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Petition Tag - deaf
1. Get the Visual Fire Alarm for Lil Pluto (Mackenzie Ripley) 
Lil Pluto is deaf. She requires a visual fire alarm. She cannot hear a regular fire alarm. It is her right to have access to one.
My building manager will not provide me with the 2 visual alarms that are needed. They also lied and told the property manager that we already have the visual alarm.
Let's show the support Lil Pluto has and help get her "Her Human Right".
Apache ASL Trails recently received one of the most significant national awards conferred by the tax credit industry. On June 21, 2012, Apache Trails was awarded the Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Award for best Special Needs Housing project in the nation.
On the heels of that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently issued a finding that Apache ASL Trails is prohibited from providing housing to the deaf, hard of hearing and deaf blind individuals who most benefit from the state-of-the-art amenities and services provided at Apache.
More information and documentation: www.apacheasltrails.com
3. Save local BSL interpreter service for Glos Deaf
(Following written by a Deaf person so shows Deaf/BSL word order and style)
Interpreter service. We want to keep BSL interpreter at GDA for things you need like doctors, appointments ok. But we have a problem, we might lose this service at GDA ok, why? Because NHS Gloucestershire want to put it together with other service like French, spanish translation team. That mean hard get good BSL in Gloucester if they have one big office somewhere else like maybe birmingham, anywhere cos cheaper for them save money.
Please sign this petition if you want to keep this BSL service at GDA and you know that good for us here in Gloucestershire.
Thanks
GDA = Gloucestershire Deaf Association
4. TV License Concession or exemption for Deaf/Blind or part sighted people
Currently concessionary television license fee of £72.75 is provided for Blind/severely sight impaired persons reflecting limited use of services.
Deaf/blind and or severely sight impaired persons do not benefit from recognition to additional restrictions to use of television services.
Neither the BBC nor Licensing Board are responsible for setting license fee's and concessions. This falls within government policy. It is discriminatory to offer one section of society concessionary rates and recognition for partial use of service but not make additional concession for enhanced limitation of use through hearing and sight loss.
The government is responsible for adhering to equal rights and disability recognition, this petition urges the government to create an appropriate system of license fee's to reflect this.
5. Captions At University of Oregon Venues
Since January 2009, Oregon Communication Access Project (OR-CAP) and HLA-Lane County, Oregon, have advocated for open captioning on a display board in the line of sight (“banner captioning”) at Matthew Knight Arena (Matt Court), the new basketball arena at the University of Oregon.
Matt Court is just one of the University of Oregon venues where we hope to get full accessibility for people who are Hard of Hearing or Deaf. Not until recently, though, did the University Athletic Department show any indication of movement in that direction even though when we started this effort before ground-breaking had occurred.
On Tuesday, May 24, 2011 members of OR-CAP, HLA-Lane County, OR-CAP’s counsel John Waldo and other interested people who hear normally or are Deaf and Hard of Hearing met with the U of O Athletic Department to discuss the situation and make clear the conditions of Title II of the ADA that apply to the University as a public institution. As a result, the Athletic Department agreed to work with OR-CAP to determine the methods captions will be provided most effectively the various kinds of events held in Matt Court.
The University has not resisted providing accommodations for Hard of Hearing and Deaf but has ignored our requests to provide captions in the manner Hard of Hearing and Deaf consumers prefer. To date captions have been delivered, when they have been provided, using handheld captioning receivers in spite of the fact that OR-CAP and HLA-Lane County members tested the handheld caption receivers and found them ineffective. For that reason, we are asking people to support our effort to obtain banner captions where appropriate by signing our online petition as we continue to resist the University’s preference for handheld caption receivers.
Please note that we are not just interested in getting captions, and captions as preferred by Hard of Hearing and Deaf consumers, at Matt Court. We expect that our work with the University on Matt Court will be continued at other University of Oregon venues.
If you have any questions or concerns, or want to get more background information please let me know at or.cap.comm@gmail.com. If you know others who you think would like to consider signing this petition, please feel free to forward this email to them.
Thanks for your support!
Clark Anderson
6. Improve lipreading classes for people with hearing loss
Lipreading is a vital communication skill for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. It helps to build confidence and independence, avoid social isolation and keep people in employment. Lipreading is a useful coping mechanism for the full spectrum of hearing loss and can be used to supplement hearing aids to maximise communication skills.
The best way to learn to lipread is through regular classes by a qualified tutor. However an RNID report found that in England there are too few classes and many people with a hearing loss are unable to attend. Many classes have closed and many more are threatened with closure. This is because the vital skill of lipreading is classified as a ‘leisure’ activity meaning that little central funding is available to run the classes and learners are expected to pay high fees.
RNID, the charity taking action on hearing loss, is calling on the Government to reclassify lipreading as an ‘essential’ skill so more people can attend a class that is available at little to no cost to them.
Please sign our petition to show your support for people with a hearing loss to have access to learn this vital skill or their communication and encourage others to do so.
7. Deaf People Denounce Seattle Police for Killing
On August 30, 2010, a partly Deaf Native American man, John T. Williams, was shot and killed by Officer Ian Birk of the Seattle police, after Williams was seen crossing Boren Avenue at Howell Street with a folding 3-inch carving knife and wooden board.
John T. Williams, courtesey of Chief Seattle Club
Williams was standing 9 to 10 feet away when Officer Birk, a rookie officer with just two years of experience, stopped his cruiser, got out, and shouted orders at him to drop the knife three times before he fatally shot Williams in the chest four times. The confrontation lasted less than 1 minute.
Williams was of the Ditidaht First Nation, a member nation of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth, and came from a long line of Indigenous American artists in the First Nations who carved wood. It is legal in Seattle to carry a 3 inch knife or shorter. Williams sold his small totem carvings at the Pike Place Market. It was widely known in the local community that Williams was deaf in one ear and had great difficulty in communicating with people. He was known to wear headphones or ear buds.
After initial reports that Williams advanced on Officer Birk, the Seattle Police Department said they could no longer be sure that had occurred and Williams had not moved threateningly towards Officer Birk.
The Seattle Police Department is now investigating but has released no information. The Seattle Police Department has been facing controversy in the aftermath of some recent brutality cases (cops abused a Hispanic suspect & called him “Mexican piss”, another incident where Seattle cops punched a 17 years old girl for jaywalking, not to mention 5 deaths in 1 week caused by Seattle cops).
Here are some important facts:
1. Williams was shot four times in the chest, which is brutal, excessive force.
2. The confrontation lasted less than 1 minute.
3. Officer Birks reacted too quickly.
4. Williams was killed in the afternoon in broad daylight at 4.30 pm.
5. Williams was partly deaf and unable to understand Officer Birk’s orders from 9 to 10 feet away.
6. It has been a long-lasting established tradition for Native Americans to be carving wood on the streets of Seattle, which has a large Indigenous population. It’s not unusual for Native Americans to carry knives around in Seattle.
William’s sudden, tragic death at the hands of the Seattle Police Department is a serious reminder that any Deaf person’s life could be in danger should a situation with the police ever arise.
8. Stop charging severely visually impaired people with guides twice the fare
I was talking with a friend today, he’s got a severe case of visual and hearing loss, meaning he needs support to travel.
There’s a scheme called Direct Payments, that enables him to pay for someone to be his guide (normally around £7.50 an hour) to gets around – e.g., to keep well, to shop, to meet people, to find work, etc.
That does not cover travel expenses for the guide. In other words, he has to pay all the travel expenses for the guide, out of his own pocket. To get to the eye hospital in London, for example, (I’m sure you appreciate that it’s not easy to take a dog guide around London) he would have to pay his own travel expenses PLUS his guide's travel expenses - £36 each for Winchester to London (after railcard discount – a third off), £3.60 each for the Underground (Oyster), and refreshments – e.g., tea/coffee, water, etc. – about £3 each for the whole trip.
£85.20 is the total. All out of his own pocket. On a very low income too. If he was to be a sighted passenger, it’d have been only £42.60.
A large percentage of that is for the train fares. On this Winchester to London route, unlike elsewhere in the UK, there is no cheaper advance ticket.
If guide dogs for the blind can travel for free, shouldn’t guides in the form of human beings too?
If number of people with severe visual impairment and a guide travelling on the train is 1 out of 1,000 (honestly, I’ve never seen any myself), then is it not reasonable to expect the impact to train company’s revenues to be negligible.
9. Save BSc Deaf Studies, Centre for Deaf Studies
The shocking! announcement that the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law at Bristol University are now recommending the withdrawal of the BSc in Deaf Studies programme at Centre for Deaf Studies is a matter of national and international concern.
This recommendation contradicts the comments made by Professor Eric Thomas, Vice-Chancellor that we should be assured that university management “will miss no opportunity to achieve or maintain the academic and administrative excellence” (9th November, 2009). Instead, this proposed programme closure risks 75% of CDS staff positions, the ongoing learning, completion and graduation of all Deaf Studies student who are not graduating this summer and all future BSc admissions who are being denied such eye-opening opportunity.
Management have instead chosen to disregard proposals to save and continue with the BSc Deaf Studies Programme and instead risk both staff and students future beyond July 2010.
CDS BSc Deaf Studies, Bristol (http://www.bris.ac.uk/deaf/ ) at Bristol University is a BSc programme that is internationally renowned in the study of sign language, the Deaf community and culture, and service provision to Deaf people that makes a significant and distinctive contribution to the teaching of Deaf Studies in the UK.
The BSc programme is one of only three undergraduate centres in the UK that provides students with a view into a world that not enough people are afforded the opportunity to experience and by doing so, students leave with unique view of deafness and the Deaf community that they can then share with others and that goes someway in achieving the equality and respect that Deaf people are entitled to.
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To express support and to help with the campaign email savebristolcds@gmail.com and please join the facebook group. Closures of degree programmes at Bristol, Middlesex and elsewhere are examples of university management not understanding the significance of these disciplines and their ignorance at not properly considering department proposals.
If you would like to personally express your opinion of what you think of this decision then you can email the Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, Professor Judith Squires at dean-fssl@bristol.ac.uk , please send a copy and any reply to savebristolcds@gmail.com
10. Save Leicester Deaf Centre
The Leicester Deaf Centre at 135 Welford Road is a vital resource for the deaf community of Leicester. The Centre is managed by Action Deafness. Action Deafness have run at a considerable loss for several years and plan to close the Centre within six months.
The Centre was built in 1960 by the Leicester and County Mission for Deaf People (now known as Action Deafness). It includes several meeting rooms, the Deaf Church and offices for staff. It is has ample parking and is well located for access by the people of Leicester. The deaf community use the building for a variety of social groups (Hard of Hearing, Sports and Social Club, Ladies Club, Special Needs, Youth Club (LDCS) and the over-50 Club), services at the Deaf Church and for help with Social Services and hospital and other appointments for those who rely on British Sign Language. For those who might feel isolated in the community the Centre is a second home.
Action Deafness has run up losses of nearly £1 million over recent years so that that the reserves are minimal. Because the Centre itself is costly to run, the trustees have decided to sell the site within the next six months and relocate to an, as yet unspecified, location in Leicester.
The deaf community have been concerned about the management of the charity for some time and have frequently sought meetings with the trustees. It therefore came as a bomb-shell when the trustees announced closure with no prior consultation with the deaf community – the recipients of the charity. There has been a dire lack of consultation and non-transparency by the Board of Trustees and CEO of Action Deafness.
The deaf community believe that this decision has been taken rashly and seek open dialogue to investigate alternative solutions to reduce the cost of running the Centre whilst retaining the current site and making better use of the facilities.
11. Save Loughborough Deaf Mission
The Action Deafness centre (former Deaf Mission building) at 17 Forest Road is an important feature of Loughborough, providing unique facilities for Loughborough citizens. Action Deafness plans to close the centre on August 31st 2009. No adequate reasons have been given for closure.
Work for the deaf in Loughborough was begun in 1896 by the Leicester and County Mission to the Deaf and Dumb. The present buildings in Forest Road were purchased in 1949 and a year later saw the completion of the necessary alterations and the church was dedicated by the Lord Bishop of Leicester and the social rooms were opened. Leslie Edwards, a prime mover in the deaf community and important in the formation of two major deaf charities – RNID and BDA – was the missioner for some 37 years. Although the centre is now used primarily for various user groups, regular church services, with signing for the deaf, are still held in the building.
The building is a unique facility for user groups because it combines good acoustics (vital for hard of hearing people) with appropriate soft surfaces with minimal echo, storage for equipment, an effective induction loop system, good access for disabled members, good access by public transport close to the town centre and good amenities (kitchen etc). No other building in Loughborough provides this combination of facilities.
It is owned by the Loughborough & District Mission for Deaf People charity as a facility for the benefit of the deaf community whilst being operated by Action Deafness Leicester.
We believe that the centre offers special facilities for the disabled people of Loughborough and district. It is also an underutilised resource for the wider Charnwood community and should be kept open for the present and future welfare of local people.
The building is noted by Charnwood Borough Council as “an important building.. in an area of architectural and historic importance” in the 2006 Victoria Street Conservation Area Character Appraisal and it is important for the Loughborough townscape that the building is not abandoned or demolished following closure.
12. Change Canadian Disability Laws !!! Treat the disabled fairly!
You think with the amount of money they take from us taxpayers, and the amount of money that is thrown away each year to try and make the city look nicer, that it could go toward giving people who have no choice, a better style of living.
Being on disability, you are not able to have ANY assets. Savings accounts, RRSP's and other valuable property are considered assets. SO if you are on disability and are planning a trip and saving up money plan on having your disability revoked because that is not possible. Planning on contributing to an RRSP to have a stable life after 65? Not happening, you can deal with the 400$ a month the government is going to give you. Win the lottery ? Well you mine as well give the ticket away because you are no eligible to claim your prize. Better hope you win enough money to last you a lifetime, otherwise if you claim your prize, again your disability will be revoked.
There is no winning with disability. Even if you rent out your basement for $400 a month, guess what, disability deducts 400$ a month from your cheque! If your spouse loses their job and is forced to go on E.I, guess what? All their E.I earnings are deducted off your cheque!
The sad thing about it is, these people aren't just sponging off the system, THEY CANNOT WORK!!! They are basically being PUNISHED for being disabled! It is also sad that not many people know the harsh reality of it all, people are not aware.
My mother is blind and has been on disability or years, I have seen the reality of it all.
13. MOBILE PHONES: Price Discrepancies Between Voice vs Text
With wonderful texting technology many of the Deaf, deaf, and hard-of-hearing (D/d/HH) can chat “on-the-go” just as many hearing talk on their cell phones to keep in touch with friends, family, and conduct business when out-and-about. But there is a price difference between a vocal mobile conversation and a text mobile conversation.
You will find similar pricing for any mobile service. However, Verizon will serve as the example here:
The basic voice plan (or calling plan as it is sometimes refered to) for an individual is $39.99 per month. However, if you need the ability to text, you will be charged $59.99 a month. And if you are on a family plan, the increase in price for texting is $30 more than voice. Why? Mobile services charge extra for the texting service. The D/d/HH who do not use the voice service must pay for it in addition to the charge for texting.
T-Mobile does provide a data-only plan. However, the D/d/HH deserve to have more than just one choice.