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http://www.helenair.com/articles/2005/09/20/montana_top/a07092005_03.txt
The state has donated 118 text telephones to help deaf or hard-of-hearing people in Louisiana who lost their phones when Hurricane Katrina hit, Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Monday.
"We recognize in Montana that communication isn't only for those who have verbal skills," Schweitzer told a Capitol press conference. He said the state wanted to make these special telephones available to help those needing them to communicate.
Connie Phelps, director of the Montana Telecommunications Access Program, said the telephones shipped to Louisiana were refurbished equipment the state otherwise would have sent to surplus property or tried to sell. Her office, which administers the Montana Relay telephone program, shipped the surplus telephones last week to Louisiana, where officials were waiting for a number of telephone lines to be set up again.
Montana still has 7,000 special telephones distributed around the state to help deaf or hard-of-hearing people communicate.
To kick off Deaf Awareness Week, Schweitzer also demonstrated the use of a video relay phone service when he received a phone call on his cellular phone from Tearra Donovan, 17, a junior at the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind in Great Falls.
Donovan, also in the rotunda, used sign language, which a golf-ball sized camera transmitted to an interpreter-operator via computer, and the operator translated the sign language into spoken language for Schweitzer. When he talked to Donovan, the interpreter translated his comments into sign language that Donovan could see on the laptop computer.
During the call, Donovan asked Schweitzer how he liked his job, and he said it's a great job that he enjoys.
Schweitzer asked her if she had been to the Capitol before, and she had. Donovan said later she had been in the Capitol many times, including with the Expressions of Silence group, a school group that performs to songs using sign language and dance.
The governor asked Donovan another question, but a technological glitch occurred, and suddenly they were disconnected.
Schweitzer said it was the first call he had received from a deaf person, and he hopes it's the first of many.
"To the folks of Montana who haven't had a chance to speak to a governor before, give me a call," he said. "Tell me what I'm doing wrong."
Before the call, Schweitzer said he has pledged that his would be an inclusive administration that would include all Montanans "from the first and the most to the last and the least."
"Through technology, we can make all of the services we have available to all of Montana," he said. "That's important. That says something about society and something about a people."
Phelps said any Montanan can call someone who is deaf by dialing 711. No text-telephone or special equipment is needed. An operator will relay the call and handle the sign language interpretation, just like the conversation between Schweitzer and Donovan.
The state has donated 118 text telephones to help deaf or hard-of-hearing people in Louisiana who lost their phones when Hurricane Katrina hit, Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Monday.
"We recognize in Montana that communication isn't only for those who have verbal skills," Schweitzer told a Capitol press conference. He said the state wanted to make these special telephones available to help those needing them to communicate.
Connie Phelps, director of the Montana Telecommunications Access Program, said the telephones shipped to Louisiana were refurbished equipment the state otherwise would have sent to surplus property or tried to sell. Her office, which administers the Montana Relay telephone program, shipped the surplus telephones last week to Louisiana, where officials were waiting for a number of telephone lines to be set up again.
Montana still has 7,000 special telephones distributed around the state to help deaf or hard-of-hearing people communicate.
To kick off Deaf Awareness Week, Schweitzer also demonstrated the use of a video relay phone service when he received a phone call on his cellular phone from Tearra Donovan, 17, a junior at the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind in Great Falls.
Donovan, also in the rotunda, used sign language, which a golf-ball sized camera transmitted to an interpreter-operator via computer, and the operator translated the sign language into spoken language for Schweitzer. When he talked to Donovan, the interpreter translated his comments into sign language that Donovan could see on the laptop computer.
During the call, Donovan asked Schweitzer how he liked his job, and he said it's a great job that he enjoys.
Schweitzer asked her if she had been to the Capitol before, and she had. Donovan said later she had been in the Capitol many times, including with the Expressions of Silence group, a school group that performs to songs using sign language and dance.
The governor asked Donovan another question, but a technological glitch occurred, and suddenly they were disconnected.
Schweitzer said it was the first call he had received from a deaf person, and he hopes it's the first of many.
"To the folks of Montana who haven't had a chance to speak to a governor before, give me a call," he said. "Tell me what I'm doing wrong."
Before the call, Schweitzer said he has pledged that his would be an inclusive administration that would include all Montanans "from the first and the most to the last and the least."
"Through technology, we can make all of the services we have available to all of Montana," he said. "That's important. That says something about society and something about a people."
Phelps said any Montanan can call someone who is deaf by dialing 711. No text-telephone or special equipment is needed. An operator will relay the call and handle the sign language interpretation, just like the conversation between Schweitzer and Donovan.