Settlement Agreed for US Deaf patients

A federal judge in ST. LOUIS, USA has approved settlement of a lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 1,000 deaf Missourians over mental health services for the deaf reports BND.com (11/05/12).

U.S. District Judge Matt Whitworth approved the settlement Thursday in Jefferson City in a suit filed by the Missouri Association of the Deaf and 13 named plaintiffs. Attorneys for the plaintiffs say about 20 percent of deaf persons in need of mental health services are children.

The suit accused the state of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide adequate mental health care for the deaf. Among many provisions, the settlement requires greater availability of sign language interpreters and development of outpatient and inpatient centers staffed with clinicians and case managers trained in aiding the deaf.

Miss Deaf America upset she's unseen at Super Bowl

Lack of coverage of Miss Deaf America as she signed the national anthem at the Super Bowl writes Jamie Sotonoff for the Daily Herald (07/02/12).

During the Super Bowl, television cameras showed everything from Eli Manning's young family to hip-hop singer M.I.A.'s obscene gesture. Yet, they didn't for one second show the National Association of the Deaf's Miss Deaf America Rachel Mazique — an Arlington Heights native and Hersey High School alumna — as she signed the national anthem and “America the Beautiful.”

Mazique doesn't believe she appeared on the stadium's Jumbotron, either; wasn't invited to stay for the game; and wasn't placed near singers Kelly Clarkson, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton.

Even though she says she was never promised television exposure (but was told to smile the whole time, just in case), her treatment at the big game has upset many people in the deaf community, especially those in the suburbs. Now her supporters are rallying for an apology from NBC and the NFL through an online petition at change.org.

As of Monday night, more than 1,000 people had signed the petition, including some from as far away as New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

“We are very upset by this,” said Angie Kubiak of Mount Prospect, who is deaf and whose husband and three sons also are deaf. “We waited and waited to see Rachel appear to perform, only to be disappointed. Everyone of all ages in the deaf community across the country was expecting to see Rachel Mazique appear on TV, even if only for a few seconds. We thought we would see something even go on the Internet. She has nothing from NBC.”

No one from the NBC or NFL could be reached for comment Monday night.

Mazique said she was grateful to sponsors PepsiCo and EnAble for allowing her to sign at the game as the NAD ambassador but was “very disappointed” about the missed opportunity to show the world American Sign Language. She questioned the point of her appearance, since her signing wasn't visible to an audience.

“The hope was to bring national visibility to songs signed in ASL. It would have been wonderful to showcase ‘America the Beautiful' and the national anthem in ASL on television,” she said. “I truly hope that this becomes a teachable moment for everyone involved, and that American Sign Language renditions of these iconic songs are broadcast in future Super Bowls rather than being a token gesture.”

Mazique, who now is teaching and working on her Ph.D. at the University of Texas, is hailed as a role model for the deaf community. By keeping her out of the spotlight on what turned out to be the most watched television show in history, NBC and the NFL missed a chance to show the world that deaf people can be successful and that sign language is beautiful, said petition creator Kate Spencer, a former college classmate.

“What an insult,” Kubiak said.

Judge tosses DUI conviction for deaf man

A local attorney is heralding Thursday's dismissal of a five-year-old DUI conviction as a victory for deaf people reports Tri City Herald and The New Tribune (02/12/11).

William M. Kral, 33, of Snoqualmie, who is deaf, was arrested in December 2005 in Benton County on suspicion of DUI and driving with a suspended license, said attorney Moe Spencer of Kennewick.

But when Kral was arraigned, no sign language interpreter was available in the courtroom. When he signed a paper waiving his constitutional right to a speedy trial, the interpreter who explained the document to him was unqualified, Spencer said.

Kral was convicted and served a nine-month sentence that included three months in an alcohol treatment program. He paid more than $4,600 in fines.

In the next five years, Kral went through appeals and several court-appointed attorneys whom he claims ignored or mishandled his case or had to step aside because of conflicts.

Then in August, Kral won his argument that his constitutional rights had been violated because of the lack of a qualified sign language interpreter. Judge Robert Swisher ordered the case back to District Court to be dismissed, and the conviction overturned.

The end of what Kral described as a "very long battle" came Thursday when District Court Judge Dan Kathren officially threw out Kral's conviction and ordered the $4,600 in fines returned to him.

"I certainly agree Kral is entitled to money he paid as a result of a conviction that is no longer a conviction," Kathren said.

But despite the crux of the case being the court's lack of a qualified interpreter, Spencer had to bring in a professional sign language interpreter Thursday because there still isn't one employed by the court.

Kral told the Herald through interpreter Shelly Hansen that the person who interpreted for him on the day he signed the speedy trial waiver told him he was agreeing to a continuance -- basically a temporary delay of his hearing.

"I never found out I had signed a waiver for speedy trial until two weeks or a month later," he said. "About the same time, I found out the interpreter did not have formal training or a (sign language) certification. The way he translated, I thought it was clear it was a continuance. I didn't have a reason to doubt."

The interpreter in the courtroom that day was actually a Spanish-language interpreter who knew a little sign language, according to Spencer's appeal brief.
The brief said Kral asked several times for a court-certified interpreter because he wanted someone who could accurately explain complicated legal issues. Kral also told the court that the interpreters used were signing incorrectly or that he didn't understand them.

The brief said Kral's then-attorney also communicated with him using handwritten notes, but Kral couldn't understand what his attorney was writing.
Swisher agreed that Kral's agreeing to waive his right to a speedy trial was "unintelligent and not knowing," Spencer said.

Kral lost his hearing when he became ill with spinal meningitis when he was 9 months old. Spencer's brief said research shows people who become deaf before age 3 have difficulty with language and tend to have a median of a fourth-grade reading level, mostly because written English is based on translating symbols into sounds -- sounds they never have learned.

Kral said he lost his construction job in the Tri-Cities and his then-girlfriend because of the DUI conviction. He now operates heavy equipment in the Seattle area, is married and has a 2-year-old son. But Kral said the years since his conviction have been "very tough."
"I just kept on fighting," he said. "This issue is not about money and not about me personally. It's about making sure deaf people get equal access and to try to raise that awareness."

Deaf man held without Interpreter sues Police

Adams County (USA) sued by a deaf man held for 25 days without access to an Interpreter reports Monte Whaley for the Denver Post (28/11/11).

When Adams County sheriff's deputies knocked down the motel-room door of a deaf couple, slammed the man to the ground and locked him in jail for 25 days without providing a sign-language interpreter, they violated the Americans With Disabilities Act, a federal lawsuit says.

Lawyers for Timothy Siaki claim the man was not provided an interpreter until he went to court on domestic assault charges last year. Siaki eventually was cleared of the charges, said Kevin Williams, an attorney who filed the suit on behalf of Siaki and his fiancee, Kimberlee Moore.

"There were 25 days of his life that he had access to nothing — no information on why he was being held, no information about his case or what was going to happen to him," Williams said.

The Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition advocacy group is also a plaintiff in the suit. Adams County Sheriff Doug Darr is named as the defendant.

An Adams County Sheriff's Office spokesman on Friday did not have any comment on the lawsuit, saying officials needed to review it first.

The suit asks for damages for Siaki and Moore and to find that Adams County is violating the ADA by not providing an interpreter nor auxiliary aids for deaf suspects during their arrest and booking process.

The suit claims Adams County also does not provide aids and services to deaf inmates to communicate with people outside the jail while the same privileges are provided for those with normal hearing.

"They need policies and procedures for folks who are deaf," Williams said. "People just assume that a deaf person understands what they are saying."

Williams said the coalition recently settled a similar case against the Lakewood Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. The settlements require very specific policies for compliance with the ADA to ensure deaf people can communicate with police officers and jail deputies.

According to the lawsuit, Siaki and Moore were staying at a Super 8 Motel at 5888 Broadway on May 14, 2010, when they began arguing.
Both communicate by American Sign Language, as Siaki does not speak, read or write English. He also does not read lips. Moore has a limited ability to speak, read and write in English and can occasionally read lips, the suit said.

Like many deaf people, Siaki and Moore both "verbalize sounds which, to a person who is not deaf or who is unfamiliar, may sound like the deaf person is speaking loudly or abruptly," according to the suit.

Their fight resulted in a noise complaint. Two Adams County deputies broke down the motel room door, entered with their guns drawn and ordered Siaki to the floor, the suit said.
Both deputies learned after their arrival that Siaki was deaf. But since he was unable to understand the deputies' commands, one of the deputies grabbed Siaki's left arm and forced him to the floor.

The deputy also said Siaki refused to write down his version of the events. Moore, meanwhile, tried to tell the deputies that Siaki did not hurt her but could not because she was not provided an interpreter or any aids.

The two were separated, and Siaki was evaluated by medical intake personnel at the jail. Still, he was not provided a sign-language interpreter.

Siaki stayed in jail from May 15 until June 10, unable to comprehend jail policies and procedures, the suit said.

He was eventually assigned a public defender, and he was cleared in the criminal case, Williams said.

"To this day," he said, "we don't know why he was held for 25 days."

'I want to serve my country': Deaf man locked in ongoing battle to join the Army

 

A deaf man is fighting to be allowed to serve his country by join the Army. Hannah Roberts, Daily Mail reports  (22/08/11).

Keith Nolan, a 29-year-old teacher, is determined to achieve his lifetime dream of working in military intelligence. After a decade of applying repeatedly, Keith Nolan was finally accepted into the Army's Reserve Officers Training Corps' (ROTC) program, after a commander agreed to let him sit in on the classes.

Keith Nolan was rejected from an ROTC program countless

times because he is deaf

Nolan became a top performer in the program at California State University, and his instructors were so impressed they let him wear a uniform. But military policy requires cadets to pass a hearing test to be commissioned by the Army.

Nolan was distraught when he had to say goodbye to the other cadets when the course ended in May, Fox News reported. He said in sign language: 'All I really want to do is join the Army.' 'I want to do my duty, serve my country and experience that camaraderie, and I can't, owed to the fact that I'm deaf.'
He added 'I am convinced that there is a non-combat position that I can do in the military without harming our armed forces' effectiveness and readiness.'

Nolan uses sign language to talk to his interpreter

Capt. Sid Mendoza, a supervisor on the training program, said "Nolan was one of the top performing cadets. With the help of a deaf interpreter, Nolan excelled, showing up at 5 a.m. exercises even though he was not required to and earning a perfect score in his military sciences class".

Nolan, who was born deaf to deaf parents, has wanted to join the Army ever since he learned of the experiences of his grandfather and great uncles who fought in WWII.



His father, Kevin Nolan, successfully won a city council seat against a 20-year incumbent and taught his son to rise above his disability. Congresman Rep. Henry A. Waxman is working to help the driven young man. Nolan wants Waxman to sponsor a bill allowing deaf people into the armed forces.
More than 2,000 people have responded in support of Nolan's Facebook page, 'Commission Cadet Nolan Now.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2028701/Deaf-teacher-Keith-Nolan-locked-ongoing-battle-join-Army.html#ixzz1VkiIY1Xv

Deaf man complains nudists would not provide interpreter

A deaf man has accused a nudist park in upstate New York of violating federal law by refusing to provide him with a sign-language interpreter at an annual festival reports Daniel Wiessner, Tue Aug 9, 2011, HUDSON, New York (Reuters).

Tom Willard, 53, of Rochester, filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department claiming Empire Haven Nudist Park violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by refusing his requests for an interpreter.
"I am fed up with being turned away every time I try to do something, by idiots who somehow feel the ADA does not apply to them," Willard wrote in the complaint.
The ADA law requires businesses and nonprofit groups to provide auxiliary aids and services, including interpreters, at no additional cost to users. First-time violations can lead to fines of up to $55,000.
Willard told Reuters that in 2009 he approached a board member of the Naturist Society, which organized the festival, who told him he could hire his own interpreter. But he said the board member denied his request that he and the interpreter attend the event for free.
The six-day event costs $45 overall, plus an additional $17 for each day a person attends.
Willard filed his federal complaint on July 19.
On August 2, the festival's opening day, the Naturist Society offered to get an interpreter but said it would need three days notice to do so, Willard said.
Willard said he wanted to raise awareness of groups that ignore the ADA. He said he was also filing a complaint against a local comedy club that refused to provide an interpreter.
"I hate that I have to go through these experiences and subject myself to ridicule and derision, but the alternative is to stay home and never try to do anything in the world," Willard said.
Michael Schwartz, director of Syracuse University College of Law's disability rights clinic, said businesses often ignore their responsibilities under the ADA because it can be cheaper not to comply.
"Because of the cost (of interpreters), many places choose to say 'no,'" he said. "They are making a calculated choice that they'll get away with it."
A spokeswoman for Empire Haven, which is in the Finger Lakes region of New York state, was not available for comment, and Morley Schloss, the Naturist Society board member contacted by Willard, did not respond to several requests for comment.