Deaf/Hard of Hearing Sensitivity Training for 9-1-1 Personnel

1. Deaf/Hard of Hearing Sensitivity Training for 9-1-1 Personnel Prepared by the Office for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services (DHHS) of the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services/Division for Rehabilitation Services, Austin Presented by:

2. Why are we here? Deaf/Hard of Hearing Sensitivity Training for 9-1-1 Personnel

3. Demographics

4. Growing Population with Hearing Loss

5. A D A • Americans with Disabilities Act • Title II, Section 35.162 • telephone emergency services shall provide direct access to individuals who use TTY’s and computer modems ...

6. Parts of the ADA

7. Which ADA Title covers 9-1-1?

8. Hearing Loss Categories

9. Leading Indicators to English Proficiency for Persons who are Deaf

10. Why it might be difficult to learn English, especially if you don’t hear it:The bandage was wound around the wound. The farm was used to produce produce. We must polish the Polish furniture.Since there is no time like the present; he thought it was time to present the present.A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.They were too close to the door to close it.The buck does funny things when the does are present.After a number of injections my jaw finally got number.Upon seeing the tear in the painting, I shed a tear.I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

11. How about….. baseball bowling swimming baby drink eat no yes cry talk write walk brush teeth brush hair bath hot cold Do you know any signs or gestures?

12. Communication Methods • Sign Language: Linguistic research has shown many sign languages (American Sign Language is one) have their own grammatical structures, syntax, rules, etc., like spoken languages. • Universality: Sign languages are not universal. Like spoken languages, sign languages around the world are entirely different. ASL is primarily used in America and Canada. However, fluent sign language users do have advantages over spoken languages users. The monolingual signer can communicate with other foreign signers much easier, using gestures, body language and pictorial expressions, than monolingual (spoken) persons in a foreign country. • American Sign Language (ASL): ASL is not an abbreviated form of English nor is it a simplified version. It is the native language most persons who are deaf in America use.

13. Communication Methods (continuation): • Home Signs: In some very rural areas, deaf children and their family members use home signs when they are not exposed to any other people who are deaf or the Deaf community. • Oral/Aural: • Oral is where the child is taught to use their speech and speech-reading abilities. Age of onset, identification/amplification onset, severity of loss all play an important role in the level of success. • Speech-reading or lip-reading is an innate ability. A person (deaf or hearing) is either born with the ability to do so or is not born with the ability to do so. You can improve the skill for someone with the innate ability but you cannot teach someone born without it. • Sign Systems: a combination of signs used in English word order, which sign the word and not the meaning - used mostly in educational settings to help improve English proficiency

14. Communication Methods (continuation): • Oftentimes, many years of trying to teach (improve) the ability passes before it is realized that the child will not succeed with the chosen method. Much information can be lost during these formative years. • The most proficient of speech-readers can only catch about 25% of a known topic/conversation. This lessens to about 15% when the topic of conversation is unknown as the context on which to base one’s guesses is lowered. Many English sounds look alike on the lips and many words look alike on the lips. The anatomy of the speaker and the environment influence the “read-ability” - thin lips are difficult to read, as are the lips of someone with a full beard/moustache. It is most difficult to read some one who is writing on a blackboard (school settings) and extremely difficult to follow the subject matter on films that have voice-overs (speaker is not presented on the screen) or includes animation. • Aural is where the child is taught to use what residual hearing (amplified or not) they may have to their best benefit. Some schools advertise that they “teach deaf children to hear.”

15. Communicating with Individuals who are Hard of Hearing/Oral Deaf

16. The Manual Alphabet-one of the few commonalties in the numerous sign systems in use in America Practice fingerspelling your name.

17. What is Deaf Culture?

18. Cultural Behaviors - Deaf/Hearing * Getting Attention *Flickering of lights or stomping on wooden floor vs calling, “Hey” *Staying in the kitchen where there is more lighting vs the living room *Party *Long introductions with questions vs “Nice to meet you” * Introductions * Considered necessary vs considered rude * Pointing

19. Who Invented the Telephone and Why? • Alexander Graham Bell • He was trying to help his wife, who was deaf, obtain a better life through an electronic amplification device. • In 1876, his creativity resulted in something she and millions of individuals who were deaf or hard of hearing could not use for almost 100 years.

20. 1904

21. 1927

22. 1963

23. Early 1970’s

24. Mid/Late 70’s

25. 1980’s - 1990’s

26. TTY Users

27. TTY Related Words/Definitions

28. Devices used by persons who are deaf/hard of hearing: • Telephones: • TTY • Amplified phone • Pay Phone with TTY • Pay Phone w/amplifier ●Hearing aids, cochlear implants, digital hearing aids, assistive listening devices • Pager • Digital • Text • Wireless 2-way

29. Other devices to assist persons who are deaf/hard of hearing function in their daily lives: B   NN

30. Types of TTYs

31. What’s that sound?

32. Types of TTY Calls • Traditional • VCO (Voice Carry Over) • HCO (Hearing Carry Over) • TTY via relay service • VCO via relay service • HCO via relay service

33. Types of TTY Calls • TRADITIONAL TTY TTY

34. Types of TTY Calls • VCO (Voice Carry Over) • User has intelligible speech and prefers to speak instead of type to you. • faster than traditional TTY call; • popular with persons who are late-deafened and hard of hearing - typing speed is slow due to age/arthritis and/or never using a keyboard previously.

35. VCO Phone

36. Types of TTY Calls • HCO (Hearing Carry Over) • Users are speech-impaired (cerebral palsy, stroke victims, etc.) • faster than traditional TTY call; • they listen to your voice and they type to you.

37. Types of TTY Calls • Traditional via relay service • VCO via relay service • HCO via relay service

38. Is this call a TTY/TDD call? • Electronic tones • does not sound like a fax but is often confused and hung-up on or transferred to fax machine • Silence (open line) • older machines and older users do not “key-in” to alert you the call is from a TTY/TDD • Synthesized voice announcement • many newer machines have this option (will not be recognized by your PSAP and TDD Challenge button is required to activate) • Relay agent • no need to activate the TDD Challenge button or get your TTY/TDD

39. GA - go ahead SK - stop keying GA to SK - I’m ready to hang up, are you? SKSK - hanging up Q - Question mark xxx - error CUL - see you later MSG - message CUD - could B4 - before U - you Pls - please NUM - number R - are Many, many others A few TTY Abbreviations

41. Technology and Relay Updates • IP Relay Service • Problems? • Internet based, so ANI/ALI may not be present if the person is not in compliance with FCC regulations. Providers are nationwide and your relay agent may be several states away and unfamiliar with regional/slang terms. Previously, incoming calls could not be received by IP Relay users, they now can. • Video Relay Service • Problems? • Although communication is much smoother and quicker because the person is using their primary language with which to communicate, the same problems may be present as it is Internet based. • Captioned Phone Relay Service • This phone/service uses voice recognition software. When the caller dials a number, the phone automatically routes the call first through a CapTel transcription center. There, everything you say is restated by a third party, or communication assistant, (since software must learn to understand the speaker) which in turn becomes text for the caller. In the case of CapTel phones, when a CapTel phone dials 9-1-1, it automatically becomes a VCO phone and bypasses the CapTel transcription center. You will handle this as a VCO call.

42. Relay Protocol

43. TTY-ASL Translations • mom eat pills wake no • knife cut arm blood blood • bad man hurt head me • fire house near lake baby inside • bridge old here friend hole fall stuck him • head hot weak me sick pls help

44. The TTY Call • Adjust Your Language • Exercise One • Keep an open mind when reading the message • Exercise Two Remember: Ask your questions one at a time!

45. Wrap Up….. • Questions • Post-Test • Evaluation