Apathy for Deaf Comm in Denver.. Disgusting and Unacceptable!!

Missus_Philos0phyK · 07-15-2009, 01:52 AM

i am not sure if any of you guys had same thread as this one but please forgive me.

Quote:

Greene: A sign of apathy for deaf
By Susan Greene
Denver Post Columnist
POSTED: 07/12/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT

Sarah Burke was cooking dinner for her family when police came knocking at her door.

As she tells it, the Denver officers kept ignoring the obvious fact that both she and her husband are profoundly deaf and unable to read lips.

Police finally asked the couple's son to sign to Burke that she had a bench warrant for allegedly failing to file paperwork related to a 2-year-old misdemeanor case. "Contempt of court" was a concept that the 8-year-old boy couldn't grasp, let alone interpret.

The cuffs tying Burke's hands behind her back kept her from communicating the best way she knows how — in American Sign Language. She spent the night in jail without an interpreter to explain what she was in for.

"I had no idea what any of this was about," she signs. "I kept asking for help. I kept trying to ask. They refused to write anything down. I was cut off from the world. Cold shoulder. They gave me nothing but a cold shoulder."

Burke is a plaintiff in a lawsuit alleging the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal law guaranteeing the right to sign language interpretation for the deaf.

Another plaintiff, Roger Krebs, was recharging his text phone batteries during a bus transfer in March 2007 when a guard told him to get up off the floor of the Greyhound station. Krebs' deafness kept him from hearing the guard, whom he says started kicking and beating him until Krebs bit him and was arrested. He pleaded guilty rather than wait the 72 hours he was told it would take for an ASL interpreter.

Shawn Vigil spent a month awaiting trial on felony sex-assault changes in 2005 before he hanged himself in his jail cell. Documents show that sheriffs' deputies knew he was deaf but, once again, failed to provide an interpreter. No one apparently noticed that he was functionally illiterate. And no one seemed to mind that he was unable to read the "intake questionnaire" well enough to understand a question asking if he had a disability or needed accommodations.

"To our knowledge, there's been no evidence that he ever asked for an interpreter," says Sabrina D'Agosta, a city spokeswoman.

Vigil's mom has joined the lawsuit.

We'll never know how much — if at all — his inability to communicate led to his suicide. But I have no doubt that being stuck voiceless in the echo-chamber of a Denver jail would be maddening beyond words.

"I don't know how he survived that kind of isolation even for a month," Burke says.

In addition to federal law, Denver policy promises interpretation for deaf people dealing with city government. The city's Commission for People with Disabilities pledges that "family members are not utilized to fill the role of an interpreter," and its Agency for Human Rights and Community Relations has a full-time ASL interpreter on the payroll.

"We have interpreters available 2 4/7," D'Agosta said.

Funny, then, that a nurse at Denver's jail has testified that interpreters are "not always on-call and it could take up to 72 hours to arrange for one."

Funny, too, that in two years of bitterly fighting the lawsuit, city attorneys argue that having to provide an interpreter "would constitute an undue burden on Denver."

It's sick enough that the city locks up deaf people without bothering to communicate with them. What's even sicker is the lip service officials give while trying to justify their callousness in our names.

Susan Greene writes Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reach her at 303-954-1989 or greene@denverpost.com.

Greene: A sign of apathy for deaf - The Denver Post

pek1 · 07-24-2009, 01:50 PM

Let's play pretend for a moment, shall we? Pretend that all the police officers are deaf and only speak ASL. The judge and every person on the court payroll, including the janitors, are ASL. Pretend that the "telephone" doesn't hold a dial tone and only works on a tty and there are no instructions anywhere on how to use it (everyone knows how to, right?) Every person on city payroll is ASL only and the televisions that are on in the jail are using asl only (no captioning).

A hearing man is arrested for disorderly conduct and was tasered. The (deaf) ambulance crew came out and determined that his injuries aren't life threatening, although he is screaming at the top of his lungs in pain. After spending the weekend in jail, he is finally able to ask for assistance. He is told that the person who does that is on vacation and won't return for two weeks (that person was on duty when he was arrested and saw him).

What do you suppose the hearing man will do when that person who can help him returns and then is told that it would be another 72 hours for the paperwork to be processed, as it's this person's job to do it?

shel90 · 07-24-2009, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pek1

Let's play pretend for a moment, shall we? Pretend that all the police officers are deaf and only speak ASL. The judge and every person on the court payroll, including the janitors, are ASL. Pretend that the "telephone" doesn't hold a dial tone and only works on a tty and there are no instructions anywhere on how to use it (everyone knows how to, right?) Every person on city payroll is ASL only and the televisions that are on in the jail are using asl only (no captioning).

A hearing man is arrested for disorderly conduct and was tasered. The (deaf) ambulance crew came out and determined that his injuries aren't life threatening, although he is screaming at the top of his lungs in pain. After spending the weekend in jail, he is finally able to ask for assistance. He is told that the person who does that is on vacation and won't return for two weeks (that person was on duty when he was arrested and saw him).

What do you suppose the hearing man will do when that person who can help him returns and then is told that it would be another 72 hours for the paperwork to be processed, as it's this person's job to do it?

Umm, I seem to have missed your point but I dont know how this is revelant. This is about a deaf person's rights being denied.

Mrs Bucket · 07-24-2009, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shel90

Umm, I seem to have missed your point but I dont know how this is revelant. This is about a deaf person's rights being denied.

Thank you!

TheWriteAlex · 07-24-2009, 05:29 PM

Uh, I suppose he would be pretty flippin' mad and file a lawsuit.

Did I win?

Anyway, I can't believe a city as "open minded" as Denver is perpetrating this. I hope they are sued for everything they're worth, and the taxpayers who ultimately have to foot the bill will throw the scumbags responsible for such poor public policy out of office. Shame on Denver.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pek1

Let's play pretend for a moment, shall we? Pretend that all the police officers are deaf and only speak ASL. The judge and every person on the court payroll, including the janitors, are ASL. Pretend that the "telephone" doesn't hold a dial tone and only works on a tty and there are no instructions anywhere on how to use it (everyone knows how to, right?) Every person on city payroll is ASL only and the televisions that are on in the jail are using asl only (no captioning).

A hearing man is arrested for disorderly conduct and was tasered. The (deaf) ambulance crew came out and determined that his injuries aren't life threatening, although he is screaming at the top of his lungs in pain. After spending the weekend in jail, he is finally able to ask for assistance. He is told that the person who does that is on vacation and won't return for two weeks (that person was on duty when he was arrested and saw him).

What do you suppose the hearing man will do when that person who can help him returns and then is told that it would be another 72 hours for the paperwork to be processed, as it's this person's job to do it?

07-24-2009, 01:50 PM	#2 (permalink)
pek1 Journalist. Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: When I survey the wondrous Cross . . . Posts: 3,963	Let's play pretend for a moment, shall we? Pretend that all the police officers are deaf and only speak ASL. The judge and every person on the court payroll, including the janitors, are ASL. Pretend that the "telephone" doesn't hold a dial tone and only works on a tty and there are no instructions anywhere on how to use it (everyone knows how to, right?) Every person on city payroll is ASL only and the televisions that are on in the jail are using asl only (no captioning). A hearing man is arrested for disorderly conduct and was tasered. The (deaf) ambulance crew came out and determined that his injuries aren't life threatening, although he is screaming at the top of his lungs in pain. After spending the weekend in jail, he is finally able to ask for assistance. He is told that the person who does that is on vacation and won't return for two weeks (that person was on duty when he was arrested and saw him). What do you suppose the hearing man will do when that person who can help him returns and then is told that it would be another 72 hours for the paperwork to be processed, as it's this person's job to do it? __________________ Pete

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Today
Deafness	Sponsored Links __________________ This advertising will not be shown in this way to registered members. Register your free account today and become a member on AllDeaf.com