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

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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

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Why are we here?

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

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Demographics
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Growing Population with Hearing Loss
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A D A

• Americans with Disabilities Act
• Title II, Section 35.162
• telephone emergency services shall provide direct
  access to individuals who use TTYs and computer
  modems ...

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Parts of the ADA
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Which ADA Title covers 9-1-1?
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Hearing Loss Categories
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Leading Indicators to English Proficiency for
Persons who are Deaf
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Why it might be difficult to learn English,
especially if you dont hear itThe 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.
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Do you know any signs or gestures?

• How about..
• baseball
• bowling
• swimming
• baby
• drink
• eat
• no
• yes

• cry
• talk
• write
• walk
• brush teeth
• brush hair
• bath
• hot
• cold

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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.

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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

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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 ones 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.

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Communicating with Individuals who are Hard of
Hearing/Oral Deaf
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The Manual Alphabet -one of the few commonalties
in the numerous sign systems in use in America
Practice fingerspelling your name.
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What is Deaf Culture?
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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
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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.

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1904
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1927
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1963
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Early 1970s
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Mid/Late 70s
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1980s - 1990s
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TTY Users
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TTY Related Words/Definitions
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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

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Other devices to assist persons who are deaf/hard
of hearing function in their daily lives
B
NN
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Types of TTYs
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Whats that sound?
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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

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Types of TTY Calls

• TRADITIONAL

TTY
TTY
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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.

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VCO Phone
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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.

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Types of TTY Calls

• Traditional via relay service
• VCO via relay service
• HCO via relay service

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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

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A few TTY Abbreviations

• MSG - message
• CUD - could
• B4 - before
• U - you
• Pls - please
• NUM - number
• R - are
• Many, many others

• GA - go ahead
• SK - stop keying
• GA to SK - Im ready to hang up, are you?
• SKSK - hanging up
• Q - Question mark
• xxx - error
• CUL - see you later

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(No Transcript)
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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.

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Relay Protocol
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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

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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!
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Wrap Up..

• Questions
• Post-Test
• Evaluation