candidates on camera at all times)
& there would have had to have been front row seats made available for deaf
attendees & not the press seen in the front row.
In the video of the debate, Part 1 at approx. 54min Gallo
states how he is going to make sure a boat on a pier is ADA compliant but he does
NOTHING to make things compliant nor accessible to the Deaf. (Including his ‘open
door policy’ as I describe below). When will various tours & events be
accessible to the Deaf? When will musical/theatrical events be accessible to
the Deaf? (Yes Deaf go to concerts & enjoy music.) When will local movie
theatres show open captioned films or provide accessible devices to the Deaf
that do NOT include assistive listening devices made for hard of hearing
people? Never if it’s up to Kingston.
Deaf lives matter!
#deaflivesmatter #deafvotesmatter
Excellent community policing re black lives matter – do Deaf
lives matter? Where there is no communication nor understanding of
communicating with deaf people, do #deaflivesmatter? Does it matter that the
emergency agencies assume all deaf people can read lips, or assume writing back
& forth in emergency rooms is enough for a Deaf person, or providing
incapable ‘interpreters’ who merely took one sign class somewhere & can put
someone’s life in danger due to their lack of skills; do #deaflivesmatter ?.
Deaf Lives Matter too! But when Deaf people sign – it looks like gang signs to
people that don’t know. There have been many deaf people who have been abused
by the police forces because of not getting it, myself included. There have
been deaf people abused, hurt or killed by using signs on a street corner all
over the country, because gangs, police or whomever, because instead of
thinking these people were deaf they were thought to be gang members. A deaf person
can’t hear the police thus cannot respond, they are left to their own accord if
stranded somewhere without accessibility to contact emergency services via text
to get help. The deaf community is ignored completely, nothing is made
accessible & no jobs are offered to deaf people in the area.
In cases of emergency services: Deaf people died in 9/11
because deaf people can’t hear emergency workers searching for them. Deaf
people were stranded (& died) during hurricanes, tornadoes, severe storms
& flooding, because emergency workers are not trained to know how to look
nor communicate with them & because someone didn’t answer their calling out,
Deaf people are stranded & alone. During
“Super Storm Sandy” every deaf person I know (including myself) was stranded,
without ability to get emergency services or help because of the need to be in
front of their televisions & video phone devices to make any calls &
there is no texting service for Deaf people from a cell phone (again the
expenses of being deaf & having ‘accessible communication’ is broken down
below.
Do we want the same thing to happen on a similar level in
Kingston during states of emergency? Without proper training in dealing with
hearing impaired individuals in emergency situations, without qualified
interpreters at the ready for these agencies & emergency rooms in
hospitals, without services in place to communicate to emergency personnel in
the case of an emergency via texting & affordability for the costs of phone
devices for the deaf to be able to call emergency services via phone – Kingston
will never be accessible nor equal in any way, for its’ Deaf citizens.
On EDUCATION/JOBS in the community: Hearing people, not Deaf
people, are not educating our young deaf students. Hearing people, not Deaf
people are not the ones teaching American Sign Language (ASL) at the area
colleges or schools.
Hearing people, not Deaf people, are educating the public
& students about Deaf Culture & the language & life of the Deaf.
These jobs are held by hearing people whose first
language is not ASL. These hearing people & most notably the teacher at
UCCC who self-runs the entire department is an audiologist. An audiologist’s
job is to ‘cure’ deafness. They have no right to be teaching a language and
culture of people who live it every day likens itself to the Rachel Dolezal
issue of a white woman teaching black culture where she has no first-hand
experience on the subject and also took jobs away from black people who could
have taught this with first-hand integrity & knowledge. What about JOBS
that are also accessible to deaf people in the area who want to work but there
is no understanding nor access to them? What about making sure the education of
deaf youngsters and hearing people who want to learn the language of the Deaf
& Deaf Culture, is taught by a qualified DEAF PERSON?
During the debate the following issues/topics were
brought up & discussed as follows:
Question #12: Communicating with residents. Why is ‘minority’
ONLY to be considered people of color? The minority is DEAF – who are not given
full access. The debate was not interpreted nor captioned. I gave a card to one
of the candidates who took far too long to get to the people running the show,
who then took too long getting back to him who then took too long getting back
to me – sometime after 2pm the DAY of the debate. The League of Women Voters
did NOT respond to his email to ME but rather blew off the suggestion of an interpreter,
sent it back to him & I got the following “they said its ok if you come” was
the only communication I received from a candidate who contacted them about me
interpreting the event. The League of Women Voters sent him back one sentence,
that clearly showed they have no idea what an interpreter does, ignoring the
ADA Law regarding access to such an event & expecting it to be free, last
minute & just “whatever” attitude.
“Coming” indicates attending NOT WORKING the event
putting years of skills & education to work, expecting me to just show up,
for free, without any communication as to the propriety and access of providing
an interpreter (placement, seating & so forth to assure the interpreter can
be seen at all times in the space as well as on camera for viewers). No, the
suggestion of an interpreter was instead completely BLOWN OFF into “they said it’s
ok for you to come”. To the League of
Women Voters of Kingston & Temple Emmanuel, shame on you for not just
offering this accessibility much less for completely blowing it off, thus
discriminating against the deaf & full access as per the ADA. Shameful.
The Mayor of NY (as well as other cities) – have an
interpreter with them for announcements, debates and so forth. The Mayor of
Kingston? Nope.
Knocking on doors – how are you going to communicate with
a deaf resident? How are you going to get your point across to a deaf resident?
How are you going to get help to a deaf resident? Not addressed.
Noble: “We don’t have a city work force that represents
what Kingston looks like” No we do not. Where are the deaf workers? Where are
the Deaf represented in government, committees, advocacy groups and so forth?
Nowhere, that’s where. So WHY are ‘minority’ communication issues being
addressed to people of color and NOT being inclusive of a true MINORITY in
Kingston of a Deaf population with a specific communication need? Providing
Spanish interpreters is not required by law, nor the ADA as it’s not a
disability. In my personal opinion if you speak Spanish & you are in America,
learn English – instead of being handed an interpreter while Deaf people who
have no other choice in the matter are NOT given interpreters as freely if at
all?
What about interpreters at the ready 24/7 on call for
Emergency services? Nope not available & someone who took a sign class
& says they “know sign” is NOT an interpreter & can cause more harm
than good, and usually do.
“…both women & minorities in city government” – again
– no hearing impaired person in any representative position nor any consulting
position in a place of visibility nor have any been reached out to, in order to
make this more visible.
Gallo: “hundreds of thousands of dollars have been put
toward community centers & such for people of color” (the minorities talked
about” where is the money to make all programs accessible to the deaf,
emergency services accessible to the deaf, daily phone communications affordable
& accessible to the deaf as being hearing impaired is extremely costly just
to be able to call 911. Nope nothing – just focus on the minorities of color
and no one else. That’s outright discrimination. So now ONLY black lives matter?
That’s the sentiment – but #deaflivesmatter too & THEIR needs are REQUIRED
BY LAW. Spanish interpreters are always provided for everything – but not an
ASL Interpreter for the Deaf as required by law. Instead of providing
interpreters for people too lazy to learn English in America – teach them
ENGLISH. It is NOT required by LAW to provide them with an interpreter,
awarding their laziness in learning the language of the country where they
live. BUT no interpreters for the DEAF are provided ANYWHERE and it’s an ADA
REQUIREMENT.
Gallo said: “I have an open door policy to communicate
with everyone. You come to my office you don’t need an appointment” but you DO
need an interpreter – a deaf person being asked by a staffer “you will bring
your own interpreter” is against the law. So your open door policy Mayor Gallo
is actually closed – to anyone who uses ASL.
“the tent includes everyone regardless of your ethnicity
or your race” – but does NOT include you if you are deaf & use ASL because
you NEVER have an interpreter with you at any of these events to promote full
open communication with your citizens – not EVER. So your ‘open door policy’
mayor is discriminative in its very nature and clearly your door is ONLY open
to able bodied, hearing individuals who can understand you without the need of
an interpreter. So your door is “open” to everyone – except Deaf people.
2 most important initiatives:
Gallo “bringing back Broadway” & work with community
college etc., & offering career paths & jobs – but is it accessible to
people with disabilities? Not to all. Jobs for the Deaf are taken by hearing
without the skill levels nor knowledge required for their position, no
offerings of interpreters at job fairs & because of the ADA, an employer
will STILL hire a hearing person over an equally qualified Deaf person to avoid
having to deal with getting an interpreter as per the law.
Move around the city better – transportation planning
motorized & non-motorized bus system needs overhaul move people around the
city better – making sure all transportation, sidewalks, bus stops are fully
accessible to people with all disabilities. Creating more disabled parking
& accessibility in places that already exist in the city, and making reporting
& enforcing disabled parking laws, more accessible & actually mandating
the police forces to ticket or tow the vehicles in violation of the parking
law. Messed up sidewalks with no accessibility to the mobility impaired, lack of
handicapped parking up & down Broadway & uptown and no enforcement of
those that violate the little handicapped/accessible parking. Kingston is not
accessible to all – far from it. Let’s focus on fixing what is already there –
making everything accessible to everyone and inclusion for ALL citizens of
Kingston, as a priority, not as a second thought if it’s a thought at all.
In ‘addressing quality of life” minorities are mentioned
constantly, but the Deaf quality of life is not good & their needs for
communication access is neither addressed nor given a thought – only ‘minorities’.
Nothing is as instantly accessible to
the deaf as it is to the mobility impaired, mentally impaired, Spanish speaking
or minorities. The costs to the deaf to use the phone, no events are offered to
be captioned & there are few qualified interpreters because there is no
qualified Deaf person teaching these programs to create qualified interpreters
for all things legal, medical & entertainment – equal no equal access to
all.
No accessible art programs for deaf, disabled or low
income. A recent event at UCCC sponsored by the Office for the Aging – not accessible
– not one of their programs offered that day. “Meet the candidates” events –
not accessible to the deaf. Various tours, historical events, street festival
performances, and so forth – not interpreted or accessible to the Deaf. The
DEAF are the minority & yet nothing is accessible to this population. No
Deaf person in representative positions, consulting positions, visible
positions of a public nature. The “Diversity Day” events – not interpreted. The
ONLY reason the National Anthem WAS – was because I offered. The rest of the
daily program, Gallo’s presentation and so forth – NONE of which was
interpreted for the deaf (& the stage was not accessible to the
handicapped) so once again, the Deaf population & their families – left out
– that is NOT ‘diversity’. I could make a mile long list of events such as this
that are in NO WAY accessible to everyone. Deaf people in our community are the
LEAST VISIBLE of ANY population because there is NO ACCESS. Interpreters are
expected to work for free or a Deaf person is expected to bring their own
(which is against the law). Deaf people can’t communicate with emergency
services in emergency situations. The list goes on and on but it is not people
of color who are the minority (for whom there are an incredible amount of
services offered free of charge) but there is nothing offered to include the
deaf population in ANYTHING, much less job support for qualified Deaf people.
Again jobs: jobs where it is required to hire Deaf people
to teach their own language & culture to hearing people for all reasons and
especially to train interpreters. This should be REQUIRED & JOBS need to be
accessible with interpreters for Deaf citizens to be able to work in ANY job a
hearing person does with fluid, natural, accessible communication. Does it
exist in Kingston? No.
On another note related to disabilities is HANDICAPPED
PARKING ENFORCEMENT – and a way for everyone, including deaf people – to text
the photo of the car & license plate to police authorities to ticket, tow
or have people utilizing these spaces illegally, be reported DMV or the police
to get towed/ticketed by mail. I’ve had this issue personally on far too many occasions.
There is NOT enough handicapped parking available in the city of Kingston. 2 or
3 spots available under the bridge on the waterfront, few & far between if
any, up and down Broadway. Stores have the absolute minimum of spots required
by law & they are often not the closest to exits or entrances. Walmart for
example, has limited spots & other spots closer to doors are regular, non-handicapped
parking spots. Those that ARE marked for handicapped parking are often taken by
people with no placard, people parking in the designated lined spots for people
with wheelchairs or walkers & no way to report violators. Handicapped
parking & accessibility is sorely lacking in the city of Kingston &
enforcement of parking is NIL.
Even, while it’s not in Kingston, the music festivals at Hunter, will take anyone who says they ‘know sign’ in exchange for free tickets, to interpret for the musical acts and where these people have NO business saying they “know sign” at ALL much less are they qualified to interpret. Interpreters are REQUIRED BY LAW they are not some FAVOR for the Deaf. They’re REQUIRED to facilitate communication & understanding to the Deaf public. Assuming a qualified interpreter will work for free, or providing “people that sign” with NO qualifications nor regulation check as per the ADA of qualifications or certifications required, as ‘interpreting services available’ at events or concerts and so forth – is not only DISCRIMINATION – IT’S AGAINST THE LAW. I’ve never in my LIFE seen a place LESS accessible to the Deaf than Kingston – where only a minority of color is considered important to address their ‘needs’ but an entire population is ignored even when it’s required by law. I've offered my services up to places like UPAC & other venues, only to be blown off and nothing is accessible for Deaf audiences to attend these entertainment events. Absolutely shameful.
Then, in the case of the debate, you offer to PROVIDE this access and it’s expected you will show up last minute, for free & with no respect nor information in order to facilitate such access as required by law. More shameful. No, providing an interpreter to provide equal access to the Deaf community at all events in Kingston is not some ‘favor’ you’re doing for the Deaf, nor are you opening up the community TO the community – is not some ‘favor’ it’s the LAW & yet the law itself, emergency services, hospitals, doctors, community events & yes, mayoral debates – are getting away with breaking this law – every single day.
#deaflivesmatter – PERIOD!
** costs to be a Deaf, ASL user – just to call 911 in
case of an emergency:
The costs of being deaf just to
call 911 & inaccessibility and communication equality for Deaf people:
In order to have access to this free service by
SVRS, there needs to be electric, cable TV & high speed internet. At the
cost of approximately $77 a month through TWC JUST to make/receive a call,
including to 911. That does not include the electric to have all of those
devices on at all times, plugged in and ready to go as well as the extra light
that needs to be on in order to be seen & understood by the interpreter on
the other end. When there is an electrical outage, a Deaf person can't reach
anyone even for an emergency. If someone like me (who is also disabled due to a
spinal fusion) with limited mobility etc., falls in their home or needs help, is
understood by the interpreter
on the other end. When there is an electrical outage, a Deaf person can't reach
anyone even for an emergency. If someone like me (who is also disabled due to a
spinal fusion) with limited mobility etc., falls in their home or needs help,
is out of luck because I’d need to be sitting on the couch in front of the SVRS
equipment with my TV turned on to call for help.
Then there’s the
additional need for a cell phone. There is an SVRS app for the cell phone but
it uses tons of data, there are no texting availabilities to emergency service
agencies & so to TRY to be able to have any emergency services available we
also need to spend upwards of $80 a month to also have a cell phone because
after all, you can’t sit in front of your TV & SVRS equipment 24/7 in case
something comes up.
Back in the days
of typing devices for the deaf, we were given a significant discount because
our ability to call was limited. Now with the advance of technology, it costs
MORE to be a deaf person in the Hudson Valley (& other places) just to make
a phone call, than it does for any population. Shouldn’t the need for access be
complete for all at the same cost? Yes, but it’s not. Nothing is equally
accessible to the hearing impaired, especially in Kingston.
Perhaps instead of building ANOTHER (inaccessible to
disabled kids or their parents/grandparents), creating ANOTHER program for
minorities of color, or making sure some boat gets to the waterfront – some of
these candidates or leaders make sure these costs are CUT for Deaf people &
that telephone access is truly EQUAL & so just being able to call 911 –
doesn’t cost each deaf person approximately $160+ per MONTH JUST to call 911 in
an emergency much less for any other reason.
STOP creating new programs for “minorities of color” as
both candidates stated in the debate, and start with some INCLUSION for ALL
residents that includes assuring communication is TRULY EQUALLY ACCESSIBLE to
every resident of Kingston – not just the poor, underprivileged or ‘of color’
but to EVERYONE including EVERY SINGLE DEAF RESIDENT OF KINGSTON – 24/7, 365 –
focus on INCLUSION of ALL PEOPLE especially those whose rights are protected by
LAW & stop allowing every agency, company & service get away with
violating that law. Lead by example.
The change starts with YOU.
