Florence teen becomes MS legislature’s first deaf page

Florence teen becomes MS legislature’s first deaf page

JACKSON, MS (WLBT) – The pages at the Mississippi Capitol must be quick on their feet and stay alert to the needs of legislators.

19-year-old Derek Schmitz of Florence jumped right in, despite the fact that he’s 100 percent deaf.

“I have a variety of duties here,” Schmitz told us through translator Zachary Breland. “I run errands for different representatives. I do whatever the head page asks me to do.”

Schmitz is a senior at the Mississippi School for the Deaf in Jackson. He wears a hearing aid which gives him very limited residual hearing. As he works as a page in the Mississippi House this week, Breland follows him everywhere.

Breland’s assistance has enabled Schmitz to fully appreciate a debate on the floor.

“There was some interesting discussion yesterday in terms of gaming, hunting, fishing,” Schmitz told us. “Any time the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks comes into play, there’s heated discussion. I am very much a wildlife person. I do love animals.”

Schmitz plans to become a veterinarian, but his experience at the Capitol has sparked an interest in politics. It’s also refreshing for our lawmakers. “Gives all students in our state the opportunity to see how the legislature works regardless of their disability, regardless of circumstances,” said Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg.

With his new connections, Schmitz might suggest his own idea for a house bill that would require all deaf children to enroll in the Mississippi School for the Deaf. “They would not go to public school because the MS School for the Deaf can offer better services in my opinion. In public school there’s lots of miscommunication because you have teachers not qualified or certified to teach deaf kids,” Schmitz told us.

Schmitz is the Mississippi Legislature’s first deaf page, but he’s sure he won’t be the last.

Laurie Pullins gives hope to deaf, hearing impaired

Laurie Pullins gives hope to deaf, hearing impaired

When Laurie Pullins first heard the sweet voice of a child speaking to his mother, she cried.

“I didn’t know until then what I had been missing,” said Pullins, who was diagnosed with severe, profound hearing loss at the age of 2. Five years ago, she received a cochlear implant and for the first time, was able to hear children’s voices, something she had been unable to do when her own children were small.

Pullins, who now serves as president of the Hearing Loss Association of Knoxville, said, “Growing up with a hearing loss, I was very isolated. … I felt singled out because I was a deaf person in a hearing world and would never really fit anywhere. I didn’t belong in the deaf world, either, because sign language was not a part of my life.”

Pullins said her mother, a teacher, did not agree with the healthcare professionals who recommended that Pullins be put in an institution for the deaf, or that she would never be able to have a normal life. Instead, she and Pullins’ father aggressively sought out ways in which their child could learn to speak and understand the speech of others.

Pullins wore hearing aids, which amplify sound, until the small amount of hearing she had began to also disappear. At the advice of her audiologist, Pullins explored the option of a cochlear implant, which she received in 2005. Her second implant was done in 2007. A cochlear implant is a small, complex electronic device consisting of an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion that is surgically placed under the skin. It does not restore normal hearing but can give a deaf person a useful representation of sounds in the environment and help in understanding speech.

Organizations such as the Hearing Loss Association of Knoxville and Association of Late-Deafened Adults (ALDA) offer support to the deaf and hearing impaired. Technological advances help with daily living and quality of life.

Deaf community gets visit from Hollywood

Deaf community gets visit from Hollywood

Bremerton got a small taste of Hollywood, Saturday, when hundreds of people filled the Bremerton High School theater to view the first public showing of “See What I’m Saying: the Deaf Entertainers Documentary.”

The film follows the lives of deaf actor Robert DeMayo, hard of hearing singer TL Forsberg, deaf rock ‘n’ roll drummer Bob Hiltermann, and deaf comedian CJ Jones. The entertainers are of different ages, race, sex and background, and show many unique sides of a single, compelling story.

The film beautifully illustrates what it means to be deaf and ultimately, what it means to be human.

“Deaf people are just like everybody else,” said director Hilari Scarl. “They have the same hopes, dreams, disappointments, and frustrations. They just happen to use a different language.”

Every viewing will be shown with full captions. Amidst interest nationwide, Bremerton was chosen to be the launch site for the film’s national 25 city Sprint Relay tour.

 “We had over 250 booking requests,” said Scarl. “But I really liked that there were so many departments and groups working together to bring the film out here. We knew we’d get a warm welcoming.”

 Spearheading the effort to host the event was Olympic College student Bryan Davis.

“I wanted (the American Sign Language club) to do more for the community than just the deaf panel,” said Davis. “I saw the trailer for (the film) at the end of the CJ Jones event; I contacted Hilari and it just kind of went from there.”

 Davis, along with OC student Vice President of Poulsbo Steffany Peterson, Bremerton High School ASL instructor Susan Parker, an army of high school and college ASL students, and local freelance interpreters, worked to pull the event off without a hitch.

The evening started with a VIP meet and greet at 5 p.m. in the Bremerton cafeteria, with the show starting just after 7 p.m.

After the credits rolled, Scarl appeared onstage flanked by interpreter Pam Parham for a brief Q-and-A and closing remarks.

“It was really great to see it out here with you guys,” said Scarl. “I’ve seen it in the editing room a thousand times, but out here it’s like, ‘oh yeah, that part’s funny,’ or, ‘oh yeah, that part’s sad.’”

As crowds filed out of the theater, viewers, both deaf and hearing, took the opportunity to share what they had seen with each other.

 “I thought it was wonderful,” deaf attendee Helen Pendergraft said. “When it was over I just wanted more, more, more.”

 OC student Jack McGown agreed. “My parents and my brother and sister are all deaf, but Im hearing. I think the film really captured the struggle that deaf people face.”

 “I thought it was absolutely amazing,” said Davis. “I’m excited now that its over and we got to finally see the film; I can really say we did something special here tonight.”

Alameda County Sheriff’s Office settles dispute over treatment of deaf, hard of hearing

Alameda County Sheriff’s Office settles dispute over treatment of deaf, hard of hearing

Sign-language interpretation and other services will be provided.

The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office has agreed to provide sign-language interpretation and other services to deaf, hard-of-hearing or deaf-blind suspects, arrestees, inmates, victims, witnesses and visitors at the county’s jails, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

The agreement settles a Justice Department investigation of the sheriff’s office, which followed a complaint filed by a deaf and blind man after the sheriff’s office failed to provide him with a tactile interpreter when he was arrested and during his two-day incarceration. In tactile interpreting, persons who are deaf and blind place their hands over the hands of the interpreter, in order to read signs through touch and movement.

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires public entities such as the sheriff’s office to ensure effective communication with people with disabilities.

“Effective communication in law enforcement is critical to ensure all parties have equal access to the information regarding their rights,” Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a news release. “This agreement requires Alameda County’s law enforcement officers to take the steps necessary to effectively communicate with individuals who are deaf-blind in their community.”

The agreement, which applies to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and the Glenn Dyer Jail in Oakland, requires the sheriff’s office to:

# Establish nondiscriminatory policies for providing effective communication for people with communication disabilities, including provision of sign language interpreters.

# Post a notice of the policy in its waiting rooms.

# Train staff on the policies.

# Ensure that appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including qualified interpreters, and specifically tactile interpreters, are made available to all who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind.

County Counsel Richard Winnie called the lawsuit productive because it allowed the county to evaluate practices to deal with more unique situations — such as the one that brought about the suit.

“The value of this lawsuit is it allowed us to review our policies in an effort to accommodate all circumstances,” Winnie said. “This was a very good exercise.”

Interpreter taken from deaf pupil

Interpreter taken from deaf pupil

A Peterborough mother is speaking out after the local Catholic school board cancelled the interpreter support in junior kindergarten for her four-year-old son who is deaf.

Jonah didn’t go to St. Patrick’s School on Wednesday because he was so upset that the interpreter who was working with him had been reassigned, said Jessika Van Spronsen, Jonah’s mother.

“They’re saying he does not qualify because he does not initiate conversation so therefore he does not sign,” she said. “He’s deaf, obviously he signs…. He will be deaf, mute for the rest of his life.

“He only qualifies to have an EA (educational assistant) who does some signing.”

Van Spronsen said she was told of the change in her child’s educational supports on Jan. 29.

Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic School Board officials refused to comment on confidential information about pupils.

“The best thing for her is to meet with our staff to resolve problems,” education director John Mackle said.

The school board uses an array of supports, such as interpreters, educational assistants, computers, certain teaching methods and other technology, to help students with special needs based on the individual student’s needs, superintendent of special education Dale Godin said.

“There’s not one single silver bullet that’s going to fix the probl

em that blocks a child from learning. It’s often a complex array of different things that we need to put into place,” he said. “We have all kinds of sympathy for parents because they’re trying their best to advocate for their child.

“We try really hard to engage parents…. The door is continually open and even if they disagree with the decision that has been made there’s an opportunity to come and talk and sit down and try to find a way that’s going to make everyone feel comfortable moving forward.”

There are about 15,000 students in the local Catholic school board, including 1,697 students who have been identified as exceptional, with behavi o u ra l challenges, language impairments, giftedness, learning disabilities or other exceptional attributes. There are 16 students in the school board who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Van Spronsen is worried that Jonah is going to regress in his development because it’ll be more difficult for him to communicate with teachers and other students.

“My son has never been as outspoken as he is now and I say it’s to do with the interpreter,” Van Spronsen said. “He has just come out of his shell in ways that I have never seen before…. I don’t think this is fair to do to any family…. I just don’t know why they’d want to do that kind of damage to a little child.”

A student who is fluent in American sign language would be given an interpreter, Godin said.

“In some cases, with very young students, we would say, who may not have been assessed yet, then it wouldn’t be appropriate to assign an interpreter because we wouldn’t know whether or not the student… would have the level of signing that would make it necessary to have the interpreter,” he said.

Godin explained the school board assesses students who may have special needs before they start school but there could be a need for further assessments to determine the best educational supports for specific students.

“Some of our EAs have certain levels of signing that they do so some EAs work with students because the bigger component of their work with the student is around educational support,” he said. “An interpreter is not trained to give educational support.

“An EA who has signing is doubly good because they support the child. They are trained at how to assist children in accessing curriculum, in supporting the teacher, in supporting the learning of the child in the classroom.”

Jonah has CHARGE syndrome with various abnormalities, his mother said.

He’s completely deaf in the left ear and he has limited hearing in the right ear that has improved to 65% hearing with a hearing aid on the right side, Van Spronsen said.

“He’s a normal five-year-old boy (Jonah turns five on Thursday) who just wants to be accepted for who he is,” she said.

There’s not just one formula for enhancing the learning abilities of students, special education services co-ordinator Deb Heslinga said.

“It’s not just a list of rules…. We match what each unique stud e nt’s needs are,” she said. “That’s, I guess, the richness of special (education). We can match the needs of the student.”

Deaf patient was dying, but no one told her

Deaf patient was dying, but no one told her

David Nelson got the bad news about his wife in December 2005. He just didn’t know it.

For three months, the Nelsons met with doctors at North Memorial Medical Center, but they weren’t aware Mary Ann was dying of cancer. In fact, they thought she was doing well enough in her battle with the disease that she could go to her retirement party. So they were stunned in March 2006 when her oncologist abruptly put an end to their hopes — and their request — with a terse note saying, “We can’t cure the cancer!”

It was the first time the Nelsons, both deaf, understood the cancer was terminal, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. Mary Ann Nelson died in May 2006.

The agency pointed to the incident as an example of the medical team’s failure to communicate effectively with the Nelsons. This week, state regulators announced that North Memorial agreed to pay $105,000 to settle charges that Nelson and another patient were not provided access to qualified sign language interpreters. Often, David Nelson had to read lips or write notes to communicate with doctors and nurses, despite his repeated requests for an interpreter.

“It was extremely difficult and painful for them,” said Rick Macpherson, Nelson’s attorney. “They couldn’t ask any questions. They couldn’t have any discussion. They couldn’t get any kind of comfort.”

For decades, the deaf and hearing impaired didn’t know if they would get an interpreter when going to a hospital. The landscape changed in 2004 after federal officials accused Fairview Health Services of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. The lawsuit led to a settlement and improved local compliance with the law, as state and federal officials started visiting other Minnesota hospitals to make sure they were providing properly trained interpreters.

But the problems haven’t gone away. Macpherson, an attorney with the Minnesota Disability Law Center, has pursued cases in recent years against hospitals, nursing homes, jails, police departments and other organizations.

No system in place

Nelson and another deaf patient, Mark Epstein, filed complaints with the Department of Human Rights in 2007 over treatment at North Memorial.

Epstein was hospitalized at North Memorial in March 2007 for inflammation in his intestines, according to the state investigation. He requested an interpreter every day, but he never received one. When he was given a medication, he didn’t understand what it was or why he had to take it. When he was discharged five days later, he didn’t know what kind of shape he was in.

Initially, North Memorial employees maintained that Epstein didn’t ask for an interpreter and relied on his wife, who had partial hearing in one ear. But state regulators said the medical records showed that an interpreter was needed in this case.

By relying on family members and others to interpret complicated medical information, the hospital jeopardized the health of both Epstein and Mary Ann Nelson, investigators concluded.

In the settlement, North Memorial agreed to put someone in charge of coordinating services for patients who are deaf or hard of hearing, and make sure interpreters show up for meetings.

Macpherson said that’s important, because nobody at the hospital followed through on the oncologist’s request for an interpreter at an important family conference with the Nelsons. Instead, the request went unfilled.

In a statement, North Memorial said it has been working with the Department of Human Rights and members of the deaf community to implement changes, including the use of portable electronic devices that connect patients with qualified interpreters via video. Staff training on the needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing patients is expected to be completed by the end of March. North Memorial must show it is complying with the terms of the agreement for two years.

Macpherson said such settlements send an important message to public and private entities.

“Money talks,” he said. “It causes the hospital and other institutions to take this seriously.”

Area deaf community wants to share their diverse culture with others

Area deaf community wants to share their diverse culture with others

There is a large group (30,000-plus people, according to DeafLink) of friendly folks in northeast Indiana whose motto could well be, “Listen with your eyes and speak with your hands.”

The Northeast Indiana Deaf Awareness Council would like the area hearing community to hear the world through their silent ears and to get to know them better — a lot better — said longtime member Melissa Hunckler of Huntington.

“We’d like to share our diverse culture with people who are hearing and clear up any misconceptions they may have about us,” said Hunckler, a retired U.S. Postal Service worker whose husband, Frank, is also deaf.

“Hearing people are always welcome to come to our NIDAC meetings or special events, and even if they are not familiar with our visual American Sign Language (ASL), there is often an interpreter there to help out,” Hunckler said.

“We encourage sign-language beginners to come up and introduce themselves if they see deaf people signing in public,” she said. “We are patient and pleased if hearing people initiate the introduction and practice their signing on us.”
Other tips

♦How does one get the attention of a deaf person indoors? By flicking the lights off and on or by stamping one’s feet on the floor so the vibrations can be felt.

♦Can deaf people vocalize? Some speak well, mostly those who were mainstreamed — enrolled in public schools rather than special schools for students with hearing impairment. But other deaf people who grew up learning sign language don’t usually use their voices. Because they cannot hear their own volume, they may inadvertently vocalize loudly.

♦Do all deaf people use sign language and speech-read? The majority of them do not use sign language, especially when one considers that the term “deaf” includes those with mild loss to those who are completely deaf. Speech-reading is a difficult art to master and many deaf people can’t depend on it, for not all sounds are visible on the lips — “b” and “p,” for example, look the same on the lips.

♦Must one talk loud to all deaf people? No, sometimes just the opposite. Each person’s hearing loss is different. Some people will need volume. However, a few deaf people suffer from recruitment, which makes them very sensitive to loud voices, which cause them ear pain. If someone asks to be spoken to in a normal or below-normal voice without over-articulation, that request should be courteously honored.

— By Barb Sieminski

Some things to know

To foster better understanding of people who are deaf, the deaf community would like hearing people to know:

♦Many deaf people are thought to be snobbish if they do not respond to a pleasant “hello” from a hearing person.

Explained Hunckler, “You would need to be in our line of vision so we can speech-read you and thus respond to your greeting. Also, if we cannot understand you for whatever reason (mustache, chewing gum, don’t move lips when speaking), we will offer you a pencil and pad to write it down.

“People are afraid of what they do not know, and deaf people are often an unknown entity that hearing people shy away from,” Hunckler said. “This is a mindset we have to try to change, so that we can all get along together.”

♦Some people who are deaf do not normally read newspapers or books, which makes it harder for them to be aware of any upcoming events, such as live programs or other events.

“We would much rather watch closed-captioned TV or depend on others for communication instead of reading the newspapers,” Hunckler said. “We get more out of exchanging information with each other so we know what is going on in the deaf community. Using the videophone is another preferred method of communication with our families and friends, so we don’t have time to read the newspaper.”

♦The best way to reach the area deaf community is to contact Sara Dunten, editor of the deaf monthly newspaper online and hard copy) “What’s Up” at http://whatsupnewsletter.tripod.com, and she will immediately enter the information online.

According to Butch Newcomer, a Fort Wayne resident who is deaf, if a performer with a disability is scheduled for a performance locally, it would ideally be announced to the deaf community first before the public. This would give the deaf community time to spread the word among themselves, make arrangements to attend the event, and get there early and get seats where they can best enjoy the performance, Newcomer said.

♦People who are deaf or hearing-impaired depend upon closed- captioning when watching TV. A source of frustration is that some programs (especially live local news shows) either do not have closed captioning or they have it inconsistently and inaccurately.

For hearing people to get an idea of what it is like for a deaf person to watch a show without closed-captioning, imagine your favorite show spoken in Japanese.

♦Deaf people love live entertainment, especially when it involves a deaf celebrity, such as Marlee Matlin, who appeared in September as part of the Omnibus Lecture Series at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. However, many in the deaf community were unhappy because they were not aware of the occasion and because they were not allowed to sit together in the front and center rows, where they could have an unrestricted view of the celebrity and her interpreter.

“Even though there was a big overhead screen showing the stage dialogue, it was too far away to see from our balcony seats, which were the only seats left, and it would have helped for the lights to have been out for better screen contrast,” said Shelbi Stratton, community outreach director of Interpreter Associates and a Kendallville resident.

Jaye Johnston, DeafLink case coordinator, clarified by saying, “Hearing people can always hear what is going on onstage, but deaf people cannot. Therefore, we need to be up close to the action since we totally rely on our eyes to let us know what is going on. Marlee and her interpreter should have been onscreen at all times; however, because they sometimes inadvertently moved off-screen, we lost the entire thread of the dialogue.”

♦Because deaf people cannot use a voice telephone, they use a TT (text telephone) or VRS (Video Relay Service) to communicate. If one VRS user calls another user, both parties are projected upon a TV screen at either end where they can see each other and communicate by using sign language.

If one person is hearing and does not have a VRS, she or he can still call a deaf person via the relay service, and the relay agent will appear on the VRS monitor and sign to the deaf person, relaying the hearing person’s messages. Other deaf people make their calls to hearing people via their computers using Internet Relay, which uses a computer and an Internet connection through a modem, cable or DSL, giving relay services at no cost, including long distance.

However, when calling businesses, doctors’ offices, groceries or strangers, relay users often get hung up on as the unaware call recipient believes relay calls to be scams, telemarketing calls or harassment calls.

The deaf community would like to express gratitude to businesses and individuals who do not hang up on them without first giving them a chance to identify themselves and explain why they are calling.

According to Hunckler, in the past if she called a restaurant to place a carryout order, she would get hung up on because the worker would not accept a relay call.

“Both Frank and I immediately drove to one restaurant, where I told the manager I was deaf and asked why he kept hanging up on me,” said Hunckler. “He was very apologetic, and, from then on, I had no trouble with future carryout phone calls.”

♦Technology in recent years has been a real boon for people who are deaf, for they can now communicate via e-mail, texting, relay services and more.

Before the TT was invented, said Hunckler, “If we had something to say, we just drove to friends’ homes, got the info we needed and left. If we had more to add later, we would go back out and repeat the process. If our friends were not home, it was a wasted trip.”

♦Sign language, which is used globally, is often used with infants, hearing or not, to teach them to communicate before they can speak. Scuba divers use sign language, and deaf people can communicate by sign language at great distances. Also, several area colleges and universities offer ASL courses for credit or continuing education.

Finally, when hearing people accept a deaf community’s cordial invitation to learn more about the latter, they realize, “The greatest accomplishment of insight is seeing through the eyes of another.”

It’s a fact – vuvuzelas can make you deaf

It’s a fact – vuvuzelas can make you deaf

Tens of thousands of blaring vuvuzelas in packed stadiums during the World Cup could leave soccer fans deaf.

Research by the University of Pretoria’s communication pathology department has found they pose a significant recreational risk for noise-induced hearing loss and far exceed permissible occupational noise exposure levels in South Africa.

A team measured the noise level of vuvuzelas at a premier league soccer match attended by 30 000 spectators and found it peaked at 140dB (decibels).

Professor De Wet Swanepoel said he would not recommend that anyone be exposed to noise levels above 137dB, even if they were wearing earplugs.

The team measured the average noise level over the two-hour match and found it to be above 100dB.

Subjects wore a sound exposure meter to analyse the intensity and frequency spectrum of the vuvuzela.

Bafana Bafana take on Mexico for the opening World Cup match at the 90 000-seater Soccer City in June, and coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has urged soccer fans to “blow your vuvuzelas as loud as possible”.

According to a recent article in the SA Medical Journal, no one within a two-metre radius of a vuvuzela, including the person blowing it, should be exposed to the sound continually for more than a minute.

At an intensity of 100dB, a person should be exposed to less than 15 minutes of such noise a day. The duration safely permissible is halved with every 3dB increase in intensity.

At the lowest recorded intensity in the stadium of 113dB, subjects should not be exposed to more than one minute without protection for their hearing, according to South African occupational noise exposure legislation.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act stipulates that employees, and other people, affected by noise in a company can be exposed to 85 decibels (dB) for eight hours before they must be given hearing protection or steps taken to reduce noise levels

“The vuvuzela has iconic status and should be kept as part of South Africa’s soccer culture, but measures to protect spectators’ hearing should be paramount,” Swanepoel said.

It was also crucial that fans be made aware of the risk before they took their seats at any of the country’s stadiums.

“The peak exposure during the research was over 140dB,” Swanepoel said. “The intensity far exceeds the noise levels on a construction site or in the mines, which is 85dB.”

Local organising committee chief executive Danny Jordaan announced last month that vuvuzelas would be allowed into stadiums for the World Cup matches.

After complaints received during the Confederations Cup in June, Fifa said it was unsure whether the trumpet-like instrument would be allowed into stadiums. But Jordaan gave fans the go-ahead to blow their vuvuzelas.

Deaf teenagers nominated for best comedy film award

Deaf teenagers nominated for best comedy film award

A comedy film written and directed by 13 deaf teenagers from Northern Ireland, including one from Holywood, has been nominated in the Best Comedy category at the First Light Awards 2010, a competition which recognises the UK’s young filmmakers.

Holywood teenager, Kevin English, 19, was among those behind the film, titled Flukey Finn, that will be reviewed by a panel of celebrity judges, including Alan Parker, Joseph Fiennes and Sam Mendes. On Tuesday, March 2, winners in each category will be announced at a star-studded awards gala which will be hosted by BBC’s Dick and Dom at London’s Odeon, Leicester Square.

Flukey Finn also received an award at last year’s Deaffest, the UK’s only deaf-led film festival, coming third in the Young Deaffest Award category. The film was made through the NDCS Summer Film Project which has been running for five years, bringing together deaf teenagers from across Northern Ireland to develop their filmmaking skills and enhance their confidence.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/community-telegraph/north-down/news/deaf-teenagers-nominated-for-best-comedy-film-award-14653876.html#ixzz0dpDEjQDX

Deaf community reaches out to police

Deaf community reaches out to police

BARRIE – What starts as a routine traffic stop, can quickly go awry if a police officer asks a question and the driver turns away to reach for something unseen, says Louise Gagne, executive director of Deaf Access Simcoe Muskoka (DASM).

“Misunderstandings can occur if the officer isn’t anticipating a Deaf person,” said Gagne, whose team had the opportunity recently to provide awareness training to Barrie Police officers. “Our goal was to provide information and opportunities to problem-solve communication challenges.”

Deaf people all being able to read lips is only one popular myth that can cause miscommunications.

Most of the verbal English language is constructed inside the mouth, which makes it especially difficult to figure out by someone who has never had the opportunity to speak it.

“Often times, the literacy level of a Deaf person in their second language of English is Grade 3,” Gagne explains. “Hearing people expect Deaf people to be able to read and write at the same level as they do, but once they understand that a Deaf person does not use this second language in their daily business, they can appreciate the Deaf person would not be fluent at a higher level.”

American Sign Language (ASL) is a three-dimensional visual language that is not written, she continues. And it is actually more similar in grammatical structure to French than English.

“Oftentimes people think that signing is a short form for English, and it’s not,” she says. Instead, it’s a fully-formed grammatical construct that stands alone.

The training, provided to approximately 80 officers, included some scenario-base examples led by DASM board member Jeff Flindall, who is also an RCMP officer.

Barrie Police were also told about the availability of interpreters and how to access them, especially important since the right to the assistance of a professional interpreter has been guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms since 1985.

The information, however, did not flow only one way.

While officers learned how flashing a light into a car at night can make it impossible for someone who does read lips to understand what is being said, the trainers were able to take back to the Deaf community an understanding of some of the protocols that can’t be changed and how such instances can best be handled.

The Barrie Police Training Unit is interested in passing on any information valuable to officers on the road, says Sgt. Dave Berriault, who heads up the unit.

“Obviously, if they’re Deaf, there could be some communication issues,” he says of the relevancy of the DASM training sessions. “Clearly with so many variables out there, we try to help the officers.”

His team has also facilitated training related to diabetes, he cites as an example, because individuals with the disease can suffer from “excited delirium,” he says, which could be misdiagnosed by officers – perhaps as a mental illness.

“Officers need to know on the road, because they need to immediately seek medical attention,” he explains. “It could cause fatal consequences.”

This training goes hand-in-hand with a regular police-officer training regime that includes certification in the use of force and firearms, suspect-apprehension pursuit and first-aid.

“These are all actual tools needed to function on a daily basis out there on the road,” says Berriault. “We always try to bring the new techniques in anytime we have the opportunity.”

His office, for example, also provides train-the-trainer sessions on the use of the TASER, so instructors can deliver the annual training to supervisors and tactical teams. The use of the technology is fully legislated, he says, “to eliminate potential injury” during an arrest.

In its mission, the unit is also happy to respond to requests to provide training and awareness at community groups.

For more information about training options, call Berriault at 725-7025, ext. 2954.