Agape Pah

The train has arrived. We've moved to Georgia! But we're still settling in and getting adjusted, so I have not done any work on Agape Pah in weeks.... but know that this is not the end of me! 😆😃 When I come back at this, I will have twice the energy and excitement that I did before our move!

Still going through boxes of "random things" while packing to move and found a brochure from Relay Iowa.

Here's a friendly reminder to answer phone calls from relay services, whether the Deaf person is using a TTY (less common) or a video phone.

You will lose business from the Deaf Community by hanging up on calls that use a "3rd party" to relay the conversation with a deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind person.

American Sign Language is a language with its own grammar and syntaxes.

Not knowing any American Sign Language, and communicating with a Deaf sign language user in short written communication, a hearing person could get confused by the Deaf person's word choices or word order if the Deaf person is most comfortable with using American Sign Language.

I am often impressed with many Deaf people who can go back and forth quickly communicating in English and American Sign Language!

An example of the difference between English and ASL is shown in many of Mandy Harvey's music videos. Of course, she also takes creative liberties to make the performance look good. In this one: https://lnkd.in/gGVNPN_m
she sings: Weight is pulling me under; I'm no stranger to the deep end, but this time I've fallen farther.
Her ASL is: Responsibility/ burden, experienced that up until now, but worse now.

Check out for this whole post about the Deaf performers who will be signing the songs/ performances at the Super Bowl.

I did not realize (but now, looking back at each year, I believe it) that since the Super Bowl started having interpreters for the national anthem, there was only one year that the interpreter was on screen the entire time, providing access to the performance for Deaf people watching the Super Bowl all over the world.

There is a petition out for that to happen again. Don't make the Deaf community download a separate app to watch the performances in sign language again like last year. Let's just put the ASL on the screen the whole time.

Perspective!

Do problems you're are facing right now feel like giants??!

I'm going to risk being controversial for a moment and mention a bible story...

Moses was promised the .... promised land... so there were a group of men who went to check out the land before having everyone move in. Most of those men who went to check out what their promised land looked like only saw the big, scary, overwhelming thing in the land. They saw the giants.

Two of the twelve men (Caleb and Joshua) focused on the opportunities in the land.

When you see something new, do you focus on the big, scary, overwhelming parts, or do you focus on the opportunities that will come your way after those big scary things are "taken care of"?

If you would like 5 tips to overcome the scary accessibility requests from Deaf people check out my 5 tips for accessibility by entering you name and email address at www.agapepah.com/5ways

Has your business been reviewed by Deaf Friendly? What would the Deaf Community say about your business?

Did you know that also provides training to businesses to help them become Deaf-friendly?

So, what's the difference between my business and theirs, you may ask.

Echo, at Deaf-friendly, comes with personal Deaf experience.

I come with social service experience and experience going from clueless about Deafness before 2010 to living on the bridge between the Deaf World and Hearing World today.

Check out what Echo is doing. She's great!

If you provide a social service and want your meetings with your Deaf clients to be more accessible and Deaf-friendly, check out www.agapepah.com/5ways and grab my free pdf with 5 tips to make your meetings more accessible to you first, or next, Deaf client or customer.

Going from social worker to online business owner, there is a learning curve!

I captioned the recording after some other minor hiccups (Zoom recordings provide the transcript, but if you want those captions on the recording, it needs to be done a different way, and I'm still figuring out the ways)

I also learned, in the past 24 hours, that there is a maximum size of file that can be loaded onto a Coursie website, and there are different ways to compress files. Those file compressors cost to compress larger files.

This is not something I expected to learn when I decided to get a social work degree.

If you want to learn about providing services to the Deaf World (the content in this video), go to agapepah.com/webinar

What are the 10 biggest barriers to serving Deaf customers?

According to ChatGPT:
"10. Limited Availability of Information in Sign Language: Information, including written materials and online content, may not be readily available in sign language. This can limit the ability of Deaf individuals to access important information independently."

This is the same as the lack of available sign language interpreters. Often, who knows about this better than the Deaf people themselves.

American Sign Language is often the best way to make your information accessible, but it is not always the only way.

If you can have your information interpreted into sign language, I would suggest that you post that for the world (or at least the Deaf World) to see.

If sign language interpretation of your information is not available, the “next best” option is to make sure that information is simplified for everyone to consume. Often, with many Deaf people not having any Deaf family members and limited access to the Deaf Community or other sign language users, that leads to language deprivation. Trying to read words, but never hearing what the word sounds like and missing out on learning meanings of words without “overhearing” conversations early in life, Deaf people often (not always) have lower reading and writing abilities.

Simplifying written information can benefit not only your potential Deaf and hard of hearing clients, but it can benefit all potential clients to understand the information.

First, my 2nd of 3 free webinars about serving the Deaf Community will be live on less than an hour, and you can still hop on by going to www.agapepah.com/webinar and pick the Dec 14 option! (Or Dec 21, if you want to wait until next week)

On to my daily post: What are the 10 biggest barriers to serving Deaf customers?

According to ChatGPT:
"9. Physical Barriers: Physical spaces may pose challenges for Deaf customers. For example, lack of visual cues or poor lighting in customer service areas can make communication difficult."

In a waiting room, is the client/ patients name called, or is someone willing to go up to the person and gesture to them to let them know it is their turn to be seen?

If a Deaf or hard of hearing person is trying to lip read (30% of the English language can be understood on the lips), is there a glare or a shadow on the speakers face, or worse yet, are they wearing a mask, preventing the Deaf/HH person from understanding what is said?

Is the area where communication is taking place “visually distracting”? Are there things or people moving around. Are there distracting colors, lights, or signs?

Checking in at a desk, is the person sitting at that desk looking at a computer screen, or are they looking at the client/customer?

These are all things to consider when providing a service to a Deaf/HH person.

Before I talk about this one, I want to make sure you know that today is the first day that my course (about providing effective services to the Deaf World) is available to purchase. It is a 5-week course starting January 1 and available to watch in your spare time (5 hour-long modules made available each Monday in January). Learn more at www.agapepah.com/dsa

On to the "daily post": What are the 10 biggest barriers to serving Deaf customers?

According to ChatGPT:
"8. Legal and Regulatory Compliance: Some businesses may not be fully aware of or compliant with accessibility laws and regulations, leading to a lack of necessary accommodations for Deaf customers."

My basic rule is that if there is information that is presented auditorily, is there access to that information visually for the Deaf client/ customer. For example, do you have an emergency alert system that is only auditory (i.e., smoke alarm that beeps), does it also include a flashing light, in case there is a Deaf person who needs to know about that alarm?

Do you have a video online about your services? Is that video captioned? Better yet, do you have a sign language interpreter also on the video?

Many times, Deaf people avoid “unneeded” services (Deaf people are more likely than hearing people to go to the emergency room instead of seeking regular “maintenance” health checks). I do not have the statistics, but this tends to be because there is a lack of comfort or a feeling that the services are not accessible to them.

Following legal requirements to provide access might mean providing a sign language interpreter, but that is not always what it means. Ask the Deaf person what they need

What are the 10 biggest barriers to
serving Deaf customers?

According to ChatGPT:
"7. Cost of Accessibility Services: Implementing accessibility measures, such as providing sign language interpreters or captioning services, can be expensive. This cost may be a barrier for some businesses or service providers."

Sign language interpreters can be expensive, but expensive is a relative term when it comes to what a company or provider can afford and there might be options for getting costs covered.

One thing to ask, “if the deaf person is a Vocational Rehabilitation client, is this something where VR can cover the cost of the interpreter?” or “is there other funding options for the interpreter in this specific situation?” Also, accommodation costs are a tax write off. Does that make this interpreter, or other accommodation affordable?

What is the Deaf person requesting? Do they want an interpreter for your first meeting and then they are interested in communicating using a lower cost option after maybe seeing the ease of lip reading your voice or finding out your “style” of communication. Is that something your company can afford?

There are captioning services that charge, but other options are free. Sure, you get what you pay for, but first, find out what the Deaf person is asking for and the cost for that option. Then you can go from there.

There are sometimes options to rent technology, like the Ubiduo, or an FM system if you are teaching and have a Deaf student with a hearing aid.

Again, what is the Deaf person requesting, maybe there request isn’t as expensive as you think.

What are the 10 biggest barriers to serving Deaf customers?

According to ChatGPT:
"6. Assumption of Homogeneity: Assuming that all Deaf individuals have the same preferences and needs can lead to overlooking individual variations. Deaf individuals may communicate using different sign languages or prefer different communication methods."

As the Rehabilitation Counselor for the Deaf with Vocational Rehabilitation for 8 years between 2 states, I used sign language with most of my clients. I also had some clients who preferred to use their voice and lip read. I had another person who preferred to use the whiteboard he carried around with him or pen and paper to communicate. Still another, always turned on his speech to text app whenever I talked to him in case he missed anything that I said.

In general, the Deaf Community is very blunt, but that is not always the case. After meeting hundreds of Deaf people, there are many of the “Deaf people tend to ….” things that I could share, but there are exceptions to all of those.

Deafness does not discriminate. Deafness can happen at any age, any gender, any economic status, any community, any race, and any culture. If you met one Deaf person, that only means that you have met one Deaf person. Assumptions can not be made about the community based on that experience.

What are the 10 biggest barriers to serving Deaf customers?

According to ChatGPT:
"5. Technology Gaps: Many digital platforms and services may not be fully accessible for Deaf individuals. This includes websites lacking proper accessibility features, online forms that are not compatible with screen readers, or virtual communication tools that do not support sign language.
The tools that do not have proper accessibility (i.e., Captioning), or are not supportive of using sign language interpreters, etc. are still an issue."

My first free webinar is still not captioned because, I thought I hit the caption button when I did the recording, but I must not have done that, or not done it correctly, because the captions are not on the video and I have not spent the time or money to get it captioned, because I will be doing another live video, that I will get captioned very soon.

Zoom and social media platforms now have captioning options. I’m impressed with the ability to edit captions when posting a video to LinkedIn. Zoom live captioning is much more accurate than captioning was 5 years ago, and I know that on Zoom, and I believe other video calling platforms, there is the option to “pin” the interpreter to make them easier to view for the Deaf person.

As far as accessibility on websites and forms online, not accessible with screen readers, that is a discussion for my friends at Helen Keller Services in New York. With only Deafness, with no sight impairment, this is not a concern. Regarding DeafBlind accessibility, that is a whole other topic where, at this point, I would bring in another expert to answer questions on that, as I only know the basics.

Check out agapepah.com for more info.

Another free webinar and a Christmas present idea for a friend or family member interested in Diversity-Equity-Inclusion can be found at agapepah.com

This can also be a great gift for yourself if you have a New Years resolution to make your work more accessible to the Deaf World!

What are the 10 biggest barriers to serving Deaf customers?

According to ChatGPT:
"4. Limited Availability of Sign Language Interpreters: Access to qualified sign language interpreters can be limited, hindering effective communication between Deaf customers and service providers. This is particularly true in certain geographic areas."

This one is true! There are good reasons for increased policies about sign language interpreting. (The Code of Professional Conduct was written by the National Association of the Deaf and Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf in 2005. That is not very long ago!) With the new rules, you can’t just pull in the deaf person’s brother who knows some sign language to interpret for their doctor’s appointment.

With that said, I will always encourage young people to consider the field of sign language interpreting. I will also encourage people going into other fields to learn sign language in order to do what you can until an interpreter can arrive.

That brings me to the option of VRI (Video Remote Interpreting). In my opinion, because I have heard many complaints from the Deaf Community about this option, if there is a good screen for the interpreter to be shown on, and the Deaf person and interpreter can fully see each other well, and you have good internet connection, video remote interpreting can work when there is no possibility to get a live interpreter… but often when live interpreters are not available, that is in locations that also do not have reliable internet connection, so that causes a dilemma.

I would love to discuss ways to solve this!

What are the 10 biggest barriers to serving Deaf customers?

According to ChatGPT
"3. Inadequate Training for Staff: Employees may not be adequately trained in working with Deaf customers. This lack of training can result in misunderstandings, frustration, and a failure to meet the specific needs of Deaf individuals."

I get it! You can go back to my social media post on October 31, 2023, where I posted my 9 thesis to my stack of social work textbooks! They do not teach social service providers how to interact with Deaf Clients in college classes unless you take sign language/ Deaf Culture classes!

It is perfect timing to mention this barrier/ concern from service providers! Today is the first day that you can sign up for my next free live webinar. I understand that the Christmas season can be busy with family visiting and kids home from school. That is why I am giving you three options for days and times to join me live to learn about effectively serving the Deaf and hard of hearing clients or customers. Wednesday, December 13, at 1:00 pm ET, Thursday, December 14 at 10:00 am ET, and Thursday, December 21 at 1:00 pm ET. Sign up at www.agapepah.com/webinar

If your staff wants that training that we were missing in our college classes, I’m here to provide it. If you want to purchase more, the training that I have created based on my 8-year experience as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for the Deaf and from my interactions with the Deaf World since 2010, will be available to purchase starting December 13 and will be sent out to students starting in January. The course is 5 hour-long modules (split into 5-10 minute lessons for the busy professional who only has 5-10 minute blocks of time for consuming the content).

What are the 10 biggest barriers to serving Deaf customers?

According to Chat GPT:
"2. Communication Barriers: Traditional communication methods, such as phone calls, may be inaccessible for Deaf customers. Without proper alternatives like text-based communication or sign language interpretation, essential information can be difficult to convey."

There are options for this! TTYs are outdated. The TTY was a device where the Deaf person types and the relay service operator is the “middle person” for the call. There are now video phones that are effective whenever there is good internet connection.

Video phones are like other video calling (Zoom became popular during Covid-19), but video phones have the option to call voice phones with a sign language interpreter as that “relay operator” in between. If you get a phone call and the first thing you hear is “this is an interpreted call…” please do not hang up. Getting hung up on by unaware hearing people is a common occurrence for Deaf people.

When in public, deaf people sometimes use speech to text apps, or even basic paper and pencil to write back and forth with professionals in public.

Bonus post for today!

Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities! This post came from Communication Services for the Deaf on LinkedIn.

One example of accommodations to the Deaf community that benefits all of society is adding visual access to auditory information, like captions on TVs or flashing lights on emergency alert.

Another example is that the ideas and insights of the person who is accommodated are shared with everyone. The possibilities are endless when that happens.

As promised, here we go! These are coming from Chat GPT. I am not making up what I think service providers say, but the responses here are all mine.

What are the 10 biggest barriers to being able to serve Deaf customers?

1. Lack of Awareness and Understanding: Many service providers may not be aware of the specific needs and challenges faced by Deaf individuals, leading to a lack of understanding and appropriate accommodations.

I heard it from employers and other social service professionals as a Rehabilitation Counselor for the Deaf and I hear it from my own friends and family members: “I don’t know the first thing about interacting with Deaf people. I never do it.”

More than 10% of Americans have significant hearing loss. Many of them feel excluded from much of the hearing world.

If you are interested in gaining awareness and understanding about the Deaf Community, that is what I am here for!

If there is a Deaf person that you want to provide an accommodation to, I encourage you to just ask them. You might tell me “but I don’t know sign language, how do I ask?” In probably 99% of situations, writing on paper (or typing onto a tablet or phone) “I want to help. What accommodations do you need?” will be effective.

In that 1% when that doesn’t work, most of those times, the Deaf person may have an app on their phone to translate your writing into the language that they use to read/write.

I found this bracelet while doing laundry this morning.

I got the bracelet at a women's weekend retreat this past October that had the theme "Pause."

If I'm going to be honest, I have not taken much time to pause the past month or so.

I could make all of the excuses in the world: I'm trying to start a business; everyone in my family has been sick; etc etc etc.

This post is my declaration that I am going to change that! I will take time every day to pause. I will take time to just be grateful and enjoy the moments.

As said yesterday, taking that time for our own mental health actually helps us be better at running a business.

I'm listening to training with the picture of in the background. God loves the world with love. That's why my business is called Agape Pah!

I'm ready!

I would consider myself a Deaf-culture nerd and a love a good deep discussion about American Deaf Culture....

But we can't forget the whole spectrum of hearing loss. There are people who consider themself "hard of hearing" and their ability to hear is less than people who consider themself "Deaf". Then there are even people (not part of the Deaf Community) who call themself "hearing impaired" (continue following my posts for more on that!)

This morning, as I looked through some things that were in my office until I left my full time job last month, and now they were sitting in a box in my kitchen, I found the "Hearing Loss Fact Sheet" from the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

This fact sheet states that according to the 2011 National Health Interview Survey, 48 million Americans have significant hearing loss. In my state of Kentucky, there are nearly 700,000 (16%) deaf and hard of hearing residents.

Does your company or agency serve any of these 48 million people with hearing loss. Are there barriers in the services you are providing to them?

Check out my website, agapepah.com, for access to a 10-question quiz to see how "comfortable" you are in the bridge between the Deaf World and the Hearing World.

You can also still view the 45-minute free webinar about providing quality services to the Deaf world through the link near the bottom of my website. The webinar is not captioned and does not have a sign language interpreter. The next free webinar will be accessible (coming before Christmas)!

Test your ability to cross between the Deaf World and the Hearing World! agapepah.com/quiz

Do you have firm footing or are you super wobbling as you walk across the bridge between the two worlds?

This is a quick 10-questions quiz to see how comfortable you are on the bridge. Just put your name and email address in the form on this website and the quiz will be emailed to you.

This can also be a good conversation starter over the dinner table with family and friends over the holidays. It just needs one email address for every quiz taken: www.agapepah.com/quiz

The creator of this AI technology, for announcements in public transportation stations in sign language, was part of a Linked In conversation that I was also part of. The conversation that we were part of, leads me to 3 thoughts that are all related to my 2nd Pillar for providing services to Deaf people: use their preferred mode of communication.
1. This adds access to information for people who prefer using sign language, which is great!
2. The creator of the technology learned that people in the group conversation that we were in are deaf, and he asked them about their thoughts and opinions about the technology coming to the US. That's great! It's important to get opinions of the people who will use the technology
3. A Deaf person made a great point about the lack of true ASL inflection/ facial expression being a challenging with AI, instead of live interpreters and they hope this technology does not get used in the wrong way as being "good enough" when a live person using a signed language is most needed.

Transport Sign Live on Prokop Station

I am creating a free 10-question quiz to find out how "comfortable" you are in the "bridge" between the Deaf World and the Hearing World.

As a hearing person, providing employment services to Deaf people full time for 8 years, I have heard from Deaf people about the things hearing people do that frustrate or annoy them.

I am creating 3 possible options for each question in my quiz. There are 2 questions in my quiz that I'm checking with the Deaf Community to find out which of the "bad options" is actually the worst. As a hearing person, I don't know what they'll say.

So here's a sneak peek to my quiz, and you can give a guess here what Deaf people will say. If you are Deaf or hard of hearing, feel free to direct message me your answers.

1. A Deaf Uber driver is going to give a ride to a hearing person who feels uneasy around deafness. Is it worse for the passenger to request a different driver as soon as they find out that the driver is Deaf, or is it worse to get in the car and yell "I know some some language!" Then fingerspelling their name slowly, and sign "please, thank you, milk, bathroom, " then yell, "That's all the signs I know!" and stare awkwardly out the window the whole drive.

2. A deaf person gets a cochlear implant. Their (hearing) neighbor is generally a curious person. Would it be worse for the neighbor to stare awkwardly at the CI any time they see the Deaf person, or the first time they see them post CI surgery say "congratulations you can hear now!"

Which is worse?? If you're Deaf, I genuinely would love your perspective (private message me, please)!