Wash-CAP Is Getting a Southern Companion
By John Waldo
December 2009
Editor: We've been following Wash-CAP's rapid and substantial success
for over a year now, and have been hoping that their type of advocacy
would be emulated elsewhere. We're thrilled to see that the Wash-CAP folks
have been talking to some people in Oregon, and that an Oregon version is
in the works. Here's the story as reported by Wash-CAP's John Waldo. For
more information on this very exciting program, please point your browser
to http://www.hearinglosslaw.com/
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Word had spread about the successes we've enjoyed in Washington through
the Washington State Communication Access Project, (Wash-CAP), our
organized group advocacy on behalf of people with hearing loss. Last
weekend, I met with a group of folks in Oregon who are interested in
forming a similar organization, tentatively called the Oregon
Communication Access Project.
The meeting was organized by Clark Anderson, a retired hospital
administrator from the Eugene area. Clark brought together a number of
Oregonians who have been actively working on behalf of people with hearing
loss. Their general consensus -- it makes sense to work as a group.
The overall objective in Oregon, as in Washington, will be to actually
implement the provisions of federal disability laws that guarantee access
to public places to people with hearing loss. The legal landscape in
Oregon isn't quite as favorable -- while the federal Americans with
Disabilities Act applies, Oregon does not have a state law like
Washington's that goes beyond ADA's requirements.
We talked about the need for strategic planning and a systematic
approach to implementing those plans. We talked about how our initial
efforts to make live theater accessible in the Seattle area led us to
learn about available technologies and providers, so that we could be
resource people for businesses that want to reach out to people with
hearing loss but aren't sure how to do it.
As was the case in Washington, the feeling in Oregon was that it is
important to begin dealing with situations where the business's
obligations are pretty clear-cut, and the advocacy efforts are therefore
likely to succeed. In that light, efforts to make live theater dialogue
and announcements at sports facilities understandable seemed particularly
promising. Because of that, the early focus is likely to be on improving
access at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Portland Center for the
Performing Arts Broadway series and other major live theaters in Portland,
the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in Eugene, and professional and
college sports venues in Portland, Eugene and Corvallis.
This is great news for both Oregon and Washington. Working in two
continiguous states will help generate awareness of the needs of the
hearing-loss population and how those needs can be accommodated. Many
people in both states cross the Columbia regularly to patronize
attractions in the neighboring state.
I'll continue to advise OR-CAP on some of the technical details of
getting started -- things like the mechanics of incorporation, the
necessary corporate documents and the public outreach effort that is
required. We hope they may benefit by what has worked well for us in
Washington, and perhaps benefit just as much from things that we might
have done a bit differently. We anticipate that by mid-January, the Oregon
organization will be up and running, and opening doors there for those of
us with hearing loss.
