Hello. Welcome to today's on-demand,
Train-the-Trainer introduction to Legal Systems
Access for Persons with Hearing Loss.
I am Valerie Stafford-Mallis, Outreach,
Training and Education Programs Coordinator for
the Florida Coordinating Council for the Deaf and
Hard of Hearing.
I am an employee of Florida's Department of
Health and a person with profound bilateral
hearing loss.
The Florida Coordinating Council was
established by Florida's Legislature in 2004 to
serve as an advisory and coordinating body which
recommends policies that address the needs of
deaf, hard of hearing, late deafened, and
deaf-blind persons; as well as methods that
improve the coordination of services among public
and private entities and to provide technical
assistance, advocacy, and education.
The Council recognized a gap in the information
available to the legal system on interacting with
citizens who have hearing loss.
The Council formed the Legal Systems
Accessibility Task Force to work collaboratively
with stakeholders to develop the training
materials presented today.
Over the course of two years, the Legal Systems
Accessibility Task Force worked with these
stakeholders around the state to develop a
training video, a Power Point presentation, and a
Trainer's Manual.
Funding was provided by the Florida Department
of Health through its Florida Coordinating Council
for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the Florida Bar
Foundation, and the Florida Association of the
Deaf.
This training program is designed to run for
two hours, but its duration is flexible. It
should be presented in a multimedia format. That
is to say, it should be presented by one or more
live facilitators using the Power Point, the
Trainer's Manual, and the DVD segments.
One person can deliver this training alone, but
the team approach is more effective.
A team of facilitators consisting of a law
enforcement officer in uniform, an attorney, an
interpreter, and one or more persons who are deaf,
hard of hearing, and deaf-blind make for a very
dynamic and memorable presentation.
The Trainer's Manual is arranged according to
the slide topics, and its content should be used
for the topics on the Power Point slides.
It is not necessary to recite the Trainer's
Manual verbatim. In fact, it is better not to do
this. Tailor the material for the audience. The
Trainer's Manual is also intended to be a
reference work an agency can keep on file to
answer future questions about serving citizens
with hearing loss.
Cueing slides directing facilitators to show
the DVD are built into the Power Point
presentation.
The purpose of this brief program is to explain
the various components of the material and to give
helpful presentation suggestions.
Facilitators are strongly encouraged to print
out the Power Point slides and the Trainer's
Manual pages and to insert them into a 3-ring
binder. This will allow facilitators to arrange
the Power Point slide with its corresponding
Trainer's Manual content pages.
The program you are now watching was produced
independently of the training materials, courtesy
of the National Terrorism Preparedness Institute,
part of the Center for Public Safety Innovation at
Saint Petersburg College in Saint Petersburg,
Florida.
The material contained in Slides 1 and 2 covers
what the law says about communications
accommodations that must be provided for persons
with hearing loss. Trainers are advised to read
this section of the Training Manual very carefully
and to understand it fully.
Slide 1 is the title slide to the Power Point.
Slide 2 provides an overview of the Americans
with Disabilities Act. Explanatory material is
found on pages 3 and 4 of the Trainer's Manual.
Slide 3 explains how communication differs with
degree of hearing loss and the presence of other
disabilities.
Training Manual pages 5 and 6 explain the
distinction between the terms "deafness" and "hard
of hearing" and also explain what terms are no
longer used.
Slides 4 and 5 cover national and state
incidence of hearing loss and explain how to
estimate county and city incidence based on
population figures.
Slide 6 cues the trainer to roll the Clay
Walker Introductory segment to the DVD.
Slide 7 should be covered after the DVD
segment. The Trainer's Manual has some great
discussion questions on page 9 to get a two-way
dialog going while you cover this slide.
Slide 8 discusses the various types of sign
language and explains how it differs from spoken
and written English.
Slide 9 discusses the various types of
interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing and
deaf-blind, and the Training Manual covers
suggested steps for securing a sign-language
interpreter.
Slide 10 discusses legal interpreters - what
they are and why they're needed.
Slide 11 cues the trainer to show "The
Incident" section of the DVD.
Slide 12 discusses how to use an interpreter
successfully, with particular emphasis placed on
the positioning of the interpreter. It is also
pointed out that interpreters do not censor.
Nothing should be said in the interpreter's
presence that should not be interpreted to the
deaf person.
Slide 13. This slide is perhaps one of the
most important slides of the entire training
program. It contains a checklist of questions
plaintiffs' attorneys frequently use to determine
if an agency is in compliance with the ADA.
The Training Manual also includes and discusses
a Department of Justice document found at the end
of the Training Manual, "A Model Policy for Law
Enforcement on Communicating with People Who Are
Deaf and Hard of Hearing," and how to use it to
ensure Agency employees are complying with the
When it comes to tactical decisions, officer
safety remains a primary concern.
Slide 14. This slide cues the trainer to show
"The Booking" segment of the DVD.
After showing "The Booking" segment of the DVD,
the Training Manual lists, on page 17, seven
possible questions the facilitator can ask of the
group to generate discussion.
This material will be of great interest to
corrections and detention center officials as well
as law enforcement officers.
Slide 15. During "The Booking" segment of the
DVD, the detainee is shown a form used by jail
personnel that lists the communications
accommodations available for persons with hearing
loss. This slide shows those options, and the
trainer has the opportunity to explain each one.
The options are Communication Access Realtime
Translation, or CART; Telecommunications Devices
for the Deaf, commonly known as TTY or TDD; Video
Remote Interpreting, or VRI; and Assistive
Listening Devices.
The material in the Training Manual
accompanying Slide 15 provides the explanatory
material.
Slide 16. This slide cues the trainer to show
the final DVD segment titled "The Arraignment."
The material in this section will be of
greatest interest to attorneys, judges, judicial
assistants, bailiffs, and other court system
personnel.
After showing "The Arraignment," the trainer
can use the discussion questions on page 21 of the
Trainer's Manual to elicit discussion on how to
ensure the sign language interpreter is qualified
and able to communicate with the Defendant.
Slide 17. This slide drills down into the
responsibilities of judges and attorneys to ensure
effective communication equal to that afforded to
persons without hearing loss.
Everyone is required to provide auxiliary aids
and services that will result in effective
communication, and primary consideration must be
given to the preferences of the individual with
the disability.
A break might be in order at this point in the
training. The facilitator has shown all of the
DVD segments, except for the credits.
There are 28 more slides to go. The material
doubles back to some previous topics that were
briefly mentioned and provides more in-depth
training. The facilitator might bridge to the
rest of this training by asking the audience for
questions, comments, or concerns about anything
covered thus far, and making a note of them for
all to see.
The amount of time spent on the remaining
topics should be tailored to the concerns and
interests of the audience.
Bringing in individuals who are deaf, hard of
hearing, late deafened, and deaf-blind to
co-present makes the training very memorable and
hard-hitting.
Slide 18, Other Types of Hearing Loss.
The initial part of the training focused on the
communication accessibility needs of persons who
are deaf. The training now sets the stage to
discuss the communications accessibility needs of
persons with other types of hearing loss:
People who are hard of hearing, late deafened
and people who are deaf-blind.
Slide 19, Hard of Hearing covers basic
need-to-know points about individuals who are hard
of hearing, the most common presentation of
hearing loss. It dispels the myth that
lip-reading is an effective form of communication
for most persons who are hard of hearing. The
corresponding material in the training manual
details some of the assistive devices and
technologies that may work and emphasizes that one
size does not fit all.
Slide 20, Some Ways to Recognize Hard of
Hearing Individuals. This slide details physical
and behavioral characteristics common to persons
who are hard of hearing. People who are hard of
hearing will sometimes go to great lengths to hide
their hearing loss, so this material can be very
valuable in teaching the layperson how to
recognize ineffective communication due to an
undisclosed hearing loss.
Slide 21, Possible Issues Resulting from
Hearing Loss. This slide discusses the
psychological, social, and behavioral issues that
may affect a person who can't hear well enough to
communicate effectively.
Slide 22, the first Accommodations Slide. This
slide discusses basic communication tips to
enhance effective communications with people who
are hard of hearing.
Slide 23, the second Accommodations Slide.
This slide is an introductory slide to six other
slides that will show examples of the assistive
technology that has evolved for people with
hearing loss. Page 28 of the Trainer's Manual
discusses practical applications of this
technology.
If actual pieces of this equipment can be made
available for show and tell, the training becomes
even more dynamic.
Slide 24 - Amplified Telephones
Slide 25 - Captioned Telephones
Slide 26 - Telecommunications Devices for the
Deaf (TTY/TDD)
Slide 27 - Communication Access Realtime
Translation (CART)
Slide 28 - FM Systems
Slide 29 - Loop Systems
Slides 30 to 33 corresponding pages 29 to 32 in
the Trainer's Manual discuss several aspects
important to understanding the communications
needs of persons who are late-deafened.
Slide 30 gives a general understanding of what
the term "late-deafened" means.
Slide 31 explains how to recognize a person who
is late-deafened.
Slide 32 discusses possible psychosocial and
emotional issues of importance.
Slide 33 discusses communications
accommodations for persons who are late deafened.
Slides 34 to 37 and corresponding pages 33 to
37 in the Trainer's Manual discuss aspects of
dealing with persons who are deaf-blind.
It is important to keep in mind that neither
the hearing loss nor the vision loss need be total
in order for a person to legitimately be
considered deaf-blind. All that is necessary is
for the hearing loss and vision loss to
substantially interfere with one or more major
life activities.
Slide 34 gives a general understanding of what
the term "deaf-blind" means.
Slide 35 explains the characteristics common to
persons who are deaf-blind and the nature of
accommodations and support required for effective
communication.
Slide 36 discusses the use of assistive
technology for persons who are deaf-blind.
Slide 37 discusses points of etiquette for
interacting with individuals who are deaf-blind.
Slides 38 to 45 explain in detail Communication
Access Realtime Translation otherwise known as
Pages 38 to 45 of the Trainer's Manual provide
the backup explanatory material for the slides.
Slide 38. CART instantly converts the spoken
word to text. Page 38 of the Trainers Manual
discusses the American Judges Foundation and the
National Court Reporters Associations' guidelines
on CART and provide a link to a valuable
publication.
Slide 39. CART is a text-based, English
translation of spoken English that came from the
court-reporting tradition. It is not as well
known as sign-language in terms of being a
communication accommodation for persons with
hearing loss.
Slide 40 discusses in the differences between
CART and court reporting.
Slide 41 explains which persons with hearing
loss might prefer CART.
Slide 42 explains why CART is not effective for
every deaf person.
Slides 43 and 44 give more valuable information
on understanding CART and CART providers.
Slide 45 discusses guidelines for hiring CART
providers and concludes the content of the
training.
Slide 46 is the final slide of the training.
It allows another opportunity for the audience to
ask questions and to share comments and concerns.
This concludes the Train-The-Trainer presentation
for Legal Systems Access for Persons with Hearing
Loss.
On behalf of the Florida Coordinating Council
for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Legal
Systems Accessibility Task Force, we thank you for
your interest and attention today.
