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As printed in Hearing Health, volume 20:4,
Winter 2004
by Joyce Scott, M.Ed.
Modern technology coupled with legally-protected rights
give today’s Americans who are deaf or hard of
hearing (D/HH) mainstream access that their counterparts
from just fifty years ago could not have imagined. Most
people with hearing loss benefit from regular use of
one or more types of assistive devices or systems. Pioneering
technology such as hearing aids, text telephones (TTY
or TDD) and amplified telephones, gave way to assistive
listening devices and FM systems, visual alerting devices,
vibrating alerting devices, computer bulletin boards
and closed and open captioning.
These high-tech tools and services, along with laws
that ensure employers will make accommodations to incorporate
them, have opened many occupations to people with hearing
loss. Now a new generation of technological advances
is going beyond making occupations possible to making
them practical and even convenient. Fax machines, computers,
e-mail, instant messaging, web conferencing, computer-aided,
real-time transcription services as well as text pagers
and videophones are blowing open the doors that have
kept people with hearing loss from accessing even occupations
that rely heavily on oral communication.
Hot New Technology
One of the newest developments that is quickly gaining
popularity among D/HH professionals is the videophone.
Think back to “Star Trek’s” Captain
Kirk with his big screen on the bridge. He wants a visual
of the Federation commander - with a press of the button,
Lieutenant Uhura patches him through.
The fancy of science fiction fans just 25 years ago
is now the new way to converse with a person with hearing
loss. Those in the Deaf community who have begun to
use the videophone, love it and are depending on it
as not only a means to sign directly to
another person fluent in sign language but also to communicate
with just about anyone.
One of the many advantages to a videophone is that
D/HH users no longer have to type on a keyboard as with
a TDD, e-mail, instant messaging and even traditional
relay. With a videophone you can communicate by lip
reading or by using sign language with the other party
or with an interpreter who then translates to the other
party.
Videophone conversations can take place via the Internet
with a web camera and computer or by using a webcam
with a television. Computer-based calls are convenient
for people who spend a lot of time at their desks. The
advantages to a television hook-up are that you are
not susceptible to computer viruses or crashes and most
television screens are also larger than computer screens,
making it easier to see a person signing or to read
a person’s lips.
Ira Gerlis, one of my co-workers who is also deaf,
relies heavily on sign language interpreters in his
job. He says that his job is much easier now with a
videophone. “I used to use relay service with
my TDD but found that many of my hearing customers,
such as medical professionals and employers, would lose
patience when dealing with the TDD relay. Also, my hard
of hearing customers often had difficulty hearing the
communication assistant. All my customers preferred
me to use an interpreter and speakerphone but I had
to coordinate my schedule with staff interpreters. However,
now that I have the videophone, my job is much easier.
Video relay interpreters are available any time I call.
There is also no time delay with video relay services
because the interpreter, wearing a headset, voices to
the customer while I am signing, then signs back to
me while the customer is speaking. It also seems more
like a real conversation since we do not have to say
‘go ahead’ each time it’s the other
person’s turn to respond. Oddly, my hard of hearing
customers seem to hear better through the video relay
interpreters too. I think all D/HH people should take
advantage of this wonderful technology, especially since
there is no cost for them to get a videophone at this
time. I believe this technology is not a fad, but is
definitely here to stay.”
Another mainstream technology that has become especially
popular among people with hearing loss is the use of
instant messaging (IM) via computer or text pagers.
Yahoo®, AOL® and MSN™, among others, offer
IM as a free service. IM is particularly useful for
D/HH employees who communicate frequently with hearing
co-workers. Although you can only “speak”
as quickly as you can type, IM is real-time conversation
and widely used by the general public. Further, IM services
automatically alert you of all your contacts that are
online when you are and unlike other telecommunications,
there are no long
distance charges for talking to anyone from around the
world. An advantage of IM over a TDD is the full-size
keyboard and computer monitor compared to the small
TDD keyboard and monitor.
One drawback to IM is that you can get “IMed”
by different callers at the same time and carrying on
multiple conversations simultaneously can be very challenging!
A more serious drawback is that messages sent through
IM are not secure and so as with e-mails, one should
avoid exchanging confidential information.
At home I use a multi-protocol instant messaging utility
that enables me to compile all my IM “buddy lists”
from the different services (Yahoo, AOL, and MSN) into
one. Gaim and Odigo are a couple of the programs currently
available that enable you to combine IM services.
Tommy Walker, Manager of Sprint Arkansas Relay Services,
is deaf and uses IM frequently at work. “It’s
a very useful tool among the managers at Sprint Relay.
It’s really great for a simple question or request
but not the best for a lengthy conversation. In that
case we go to videophone and talk in sign language.”
Older Technology, New Applications
I work at a mental health center, an environment in
which safety is occasionally a concern. For years we
had a staff of only four and often I would be the one
to answer phones and come out to greet visitors from
my office down the hall. I was not able to see when
someone entered so I had to listen for people entering.
However, when I talk on the phone, I use the telecoil
on my hearing aid. With that enabled, I can hearing
nothing else around me. Occasionally, while using the
phone or just after, I would be startled to look up
and find a person standing at my office door unexpectedly.
I requested a workplace accommodation under the Americans
with Disabilities Act. A strobe light that flashes and
a bell that rings when someone enters the front door
of our building was placed in the hall just outside
of my office.
A perfect example of “universal design”
that not only benefits a person with special needs but
also my hearing co-workers, the alarm notifies us all
of someone entering the front door. Now my hearing co-workers
know when someone is entering our front door even if
they are working in the noisy copy room. When needed,
to prevent disturbing our customers undergoing psychological
testing, the bell can be turned off and only the flasher
used. Doorbell strobes and alarms have been around for
many years and used mostly in residential settings.
Less commonly considered for the workplace, they make
an easy solution for a number of scenarios in which
a D/HH person needs to multi-task as well as receive
customers.
Whether by creating new applications from an oldie
but goodie like the strobe alarm or developing exciting
new technologies, undoubtedly, communication barriers
historically faced by people with hearing disorders
are fading fast. We now revel in the
technology available to us, but I believe we’ve
seen only a glimpse of what is to come. n
Joyce Scott, M.Ed. has been the training
specialist for Arkansas Rehabilitation Services for
the past 15 years. She has given numerous presentations
on a variety of deafness-related topics at local, state
and national conferences. Prior to her current position,
she was a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the
Deaf at the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation
for two years. She is very active in the Central Arkansas
SHHH Chapter in Little Rock. She can be reached by email
at jmscott@ars.state.ar.us.
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