Have We Lulled Ourselves Into Complacency?

Submitted by Alexis.Kashar [1] on Mon, 10/26/2009 - 21:49

com⋅pla⋅cen⋅cy
a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.

Today we have videophones, pagers, email, instant messaging, television captioning, some movie theater captioning, and a whole host of technology products and services that provide access and keep us comfortable.  In good times we have interpreter services, communication access real-time translation (CART) services, and other accommodations in classrooms, courtrooms, and at business meetings.  We have an assortment of laws including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, and the Telecommunications Act to ensure and protect our rights to equal access and equal opportunities. We have special education protections under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.  Is this enough?

No. Our work is far from over.  We have become complacent as a deaf and hard of hearing community.   Audism is prevalent.  Discrimination is still rampant.  American Sign Language (ASL) is still misunderstood and disrespected.  Doctors, lawyers, and many other service providers do not always provide interpreter services, CART, or other accommodations to ensure effective communication.  We apply for jobs for which we are qualified, but we are not hired.  Enforcement actions and justice under the ADA are still remarkable because they are rare.  The language and communication needs of deaf children are not always considered in the educational setting.  The need for clear and direct communication access in the educational setting is not always respected.  By being satisfied and comfortable, we fail to remember that danger still lurks around the corner.

By being complacent, we fail to see that we still do not have equality.  Audism and discrimination are alive and well.  Decisions for or on behalf of the deaf and hard of hearing community are continuously made without the input of deaf and hard of hearing people.  Nowhere is this more visible than in the educational establishment.  Most educational programs for deaf and hard of hearing children are not supervised by deaf and hard of hearing people and even worse, many of those institutions do not include any deaf or hard of hearing people in the decision making process.   The importance of ASL is still unrecognized for deaf babies, and yet encouraged for hearing babies. The list goes on and on.

Would any other community tolerate a non-member as a leader for one of its institutions?  Would any other community tolerate decisions that impact them without any input or inclusion in the decision-making process?  Would any other community tolerate the downplaying of the importance of their language and culture?  No, they would not.  Neither should we.  

Fortunately, we have a watchdog, the National Association for the Deaf (NAD).  The NAD is the nation’s premier legal and advocacy civil rights organization of, by, and for the deaf and hard of hearing community.  The NAD was established in 1880 by deaf leaders for the purpose of ensuring that the interests of the deaf and hard of hearing community were represented at the national level.  The mission of those deaf leaders in 1880 continues 129 years later.  Today, the NAD embraces the diverse interests and abilities of the deaf and hard of hearing community.  The NAD covers a wide range of issues including civil rights, education, technology, and telecommunications (see www.NAD.org [2] for a comprehensive list) to ensure comprehensive representation across the board on the national level.

The NAD is our voice on Capitol Hill.  For example, the NAD’s legal staff has worked hard to make sure Congress considers our right to equal access in internet-based communications.  The NAD is our advocate in the current fight to gain equal access to health care and legal services, movie theaters and football stadiums, in making sure our communication access through video relay services remains a viable option for us, and provides a national voice in ensuring that the acquisition of language for every deaf and hard of hearing child is a human right.  The NAD fights these and many other battles.

So who is the NAD?  The NAD is all of us.  The NAD needs our support.  We need the NAD.  We must combine forces to make the NAD the effective tool we want it to be to move us forward.  Together with the NAD, we can reach across state borders and inch towards equality.   As an unified community, each of us can work with the NAD staff to advocate that the doctors, lawyers, movie theaters, stadiums, and schools in each of our communities provide equal access. We, as a community, must take the reins of leadership in programs that serve us in our communities and in our states.

Ask not what the NAD can do for us, but what we can do with the NAD and the deaf and hard of hearing community.  Until then, we will not be able move forward.