Hamilton Relay Revises Employment Opportunity

We recently published an article praising TDI for the courage and character they displayed during the situation involving one of their press releases. For those who didn't see it, their original press release made the statement that American Sign Language (ASL) is the native language of hard of hearing Americans. Several members of the hard of hearing community protested this statement, and TDI retracted the press release and replaced it with a more accurate one. (For a more thorough discussion of this incident please point your browser to: http://www.hearinglossweb.com/Issues/Identity/ohl/nat/ohla/ed/fame/2007/tdi/tdi.htm)

We commented at the time that we have written MANY such letters protesting MANY such misrepresentations, and this is the first time an organization has responded in a logical and just manner. You can imagine our surprise when it happened again just a month later!

Hamilton Relay advertised an employment opportunity for a CapTel Outreach Coordinator in Maryland. Despite the fact that CapTel users are overwhelmingly oral, the ad stated that, "Applicants with the ability to communicate through the use of American Sign Language are preferred." Several of us emailed the Hamilton folks to protest this seemingly discriminatory and nonsensical preference. (Here's my email.)

Hamilton's response was that the ability to communicate in ASL is necessary so that the CapTel Outreach Coordinator would be able to easily communicate with others in the office. Here's my response to that statement.)

A short time later Hamilton released a revised employment opportunity that eliminated the ASL preference and included these statements:

·        Knowledge of and ability to understand various communication modes used by potential CapTel users.

·        Direct work experience with a Telecommunications Relay Service or knowledge of CapTel preferred.

·        Experience working with people who are hard of hearing or late deafened, including familiarity with assistive listening devices and CART.

·        CapTel users are encouraged to apply.

Of course I emailed the folks at Hamilton and thanked them for change in policy. I also reminded them of the HUGE OHL market that is underserved and largely unaware of some of the wonderful relay options. And, perhaps most importantly, I told them that I will help spread the word that Hamilton is responsive to the needs of the OHL community.

Here's the email I sent to the OHLAdvocacy group. By the way, we have been having some very interesting discussions on this topic as well as others (e.g., who are the late-deafened leaders?, what should be the requirements for various jobs in the hearing loss world?) For some fascinating reading or to get involved, please point your browser to: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/OHLAdvocacy/

I started writing about the awakening OHL community a couple of years
ago, and I believe that we're approaching a tipping point. Hamilton and
TDI modifying their publications in response to our comments is just the
beginning of the realization of social justice for OHL folks!

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My first email to Hamilton

I'm curious about your employment announement for a CapTel Outreach Coordinator. In my experience the vast majority of CapTel users prefer oral communications to signed communication, and only a tiny percentage of them sign. So why are you specifically looking for "Applicants with the ability to communicate  through the use of American Sign Language". This attribute seems to be incidental to the requirements of the positions, and eliminates virtually all of the potential users of the service from working as an outreach coordinator for the service!

I know I'm missing something here. Can you please tell me what it is?

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My second email to Hamilton

Let me ask you a question. Suppose the office was full of hard of hearing people who communicated orally and your employment announcement specified that people must use spoken English to ensure that they can communicate with others in the office. Would that be ok?

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My email to the OHLAdvocacy Group

Great news!