Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

Deaf Laws

Discrimination towards the Deaf community

Discrimination

Discrimination against the Deaf community is a tale as old as time. While there have been laws put in place to stop discrimination against Deaf individuals in employment, education, accessibility, and telecommunication, the Deaf community is still faced with social discrimination every day. For this reason, it is important that we, as allies to the Deaf community, advocate for their rights and fight discrimination.

See What I'm Saying

In the documentary, See What I'm Saying, we see actor Robert DeMayo, singer TL Forsberg, comedian CJ Jones, and drummer Bob Hiltermann face setbacks and make combacks as they take their shots at success as Deaf people in a hearing world.

See What I'm Saying

  • Robert DeMayo struggled to find acting gigs and other sources of income due to his deafness, resulting in him being homeless for a period of time.
  • TL Forsberg, a HOH singer faced doubts as she was labeled "not Deaf enough." Stuck between the hearing world and Deaf world, TL struggled to find her identity.
  • CJ Jones, a well known comedian in the Deaf community, faced setbacks in the industry as his reach failed to extend into the hearing world. He struggled to land gigs and lost his manager due to his deafness.
  • Bob Hiltermann, drummer for Beethoven's Nightmare, struggled alongside his band members to make it as Deaf rockers in a hearing industry.

(See What I'm Saying, 2009)

Audism Defined

Audism is coined term refering to the discrimination of Deaf individuals. It is defined as the belief that one is superior based on their ability to hear, speak, or act like one who hears and/or speaks.

Audism

Audism effects the lives of every Deaf individual, and is often the cause of discrimination and lack of accommodation.

Many people within the Deaf community feel frustrated, left out, isolated, and overall NOT understood by the hearing people around them. Discrimination is never acceptable, which is why laws must be put in place to prevent discrimination under the law.

(Audism Unveiled, 2008)

Rehabilitation Act

Rehabilitation Act of 1973

This act was passed in 1973 to stop discrimination against individuals considered by law to be disabled, including Deaf individuals. This act allows Deaf U.S. citizens to recieve the same employment and accessibility as hearing persons under any program, company, or activity funded by the U.S. governement. This includes:

  • Police/Fire department
  • Public schools
  • Social Security & unemployment offices
  • Welfare & Foodstamp services
  • Colleges & Universities
  • Hospitals
  • State & City goverments
  • Vocational rehabilitation services

And many other federally funded services and programs

(Laws and Legislation, 2021)

Marc Chisolm

Chisolms story

Marc Chisolm, a Deaf New Jersey citizen, was denied an interpreter in court, resulting in his incarceration for almost a week. 5 of those days were spent in solitary confinement and Chisolm was falsely noted as suicidal. His arrest warrant was initially issued for failure to show up to required classes after a DUI. When Chisolm did show up to those courses, there was no interpreter and he was told to go home. He was finally able to contact his attorney, Smit, 4 days after his arrest, who was told the jail was unable to provide interpreters or TTYs. Chisolm was incarcerated due to his deafness, and was not given due process through the legal system. These events are why laws such as the Rehabilitation Act are so important.

(Laws and Legislation, 2021)

IDEA

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1975

Previously titled Law PL 94-142, the IDEA act provides a free and appropriate education for all children who are considered disabled under the law. This law requires an education in the Least Restrictive Environment and an annual Individualized Education Program be provided, to ensure that the child recieves the education they are entitled to. This law was a big step in the education of Deaf children and allowed millions of Deaf individuals to access the education that was kept from them for years

(Laws and Legislation, 2021)

Educational Options for Deaf Children

Educational Options for Deaf children

State residential schools

  • All inclusive education and socialization catered to d/Deaf students.

Neighborhood/mainstream schools

  • fully mainstreamed- with hearing peers all day, without resources
  • inclusion- with hearing peers all day, possibly with resources, like interpreter
  • resource room- with hearing peers most of the day, tutoring in resource room
  • partial mainstream- part of day with hearing peers, part of day with Deaf peers
  • self-contained class- up to 8 Deaf students in a class, with hearing peers for lunch and activities

(Educational Options for Deaf Children, 2021)

Why is it important for Deaf children to recieve a proper education?

Like any child, education is vital to mental and social development. It is even more important in Deaf children as they do not have the same modes of communication and socialization as hearing children. Tommy Tranchin, a profoundly Deaf child, was 1 year old when his parents discovered his degree of hearing loss. His parents, unsure of how to raise a Deaf child, put Tommy in a mainstream school with speach therapy. Tommy was unable to talk like the average hearing child, and often did not know how to socialize with other children. He was left without a method of communication, and as a result, his development was delayed in his early years of life. Tommy was not put in the Least Restrictive Environment for his abilities.

Tommy Tranchin

(For A Deaf Son, 1993)

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

ADA

The ADA is a civil rights law that extends to individuals considered disabled by law. This law states that individuals with "disabilities" have the same rights as non-disabled individuals in accessing employement, government services, public accomodations, and telecommunications. Under this law, facilities are required to make themselves accessible to "disabled" individuals, within reasonable limits.

(Laws and Legislation, 2021)

The Majocha's

Majocha Family settlement

Darrin, Anna, and their son D.J. Majocha were denied an ASL interpreter at their sons pediatrician.

Darrin and Anna arranged their hearing son, D.J's, pediatric ENT visit. When they informed the office that Darrin would need an interpreter for the visit, the office refused and told Anna she would have to come to the appointment alone or interpret for Darrin. Represented by the NAD law center, the Majocha family sued the doctors office after several pleas for an interpreter, and won. This case set the tone to amend discriminatory policies by taking these civil rights violations to the federal court.

By denying the Majocha's an interpreter for their doctor's visit, this office violated the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act.

(Majocha Settlement, 2002)

Telecommunication

For 90 years, after Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, Deaf individuals were forced to rely on hearing people for their telecommunications, unable to make emergency or personal calls.

Telecommunications

It wasn't until 1960, when the teletypwriter (TTY) was invented by Robert Weitbrecht, that Deaf individuals could communicate with eachother without being face-to-face. This device modeled after a typwriter, allowed two people to type messages to each other through the transmission of elecrtical pulses over a wire. The pulses would then be translated into printed messages, allowing communication.

Under the ADA, alternative methods of communications are required to be provided to Deaf individuals in the U.S.

(Through Deaf Eyes, 2007)

More Laws

Some laws/bills that are less well known, but still relevant to the Deaf community:

More Laws

  • Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984- improved access to the voting polls for federal elections
  • The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986- airlines cannot discriminated against individuals with "disabilities"
  • Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988- prohibits discrimination against "disabled" individuals in the sale or rental of private housing.
  • 21st century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010- ensured that accessibility acts passed in previous years were brought up to date with newer technology in the 21st century.

While these laws are not specific to d/Deaf individuals, they still effect their rights and should be known.

(Laws and Legislation, 2021)

Newborn Hearing Screening

45+ states in the U.S. require, by law, that newborns are screened for hearing loss, and most require treatment or follow-up care for children with hearing loss. Ohio's law was put in place in 2002, requiring that all newborns be screened, follow-up care be provided, and services are covered by insurance.

Hearing screening

(Newborn Hearing Screening, 2021)

Zahra Chauhan

Born in 2000 to parents Apryl and Raj, Zahra was born Deaf. The hospital did not provide hearing screenings for newborn, and the new, young parents knew little about babies. Alarms would sound and Zahra would sleep through them. By 20 months, she only had a vocabulary of mama and dada. Zahra's first pediatrician assured the Chauhan's that many kids dont develop speech until the age of 3. When Zahra was seen by a substitue pediatrician at the age of 2, they immediately recommended a hearing test, and discovered she was Deaf.

Zahra Chauhan

A hearing screen two years prior could have made an immense difference in the Chauhan's lives. Zahra lost two fundamental years of language development while Apryl and Raj lost two years of time to educate themselves.

Requiring newborn hearing screening is a great way to ensure that the best steps can be taken from birth to help every Deaf child develop properly.

(Far From The Tree, 2014)

Thank you for reading!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QRe0xVobdn5IIvlBkr8GwxpVP2h2-KfHe-STDd9M8Oc/edit?usp=sharing

Sources

Click here for sources

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi