TDI Corrects Misleading Press Release

Over the past several years I've sent many complaint emails to organizations that engage in behavior that is oppressive to people with hearing loss who prefer spoken language. (a group I call the oral hearing loss - OHL - community.)

The most common example of this behavior is to group 32 million OHL folks with a few hundred thousand Deaf folks and claim that they all use sign language (when less than 2% actually do!) I have NEVER had a positive response to those emails - UNTIL NOW!

TDI, NAD, and DHHCAN published a press release that contained several offensive statements, including this sentence: "VRS is the first telecommunications relay service that enables individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing to communicate in their native language, American Sign Language (ASL)."

Several hearing loss advocates notified TDI that we found the press release misleading, offensive, and oppressive (here's mine), and we received an unsatisfactory response that talked around the topic without really addressing the issue.

Subsequent emails (here's mine) were more successful, and TDI Executive Director Claude Stout replied that he would discuss this with his board and get back to us. After a few days, TDI issued an Apology and Retraction, and released a new Press Release that modified the oppressive language!

A few OHL advocates were disappointed that TDI's corrective action didn't go as far as they would have liked. But the vast majority realized what a momentous action TDI had taken and applauded them for their courage. Here's my "thank you".

I believe this is a huge step in the struggle for social justice for the OHL community. To have a renowned and respected organization with its roots in the Deaf community acknowledge and renounce the DeafAndHardOfHearing myth is monumental. I have no doubt that TDI will be much more careful with their language in the future, and I also think they will become an ally in our struggle to convince other organizations to stop their oppression.

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Original TDI Press Release

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My Complaint email to TDI

I can't tell you how disappointed I am in TDI for perpetuating the oppressive misinformation that hard of hearing people can use VRS to communicate. As you well know, less than 2% of hard of hearing people sign. The perpetuation of the falsehood that hard of hearing people generally sign is THE major roadblock in achieving social justice for people with hearing loss who prefer spoken language as their primary means of communication. The fact that you are spreading this misinformation to Congress is inexcusable.

Perhaps you should remove "and Hard of Hearing" from your organization name, because you clearly are not representing their best interests.

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TDI Response to OHL Complaints

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My Response to the TDI Response

Thanks for the note, and I'm happy to hear that you'll be more circumspect in your communications in the future. I'd suggest that even the word "some" is too strong. The best statistics I've seen is that 2% of hard of hearing people use sign. Perhaps you could say, "a tiny fraction of hard of hearing people" or "roughly 60 thousand of the 30 million hard of hearing people". Or better yet, why not just say "people who use ASL"? That leaves no room for misunderstandings.

This incident is really interesting. I've been beating this drum for a couple of years, and have often felt like the lone voice in the wilderness. Frankly I've been amazed that lots of folks in the hearing loss community aren't outraged by this. And with your press release, it's like someone threw a switch. Suddenly there's all kinds of interest! Several of the lists are buzzing about this, and I'm starting to see some of the outrage that these ongoing misrepresentations deserve. I'm hoping that this is the beginning of the end of the ongoing oppression of people with hearing loss who prefer spoken language.

Can we count on your support in this effort?

Will TDI renounce the next press release from whatever source, that claims, either explicitly or implicitly, that hard of people generally use ASL?

Will you issue a new press release that corrects the previous one?

Will you inform the members of Congress that attended the VRS demonstration that VRS really doesn't help the 98% of hard of hearing Americans who don't sign?

Will TDI become an agency that truly represents the 30 million Americans with hearing loss who don't sign, by hiring one of them?

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TDI's Apology and Retraction

Revised TDI Press Release

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My "Thank You to TDI