Travel Accommodations for Deaf?

D

DeafScribbler7

New Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2015
Messages
20
Reaction score
0
I wrote a blog post in the frustrations of trying to find a tour group that will provide ASL interpreters or a Deaf tour group that will create an itinerary for the trip I had in mind.

Blog post: The Grand Tour of Europe: A Deaf Traveler and Nonexistent Accommodations

Anyone experiencing those frustrations too? Any advice or leads I could explore?
 
One thing to consider is not all European countries speak English and/or use ASL.

I could almost see that for certain countries, you will need an interpreter who is not only fluent in ASL, but also the spoken language of that country and can translate both ways. This may be part of the reason you're having difficulty finding interpreted tours.

You didn't mention what city you live in, but if you by any chance are part of a large metropolitan area that has a large deaf population, do you have a deaf club or organization you could spread the word of your hopes/ideas through? (For example, some of the ASL interpreters on the deaf cruises get free airfare/cruise in exchange for interpreting. I wonder if you could find an interpreter interested in a trip where their expenses are paid for in exchange for their interpreting services. But you might have to form a "group" in order to afford this.) Sorry this doesn't seem very helpful.
 
The regular tour groups are led by a English-speaking guide, thus the ASL interpreter would only have to worry about English within the group and guides. (I on the other hand, have been learning French, German, Italian, Dutch, and Portuguese in addition to several years of Latin in high school and college which made learning the Romance languages relatively easy. :)

I do not live in a metropolitan area -but I have shared my post on Facebook and know of 8 other Deaf that would LOVE to join should that ever become a possibility. One Deaf tour operator is looking into it but taking forever to respond so I get the feeling that they might not be very active on that goal.

I know plenty of terps that would be willing to terp for free in exchange for their passage :)
 
Back
Top