# Presentation: 177025

## WIA Section 188Disability ChecklistElement 5.5

## Presenter:Susan BucklandUnited States Department of LaborOffice of Disability Employment and Policy200 Constitution Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20210202.693.7880 (V)202.693.7888 (FAX)Email:  buckland.susan@dol.gov

##  *   In General	*  Inform Customers of Obligations	*  List of Assistive Technology

**Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities As Effectively As With Others**

## Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities As Effectively As With Others

**Customers With Hearing Impairments, Deaf and/or Hard of Hearing **
- Hearing Impairment, Hard of Hearing and Deaf are not the same
- Customers Who Are Deaf
- Customers Who Are Hard of Hearing
- Customers Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

**Notes:**
Hearing Impairment refers to both persons who are deaf and persons who are hard of hearing
A person who is hard of hearing will most likely use their speaking skills and as much of their listening skills as possible.
 They may or may not use sign language
The may or may not wear a hearing aid.
They may or may not be able to talk on the phone with an amplifier

A person who is DEAF will most likely not use their voice
A person who is Deaf will most likely use sign language...but not ALL
Sign Language may be in form of Spoken English or it may be American Sign Language which is a Language system with its own structure, syntax, semantics etc..
A Late Deafened Adult is one who lost their hearing at a later time in life after speech was acquired... possibly many years after functioning as a “hearing person”. This is especially true of elderly adults who have lost their hearing as a result of presbycusis- the degeneration of the inner ear due to the aging process. %

## Able To Communicate With Persons with Disabilities As Effectively As With Others (continued)

**Customers that are Deaf or Hard of  Hearing continued...**
- Wide range of hearing losses and communication methods
- Etiology & Onset
- Presbycusis
- Speaking and listening skills
- ASK for preferred mode of communication (no one size fits all)

## Able To Communicate With Persons with Disabilities As Effectively As With Others (continued)

**Customers that  are Deaf or Hard of  Hearing continued...**
- Amplification
- Hearing Aids
- Assistive Listening Devices
- Loops
- Cochlear Implants
- Lip Reading

## Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities As Effectively As With Others (continued)

**Customers that are Deaf or Hard of Hearing continued...**
- Using Captions- Open/Closed
- Using Computer Assisted Realtime Translation
- Email and other written methods of communication
- Paper and Pencil
- Lightwriter

## Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities As Effectively As With Others (continued)

**Customers that are Deaf or Hard of Hearing continued...**
- Staff members secure a sign language interpreter
- Using an Interpreter
- Sign Language –ASL, SEE, PSE

## Able to Communicate With Persons with Disabilities As Effectively As With Others (continued)

**Customers that are Deaf or Hard of Hearing continued...**
**Phone Communications**
- Text Telephone: TTY/TDD, VCO
**All appropriate employees know how to use a TDD/TTY and the telephone relay service to make and receive calls.**
** ****TDDs/TTYs are maintained in good working order. Test calls are made on a periodic basis to ensure that TDD/TTY calls are answered to the same extent as voice calls.**

## Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities As Effectively As With Others (continued)

**Customers that are Deaf or Hard of Hearing continued...**
**Text Telephones**: TTY/TDD
- Make a portable TDD/TTY available for public use
- Post a notice of the location of each courtesy phone advising the public on how a TDD/TTY may be obtained
- Instruct staff on the location of the TTY/TDD and its use

## Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities as Effectively as With Others (continued)

**Customers that are Deaf and Hard of Hearing continued...**
**Phone Communications:**
- National Relay # – 711
- Local #s – Phone book
- Spanish Relay National #s:
- 	 	1 800 855.2884 (TTY)
- 		1 800 855.2885 (V)
- Amplified Phone/Portable Phone Amplifier
- Loud Phone Ringer

## Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities as Effectively as With Others (continued)

**Customers that are Deaf or Hard of Hearing continued...**
- If you are asked to repeat several times, try rephrasing
- NEVER say FORGET IT! its not important
- Have pencil and paper available
- Visual Cues...

## Customers with Mobility Impairments

Staff members put themselves at the wheelchair user’s eye level (if possible sit next to the customer when having a conversation)
Staff members provide a clipboard as a writing surface if counters or reception desks are too high and come around to the customer side of the desk/counter during interaction 

- Staff members put themselves at the wheelchair user’s eye level (if possible sit next to the customer when having a conversation)
- Staff members provide a clipboard as a writing surface if counters or reception desks are too high and come around to the customer side of the desk/counter during interaction** **

**Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities As Effectively As With Others (continued)**

## Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities As Effectively As With Others (continued)

**Customers with Mobility Impairments continued...**
- My chair, my body, an extension of the body. Do not lean, push or move without permission
- ALWAYS ASK if you can offer assistance BEFORE you provide it
- Check locations of events for accessibility

## Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities As Effectively As With Others (continued)

**Customers with Mobility Impairment continued...**
- Do not ask people with disabilities how they acquired their disability
- Do not patronize by patting an individual in a wheelchair on the head
- Talk face to face, sit down or position yourself at the same eye contact level

## Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities As Effectively As With Others (continued)

**Customers with Speech Impairments**
- If a staff members does not understand he/she does not pretend to understand.  The staff member asks the customer to repeat what he/she said and then repeat it back
- Its ok to say, “I don’t understand.”

## Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities As Effectively As With Others (continued)

**Customers with Speech Impairments continued...**
- Staff members ask questions that require only short answers, or a nod of the head
- Do not interrupt, be patient and wait for the person to finish, without correcting or speaking for the person

## Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities As Effectively As With Others (continued)

**Customers with Speech Impairments continued...**
- If a staff member has difficulty understanding the customer, he/she considers having the customer write or sit at a computer screen as an alternative, but first asks whether this is acceptable
- If no solution to the communication problem can be worked out, the staff member asks if there is someone who could interpret on the customer’s behalf

## Able To Communicate With Persons With Disabilities As Effectively As With Others (continued)

**Customers with Speech Impairment continued...**
- Do not assume that a person with a speech impairment is incapable of understanding you
- Address questions, comments or concerns to the individual instead of the person who has accompanied them