I was
appointed to serve Christ UMC of the Deaf in Baltimore in 1988. This was two years before the Americans with
Disabilities Act became U.S. law. Prior
to the ADA law telecommunication for Deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans was
difficult. One of the most important
parts of the law was equal access to communication.
Deaf
people have long had telephone devices that they used to type words into the
phone, with the cradle of one of those old fashioned phones laying at the top
of the device. Through the wonders of
technology back then two people with TTY’s (“teletype” as they were called)
could communicate with English words back and forth using this device. However not everyone had a TTY or a phone
line and Deaf people could not talk to just anyone, like hearing people can. That is where I got a lot of requests for
“favors” from my members. I had a TTY, of course and this is how it went:
“Please
call my dentist. I have to be seen as soon
as possible.” So I would call the
dentist and say “Hello, I am calling for Jane Doe and she is Deaf and needs to
be seen soon.” The dentist’s secretary
would give me a date and time the next day.
I would call the Deaf person back and they would say “I can’t wait that
long. Please, I must be seen
today.” I would call back and negotiate
a better time and it went on and on.
About 25 minutes and four phone calls later the Deaf person had a dental
appointment.
In
1990 when the ADA bill was signed into law a relay system was devised so that a
Deaf person wanting to talk to a hearing person who did not have a TTY could
call a special number, and a hearing operator with access to two phone lines
would type for the Deaf person and speak for the hearing person. A process that
used to take 25 minutes now took two minutes.
This
relay service is free to all consumers, and every state has one. Revenue for this service comes from a surcharge
on every phone bill. Hearing people can
call Deaf people as well. The access
number for both Deaf and hearing is 711.
Deaf people with low income could
apply for a free TTY; and in some states people who could not afford a monthly
phone bill could get a greatly reduced fee.
This opened the world for Deaf people.
They could call whomever they wanted.
They could order a cake from the grocery store. They could "talk" to their family
members who did not have a TTY. They
could do anything a hearing person could do on a phone. Best of all it was totally confidential. In the past when I made phone calls for
people I was privy to their private information or sensitive health
issues. Imagine if all of your personal
business had to be known by a friend or family member who could hear?
The ADA Law sets Deaf people
free. Nowadays there is a relay service
that has video phone capabilities. The
operator/interpreter can be seen on a computer or TV monitor. They sign for the Deaf consumer and speak
into a headset for the hearing people.
This is even faster and far more language appropriate for people who use
American Sign Language as their primary mode of communication.
The ADA Law requires physical accessibility
for people with mobility or visual challenges, and it includes a plethora of
laws that provide equal opportunity for education, recreation, employment and
transportation. It has been said that
the ADA gave the largest U.S. minority group its rights.
It has not all been easy. There have been numerous legal challenges to
this law and the meaning of the term “reasonable accommodations.” As a nation we are not where we need to be in
terms of employment and physical accommodations. Many of our laws that provide subsidies for
people with disabilities need to be studied further. Some need to be changed,
so that if a person with a disability gets a job, their benefits are not lost
and then all but impossible to get back should the job not work out. We as a nation are going onto perfection. Worldwide disability rights are a huge
challenge.
The church is exempt from following
the ADA law because of the “separation of church and state.” But of course, God does not exempt us from including
our brothers and sisters with disabilities in our churches and ministries. People with disabilities are an important
part of the Body of Christ, with plenty of gifts and graces for ministry.
I urge you to find new ways every
year to improve your church’s accessibility--be it physical or
attitudinal. Your church can sign onto
the new Faith Community Proclamation in honor of the 25th
anniversary of the signing of the ADA law.
The ADA website is a good place to make a commitment to continue the
work of accessibility and advocacy; but there are additional resources
available as well. The address is http://www.adaanniversary.org
Congratulations, ADA Law! You’ve come a long way. Now the best is yet
to come!
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