Oral Hearing Loss (OHL) Advocacy (OHLA)
There's a growing realization that members of the OHL
community are generally ignored or shortchanged when it comes to
services to help them manage their hearing loss. A group of folks who
hold that view have formed an organization to do something about. That
organization is OHL Advocacy (OHLA).
Our early discussions led to the realization that one of the reasons
OHL services are absent is that people are unaware of the lack of
services. As proof they point to the myriad of services available to the
"Deaf and hard of hearing", including interpreters, video
relay service, vocational rehabilitation services, local and regional
Deaf service agencies, etc.
And there's the rub!
Virtually all of the services promoted as supporting people who are
"Deaf and hard of hearing" really support people who are Deaf;
they are generally "of, by, and for" people who are Deaf. The
use of the term "Deaf and hard of hearing", or more
appropriately, "DeafAndHardOfHearing"
is used primarily to claim a target population of about 30 million
people in the US, rather than the few hundred thousand people who are
Deaf.
The bottom line is that 30 million hard of hearing, late-deafened,
and oral deaf people do NOT have access to appropriate and adequate
services, because the services that seem to be provided for them are
really appropriate only to the the roughly one percent of people with
hearing loss who are Deaf.
So we decided to stop talking about it and start doing something
about it. We initially decided on two goals:
1. Educate the general public and the hearing loss community about
the lack of services for the OHL population and the role of the phrase
"DeafAndHardOfHearing"
in supporting that reality.
2. Develop a certification procedure that allows us to recognize and
acknowledge organizations that actually serve the OHL community, and
promote community acceptance of our certification procedure.
That's the short version of who we are and how we got here ;-) For a
more in-depth look at some of our ideas and convictions, follow
some of the very interesting links from this page.
July 2005 - OHLA is really building steam. We've written some letters
to organizations, distributed a questionnaire, and established a
website. Read all about it in the OHLA Update.
May 2007 - Here's
our report on the Advocacy workshop at the 2007 SayWhatClub conference.
May 2007 - Here's
the text of my keynote address (Advocacy and the OHL Community) at the
2007 SayWhatClub conference
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 2005
We've been reporting on OHL (Oral Hearing Loss) Advocacy (OHLA), a
group of people who are working to achieve social justice for members of
the OHL community. OHL community members are people with hearing loss
who prefer spoken language as their primary means of communication. This
includes hard of hearing, late-deafened, and oral deaf folks.
OHLA is working to educate the general public and the hearing loss
community about the characteristics and needs of OHL people. In doing so
we are proposing some ideas that many people consider "outside the
box", and we've ruffled a few feathers in the process.
Let me state once again that we are not "against" the Deaf
community or ASL or appropriate services for Deaf folks. Quite the
contrary! We appreciate and support their language and culture, and we
recognize and applaud their decades of advocacy that have resulted in
the services they enjoy today.
At the same time, OHL folks are not Deaf or "Deaf Lite" or
"less Deaf", and many of the accommodations that enrich the
lives of Deaf people are not appropriate to OHL people. Deaf people and
OHL people comprise separate groups, have different disabilities, and
require different accommodations. None of these statements reduces our
regard for members of the Deaf community; they merely point out that OHL
folks are a separate community.
DeafAndHardOfHearing
The term "Deaf and hard of hearing" is the largest
contributor to the misperception that Deaf people and hard of hearing
people comprise a single group. Most people use the term
"DeafAndHardOfHearing" as if it were a single word, with
little regard to its implications. The term is oppressive to the OHL
community, because it fosters the notion that the relatively plentiful
accommodations enjoyed by Deaf people (e.g. interpreters) are
appropriate for OHL people. The result is the erroneous perception by
the general public and many DeafAndHardOfHearing service providers that
adequate services are available to the OHL community.
OHLA Website
We've added an OHLA section to our website, so you can follow our
advocacy activities. Point your browser to http://www.hearinglossweb.com/Issues/Identity/ohl/nat/ohla/ohla.htm.
You may be particularly interested in our public awareness campaign,
which educates people about the OHL community. You'll notice that we
have two sections, one for applause and another for admonishment. We
want to recognize those whose behavior supports the OHL community, as
well as chastise those whose behavior doesn't. Drop by for a visit!
WHAT YOU CAN DO
I was encouraged to get a quick response to a complaint email to the
FCC for their press release claiming that Video Relay Service (VRS)
supports DeafAndHardOfHearing people. It was a standard brush-off, but
I'm hoping that my follow-up email may be taken more seriously. And I'm
hoping even more that YOUR email, in combination with that of others who
care about this issue, will begin to break through the FCC mindset that
Deaf and hard of hearing people are really all the same. DO TAKE 20
MINUTES to read what has transpired so far and dash off a note to Tom
Chandler, Chief of the Disability Rights Office. Tom is in a position to
spread our message far and wide, so take a moment to help him understand
our community. Point your browser to: http://www.hearinglossweb.com/Issues/Identity/ohl/nat/ohla/ed/2005/fcc_pr.htm.
Tom's email address is thomas.chandler@fcc.gov.
OHL Questionnaire (WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO)
A huge THANK YOU to those of you who have responded to the
questionnaire we published last week! We've received over 30 responses,
and they're still trickling in. It's clear that these issues are
striking a chord within the community. It's also clear that you thought
about your responses before answering. We greatly appreciate both the
quantity and quality of your responses!
For those of you who haven't yet responded, we'll hold off another
couple of days before we begin tabulating results. More responses will
give greater credibility to our results, so please do respond in the
next day or two. Email me (larry@hearinglossweb.com) if you need a
questionnaire.
Oral VRS Users
Last week's article entitled "FCC adopts new rules to improve
VRS for hard-of-hearing" created a bit of a stir. I got the
expected replies from folks who had contacted EE Times to complain about
the misleading article (thank you!). I also got some unexpected replies
from people claiming that Video Relay Service (VRS) really is for hard
of hearing people, because they can use it to lipread. Subsequent
discussions on a couple of lists failed to turn up anyone who relies
strictly on lipreading when using VRS.
If you have used strictly lipreading on a VRS call, or know someone
who has, please email me (larry@hearinglossweb.com) and tell me about
your experiences. And if you do so on a regular basis, be sure to
indicate that, as well. Note that the goal is to identify people who DO
NOT SIGN, and use LIPREADING ONLY on VRS calls.
