Deaf Unemployment Rate @ 72.5%...!!!

[DeafDucky]

I agree. But, it's not totally dismal, deaf are getting jobs. You need to be in the right place and you need to have the right education.

so what does one do when.. they DO have the right education, plenty of past experience... and theoretically "in the right place" (whatever that may mean)?

I am an educated person... college... then changed careers- business school training program. Course.. my experience is in a field that may or may not be getting smaller- it's still out there though. So I can't explain why I am having a hard time finding any kind of job. For the last year I pretty much gave up out of frustration and disillusionment. School one would say... well.. if I had the money! VR drags their asses on that anyway also. Min wage job you say? They won't even interview me for those.

but hey..2017...maybe I'll get lucky. I don't know... I have age against me now too.

 

[AlleyCat]

I agree. The whole "right place, right time" is rather cliche.

 

[zeefour]

I think using deaf when you are hoh is a little harder. I am moderate to server hoh and when I tell people I am HoH they take it as I can hear their voices just fine. When I tell people I am deaf they tell me I am lying because I talk to well.
I did read this study about how if hoh can see them self as deaf and embrace it they will be more confident. I don't know if hoh could consider them selves deaf though. But if they are part of the Deaf world and culture I could see how they would consider themselves Deaf per say

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using AllDeaf App mobile app

Sorry @DeafNerdMommy this is an old post, but I feel like I'm in the same position. I talk too well and grew up with more signed English than ASL and until this year it has been rusty to "be Deaf" but then people think HoH means I can hear everything they say okay. Glad to know I'm not alone!

 

[DeafNerdMommy]

Sorry @DeafNerdMommy this is an old post, but I feel like I'm in the same position. I talk too well and grew up with more signed English than ASL and until this year it has been rusty to "be Deaf" but then people think HoH means I can hear everything they say okay. Glad to know I'm not alone!

I am glad you don't feel alone it is kind of weird being in the middle. I was raised in the hearing world so joining the Deaf world was both exciting and scary. I have not been part.of the Deaf community locally in some time.

 

[DeafChemEng2012]

The key is to use all methods at one's disposal to bridge any communication issues that may arise. Can't expect employers to know ASL or provide interpreters at their expense, but most are flexible to accomodate whatever methods are agreeable to all parties involved. I'll admit I still felt at a disadvantage with hearing people when I applied for an accountant position, passing my CPA exam allowed me to stand out more compared to other applicants. No, it's not a fair world, and I don't expect to be treated special either because I'm deaf. Just use a communication method that works to even the field.

Very well said.

You are a rare group that asks the question, “what can I do for myself?”

Rather than, “what can they do for me?”

ADA laws help, and accommodations do help, but at the end of the day, the person responsible to get what is needed to successfully communicate; is “you” !

 

[x1heavy]

I have had dozens of trucking company bosses and trucking school teachers to be precise ask me "Yer deaf. What do I do with you Driver?" in the tone that somehow I am less of a person than the rest of the trucking fleet and all the people in it. (JBH for example has almost 20,000 people, 15000 are drivers) I would sit down and explain to the Boss man a little bit about where I am in between the hearing and the deaf. Its easier to function as a deaf person.

Technology has gone a long way to help. For example.... A dispatcher can message me ALL of the details about where to pick up a load and when and what time to be there plus the physical address and phone number. I get the laptop GPS out and find it on the map and already have additional phone numbers not public through a business directory commonly availible on DVD for the entire nation. I am there on time and the load is delivered. Hearing has nothing to do with it.

Now... go back 30 years.

Old style telephone, a pay phone with 10.00 in quarters. Endure 3 hours of phone calling to get all the information written down and having the poor boss man repeat everything in greater detail until we have enough information to run on. That truck does not move a inch until we all are on the same page.

I eventually got a phone credit card with ATT for the entire North America early in my adult years. It had a 1000 dollar a month credit limit. I burned about 600 dollars a month and paid in full for all the payphone charges based on making sure all the information was accurate. If it was not then it costs everyone time and money to fix it. When satellite technology reached trucking I cut that card up. It was my biggest bill prior to student loans later in life.

They really hated that. So what do they do? Give me a week or 10 days worth of work and hope that I am successful. (I usually am) and never called in unless there is a breakdown or weather problem etc.

I understand there are apps now working fast enough on smart phones to put human speech into writing on screen and POSSIBLY even sign into it that is changed into speech and words for the other person to understand. I don't know what all there is yet about that emerging technology. In some point in time being deaf or not deaf no longer matters in any workplace. It must not.

If you are unemployed because your prospective employers refuse to accomodate your modest ADA needs then take it to the State and ask them whats what. And if its serious enough you can stand to be awarded a nice sum of money from that discriminatory employer. HOWEVER.... in trucking its not a regulated industry anymore since 1978. Or even 1933. That means any employer can tell me that they are stricter than DOT?FMCSA legally on Medical requirements and hire only Hearing Drivers. No deaf or HOH period.

And they are legally fully able to do that. You cannot touch them in court. There were not too many deaf drivers I know of three now, two of us here on All deaf. One has passed on in real life a few years back.