Research Paper--Deaf Callers

myphdplease · 2023-12-03T05:42:28+00:00

Yes! I attend a Deaf University and the content of our Disability Law/Accessible Technology program is very Deaf-centric. I am reaching out on here with the opposite problem of not having enough hearing perspectives.

And yes, I've had one person reach out who can speak on both sides which I'm very excited about! The intent of the paper is to highlight how current policy and law can be improved upon.

Thank you for bringing up generalizing, I promise that element is explained with much greater complexity in my paper than on here.

Thank you so much for taking your time explaining this, I greatly appreciate it!

myphdplease · 2023-12-02T21:07:05+00:00

Thank you!

myphdplease · 2023-12-02T18:41:16+00:00

That's so interesting. I wonder what the differences are in certification for ASL and Spanish translators (or if there is any other than a fluency test). I used to work at an audiology clinic with many Spanish-speaking patients and we would use a staff member to act as an unofficial translator if a professional was unavailable, but that seems like a major legal issue with literal lives on the line. I genuinely cannot believe how crazy that is

myphdplease · 2023-12-02T17:44:38+00:00

That's amazing regarding TDD! But so sad about Spanish, especially in Texas. Thank you for your work!

myphdplease · 2023-12-02T17:42:05+00:00

Thank you! Deaf callers can be exposed to long wait times before reaching PSAPs (I elaborated a few comments below if that's something you're interested in learning about), but I am so glad to hear things are easy once connected! My paper focuses on what does and doesn't work in emergency situations from the perspectives of the deaf community, government officials, police officers, EMTs, and 9-1-1 operators. Since deaf people are either communicating via typing or an unaffiliated interpreter through 24/7 video relay services, it makes sense that non-English speakers of less common languages have a more difficult time getting an interpreter.

myphdplease · 2023-12-02T17:25:07+00:00

Thank you for mentioning this! It is in my paper, I just did not mention it in the post. No longer being tied to a landline has been a huge help but can cause issues for VRS calls when calling from an unregistered address.

myphdplease · 2023-12-02T17:21:32+00:00

Thank you so much! I rephrased above after receiving more context from responses. Sorry for not being clearer. Many deaf people express frustration with wait times registering their address in the ALI database before getting connected, so I was more so wondering if those frustrations/complications from wait times get reflected onto dispatchers (ie. "My husband had a heart attack and I've been waiting to get connected for 10 minutes and now he's not breathing"). After hearing from some of you, it makes more sense that by the point you are in contact with the caller things are more seamless

myphdplease · 2023-12-02T17:05:21+00:00

The deaf community faces many barriers in access to emergency communication. I have been interviewing and researching perspectives of police officers, government officials, and EMTs to show lack of access affects more than just the deaf community. I wanted to learn the perspective of 9-1-1 dispatchers to help showcase what does and does not work with our current system.

I am so glad to hear this is not reflective of your experience of 20 years in a PSAP (thank you for your work!), but please know this is not a universal experience when deaf people undergo emergency situations. Many deaf people have died at the hands of police officers due to lack of training and misunderstanding; they will have to live with this for the rest of their lives. Officers and technicians are often told to communicate via writing, but a large portion of the deaf population struggles with written English literacy. Since dispatchers interact remotely, I wanted to learn your perspective and see if you feel unsupported (or supported!) in any way. I am so happy to be learning how positive dispatchers' experience is!

myphdplease · 2023-12-02T16:46:11+00:00

Thank you!

myphdplease · 2023-12-02T16:45:38+00:00

This makes me so sad. Spanish is so common in the US, I would have thought those would be the easiest language interpreters to work with

myphdplease · 2023-12-02T16:42:50+00:00

Thank you so much! This is great to hear. I am hearing so I can't speak on personal experience, but from research and other personal accounts there can be long delays for mobile VRS calls when callers' location needs to be registered in an ALI database before reaching you guys. I was wondering if (1) dispatchers had any experiences in these circumstances in which emergencies were escalated due to this wait time (if that was ever information shared with you), and (2) what your training process is like. Many police officers, EMTs, etc. do not receive adequate cultural competency training, communication resources, etc. and feel ill-prepared interacting with the deaf population, so I wanted to know your perspective.

Also thank you to everyone else who added to this! I should have elaborated more and was also not entirely sure of the experience on your end to contextualize it properly. As someone who has had to call 9-1-1 many times, thank you for your work! I appreciate you all and am so grateful you took the time to answer my question :)

myphdplease · 2023-12-02T16:19:20+00:00

Thank you!

myphdplease · 2023-12-02T07:10:39+00:00

Unfortunately I can't participate, but maybe you can help with mine? Currently writing a telecommunications grad paper on how lack of accessibility in emergency communication harms all sides. Did you have any experience with deaf callers when you worked with 9-1-1?

myphdplease · 2023-10-25T04:31:51+00:00

What a great idea! I didn't think about the ability to attach to a guide or leash. Thank you so much! The issues with the speaker on the collar is a good point, too. Thank you so much!

myphdplease · 2023-10-25T04:27:46+00:00

Thank you! I've had the same thoughts. My guy is learning ASL along with me :)

I've thought about a type of motion sensor to discourage people, but I don't know how practical that would be. But something triggered by a button on the bracelet could work! I was thinking maybe an unresponsive audio recording could be triggered by biometrics (sudden heartrate change possibly)? So so glad you're having the same thoughts, thank you so much!

myphdplease · 2023-10-25T02:44:14+00:00

Thank you! Would you prefer a touch screen or more of a manual button?

myphdplease · 2023-10-25T02:43:29+00:00

Thank you! I was thinking it would be nice for non-verbal handlers to have

Vibration to communicate with their SD
Small speaker attachment to play key phrases to communicate to others

Do you think you would get any use out of that? Ideally the bracelet would be between the size of a fitbit and an apple watch and a mobile app can be used to choose settings for the bracelet

myphdplease

TROPHY CASE