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Today's News-Herald : News : A world without sound: Deaf woman fights to improve city for hearing impaired : Havasunews.com : Serving Lake Havasu City & The Lower Colorado River Area - News
Car horns don’t honk for Lake Havasu City resident Angelina Ortiz. Dogs don’t bark. Airplanes don’t buzz overhead and phones don’t ring.
Ortiz is deaf. She wasn’t born that way, but the sounds of everyday noise remain only in her memory now, and every day, she works to find her way around a community that continues to work to provide better ways to communicate with the deaf but may still have a long way to go.
Ortiz said she had gone to Havasu Regional Medical Center to visit her deaf friends and stopped in the lobby to inquire about their room numbers. As Ortiz tried to use sign language to say what she needed, the receptionist continued to speak. Like many deaf people, Ortiz does not read lips.
Eventually, Ortiz did find her way to her friend’s room on the third floor of the hospital. Along the way, she passed numerous other deaf friends in the hall, using sign language, but when she arrived at her friend’s room, she found her friend struggling to communicate with a nurse who did not know sign language.
Ortiz later indicated via a letter there was no translator for the nurse to communicate with the patient. No translator had been contacted.
The Americans with Disabilities Act mandates that all medical facilities provide sign language interpreters for deaf patients, and with new technology like Video Relay Services (VRS) and Video Remote Interpreting companies (VRI) working to provide hospitals translators via videophones, television and laptops, the ability to supply translators for the deaf has become easily accessible. Ortiz said the deaf consider this service a Godsend, but many medical facilities still have done nothing to establish communication lines with deaf patients.
Ortiz left the hospital and went directly to an ADA Advisory Board meeting, where she serves as a board member. Her priority with the ADAAB is overcoming communication obstacles in Lake Havasu City. Improving hospitals is the first step. Ortiz said when deaf people in the community visit their doctors they are asked to bring a family member, a child or a friend who signs along. The medical facilities don’t want to pay for a translator.
“I ask them why would we bring children to interpret for us,” Ortiz said via an interpreter. “Little children’s minds are too small to understand terminology for medical purposes.”
Ortiz is also the president for the Colorado River Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She is responsible for providing interpreter services to those residents who are deaf or hard of hearing in the community, and she is often told stories similar to the one she experienced.
“When I get a call from the deaf in need for interpreting services, I contact the offices and ask if I can bring an interpreter but make them understand that the medical office is responsible for paying,” Ortiz said. “They’ll say, ‘oh no, don’t worry about that. We don’t want to do that,’ and they’ll refuse to do it.”
Ortiz said the deaf are often told the medical facility couldn’t afford to pay for a translator.
She finds herself often reminding the facility that any disability service they provide has its own tax breaks.
Everyday instances of communication are often not much better for the deaf in Lake Havasu City. Ortiz said at the library, grocery store or shopping center she is always asked to read lips.
She has discovered a solution to the problem. Anywhere Ortiz goes, a pad of paper and pencil go with her. She encourages those people she must speak with on an everyday basis to write their words down.
Lake Havasu City has several interpreters, but many of them are not licensed to provide medical, legal and social interpretation. Many do work with the school district, because they are exempt from licensing, but educational interpreting has their own test to pass.
Interpreters for medical and legal must be licensed by the ACDHH.
But, hospitals aren’t the only place where the deaf and hard of hearing struggle. Communication is difficult for students and teachers, alike. Ortiz said the public is asking too much of these teachers and doesn’t completely address children with special needs.
“I know teachers try hard with disabled students,” Ortiz said. “They try, but can’t provide the full services necessary and are often overwhelmed. I applaud them for trying.”
Ortiz said the barriers between parents and children are often just as difficult. She said 90 percent of deaf children come from hearing families. Without a school for the deaf or disabled, parents are forced to enroll their children in public schools.
The State of Arizona has only two schools for the deaf, Phoenix Day School for the Deaf and the Arizona School for the Deaf in Tucson.
Several special needs programs are offered through different organizations such as the Southwest and North Central Regional Cooperatives and the Early Childhood and Family Education. The latter includes classes for hearing-impaired children aging from birth to age 5.
Ortiz says the dilemma this presents for parents is the cost of travel. Many parents can’t afford to take their children to Yuma or Tucson or Phoenix, so they have to enroll their children in public schools. She said the public school system is doing what it can, but, once again, it is a matter of having enough sign language translators, although most translators in the city are licensed to work in education.
Ortiz, herself, has worked with children at Nautilus Elementary School. In the past, the school has had a sign language club, teaching students how to sign.
The deaf often struggle with employment opportunities, Ortiz said. Many deaf people find they are often discriminated against because they cannot hear, and it is assumed they have no skills because they cannot hear.
“We are relegated to working for deaf companies only,” she said in a letter. “Not that we mind. They are the only businesses that provide employment for the deaf, and we have much to thank them for offering us every conceivable opportunity.”
Ortiz said the deaf also find the interview process difficult. Many businesses will not pay for interpreter services for an interview, she said. Once again, deaf people are encouraged to bring their children or friends along so they can translate. The ADA does require businesses to accommodate a deaf person when he or she comes in to an interview, but many businesses refuse to do so, losing what she says is a very qualified and skilled individual.
Mohave County Community College is willing to provide interpreters for deaf and hard of hearing residents when they go to an interview.
The economy has been difficult for everyone, but deaf residents especially. Ortiz said she just wants to know something is being done to work to make things better for people like her with businesses in the city and with the city, itself.
“It would be better if the business and city would say we’ll look into it, we’ll work on it, we’ll try, instead of saying no we don’t want to do that,” she said. “I would prefer they just say we’ll work on it.”
Ortiz said she often misses out on events in the city, because there is no closed captioning offered for local television programs. She prefers to get her news from television, but locally cannot. She is able to receive national news, and she noted President Barack Obama declared in his inauguration speech he would like to make all presentations closed-captioning on the Internet.
“I have so much hope for him to do stuff for us,” Ortiz said. “I never heard that from (President George W.) Bush.”
Ortiz says she thinks the disabled community is starting to realize they deserve better and are speaking out.
“I think the disabled community is starting to come out of its shell and demand equality,” she said. “There is more awareness.”
Car horns don’t honk for Lake Havasu City resident Angelina Ortiz. Dogs don’t bark. Airplanes don’t buzz overhead and phones don’t ring.
Ortiz is deaf. She wasn’t born that way, but the sounds of everyday noise remain only in her memory now, and every day, she works to find her way around a community that continues to work to provide better ways to communicate with the deaf but may still have a long way to go.
Ortiz said she had gone to Havasu Regional Medical Center to visit her deaf friends and stopped in the lobby to inquire about their room numbers. As Ortiz tried to use sign language to say what she needed, the receptionist continued to speak. Like many deaf people, Ortiz does not read lips.
Eventually, Ortiz did find her way to her friend’s room on the third floor of the hospital. Along the way, she passed numerous other deaf friends in the hall, using sign language, but when she arrived at her friend’s room, she found her friend struggling to communicate with a nurse who did not know sign language.
Ortiz later indicated via a letter there was no translator for the nurse to communicate with the patient. No translator had been contacted.
The Americans with Disabilities Act mandates that all medical facilities provide sign language interpreters for deaf patients, and with new technology like Video Relay Services (VRS) and Video Remote Interpreting companies (VRI) working to provide hospitals translators via videophones, television and laptops, the ability to supply translators for the deaf has become easily accessible. Ortiz said the deaf consider this service a Godsend, but many medical facilities still have done nothing to establish communication lines with deaf patients.
Ortiz left the hospital and went directly to an ADA Advisory Board meeting, where she serves as a board member. Her priority with the ADAAB is overcoming communication obstacles in Lake Havasu City. Improving hospitals is the first step. Ortiz said when deaf people in the community visit their doctors they are asked to bring a family member, a child or a friend who signs along. The medical facilities don’t want to pay for a translator.
“I ask them why would we bring children to interpret for us,” Ortiz said via an interpreter. “Little children’s minds are too small to understand terminology for medical purposes.”
Ortiz is also the president for the Colorado River Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She is responsible for providing interpreter services to those residents who are deaf or hard of hearing in the community, and she is often told stories similar to the one she experienced.
“When I get a call from the deaf in need for interpreting services, I contact the offices and ask if I can bring an interpreter but make them understand that the medical office is responsible for paying,” Ortiz said. “They’ll say, ‘oh no, don’t worry about that. We don’t want to do that,’ and they’ll refuse to do it.”
Ortiz said the deaf are often told the medical facility couldn’t afford to pay for a translator.
She finds herself often reminding the facility that any disability service they provide has its own tax breaks.
Everyday instances of communication are often not much better for the deaf in Lake Havasu City. Ortiz said at the library, grocery store or shopping center she is always asked to read lips.
She has discovered a solution to the problem. Anywhere Ortiz goes, a pad of paper and pencil go with her. She encourages those people she must speak with on an everyday basis to write their words down.
Lake Havasu City has several interpreters, but many of them are not licensed to provide medical, legal and social interpretation. Many do work with the school district, because they are exempt from licensing, but educational interpreting has their own test to pass.
Interpreters for medical and legal must be licensed by the ACDHH.
But, hospitals aren’t the only place where the deaf and hard of hearing struggle. Communication is difficult for students and teachers, alike. Ortiz said the public is asking too much of these teachers and doesn’t completely address children with special needs.
“I know teachers try hard with disabled students,” Ortiz said. “They try, but can’t provide the full services necessary and are often overwhelmed. I applaud them for trying.”
Ortiz said the barriers between parents and children are often just as difficult. She said 90 percent of deaf children come from hearing families. Without a school for the deaf or disabled, parents are forced to enroll their children in public schools.
The State of Arizona has only two schools for the deaf, Phoenix Day School for the Deaf and the Arizona School for the Deaf in Tucson.
Several special needs programs are offered through different organizations such as the Southwest and North Central Regional Cooperatives and the Early Childhood and Family Education. The latter includes classes for hearing-impaired children aging from birth to age 5.
Ortiz says the dilemma this presents for parents is the cost of travel. Many parents can’t afford to take their children to Yuma or Tucson or Phoenix, so they have to enroll their children in public schools. She said the public school system is doing what it can, but, once again, it is a matter of having enough sign language translators, although most translators in the city are licensed to work in education.
Ortiz, herself, has worked with children at Nautilus Elementary School. In the past, the school has had a sign language club, teaching students how to sign.
The deaf often struggle with employment opportunities, Ortiz said. Many deaf people find they are often discriminated against because they cannot hear, and it is assumed they have no skills because they cannot hear.
“We are relegated to working for deaf companies only,” she said in a letter. “Not that we mind. They are the only businesses that provide employment for the deaf, and we have much to thank them for offering us every conceivable opportunity.”
Ortiz said the deaf also find the interview process difficult. Many businesses will not pay for interpreter services for an interview, she said. Once again, deaf people are encouraged to bring their children or friends along so they can translate. The ADA does require businesses to accommodate a deaf person when he or she comes in to an interview, but many businesses refuse to do so, losing what she says is a very qualified and skilled individual.
Mohave County Community College is willing to provide interpreters for deaf and hard of hearing residents when they go to an interview.
The economy has been difficult for everyone, but deaf residents especially. Ortiz said she just wants to know something is being done to work to make things better for people like her with businesses in the city and with the city, itself.
“It would be better if the business and city would say we’ll look into it, we’ll work on it, we’ll try, instead of saying no we don’t want to do that,” she said. “I would prefer they just say we’ll work on it.”
Ortiz said she often misses out on events in the city, because there is no closed captioning offered for local television programs. She prefers to get her news from television, but locally cannot. She is able to receive national news, and she noted President Barack Obama declared in his inauguration speech he would like to make all presentations closed-captioning on the Internet.
“I have so much hope for him to do stuff for us,” Ortiz said. “I never heard that from (President George W.) Bush.”
Ortiz says she thinks the disabled community is starting to realize they deserve better and are speaking out.
“I think the disabled community is starting to come out of its shell and demand equality,” she said. “There is more awareness.”