- [Narrator] How to work with a victim survivor who is Deaf and/or hard of hearing. Welcome to our new four-part webinar series called Your Lived Experience. In this series, you will learn what it is like to be a person with a disability from their perspective. In each webinar, we will focus on a specific type of disability. The first webinar, will discuss physical disabilities. The second, will discuss being Deaf and/or hard of hearing. The third, will discuss visual disabilities. On the fourth, will discuss developmental disabilities. In each webinar, you will hear about the speaker's best experiences when trying to get help and the most frustrating experiences. You will learn suggestions, tips, and best practices for when you will interact with persons with disabilities in your office. And finally, we will share with you some common accommodations that are appropriate for each specific type of disability. We hope you enjoy this new webinar series. The Miami Inclusion Alliance is comprised of four organizations that have spent the last five years studying the domestic violence and sexual assault services in Miami-Dade County, and how persons with disabilities are utilizing these services. Disability Independence Group is an advocacy center for disability rights. Dade Legal Aid is a legal aid that handles domestic violence cases. MUJER is a licensed sexual assault center. And CVAC is the Miami-Dade County one-stop for domestic violence. This project was supported by grant number 2015-FW-AX-K001 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. The mission of the Miami Inclusion Alliance, or MIA, is to learn about the intersection of disability and domestic violence and/or sexual assault in order to promote a culture of inclusion within and between all collaborating agencies. This collaboration will implement the necessary changes so that persons with disabilities who are affected by domestic violence and/or sexual assault have access to services. Our speaker today is Andy Altmann. Andy is an interpreter for the Deaf and an adjunct professor of ASL.

- Hello, my name is Andy Altmann. And I hail from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I hold a master's degree in social work from Barry University in South Florida. I'm also on the board of office for the Deaf and hard of hearings behavioral health intervention advisory team. I'm currently an adjunct professor for the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. I'm a current member of RID. RID is the registry of interpreters for the Deaf. I've also been working as a Deaf interpreter. In fact, I'm currently in the process of applying for state licensure so that I can become a CDI. You may be asking yourself, "What is a CDI?" Well, a CDI is a Certified Deaf Interpreter. They work hand in hand with a hearing interpreter. CDIs are integral part of the Deaf community. They are professionals that are fluent in both ASL and English, and they provide a wide range of interpreting services. Those services allow the Deaf and hearing communities to communicate seamlessly. CDIs are often able to navigate in areas where hearing interpreters may get stuck or find themselves unable to communicate. Understand that CDIs are native ASL users. They grew up in the community and they share the same experiences and same languages and culture. They're able to share those cultural nuances with the consumers, and therefore they're able to reach a broader range of Deaf using different modalities of communication. It could be oral, ASL, gesturing, PSE, the list goes on. Allow me to share this analogy with you. Suppose you transplanted to the United States of America from another country and your first spoken language was Spanish. You find yourself in a situation where you need an interpreter. You have two choices. The first interpreter is someone who's born in the United States and they learned Spanish as their second language. The second choice as an interpreter, is someone who was born in another country and Spanish is their first spoken language. They too transplanted to the United States of America. Which interpreter do you think is your best choice? Obviously the second, right? The second interpreter shares the experiences and also speaks the language fluently. For a Deaf person, a CDI offers that equivalency. And that's why a CDI is important.

- [Narrator] How would you describe your disability?

- I have a disability that is not readily apparent. I'm Deaf, both my parents and my siblings are all Deaf. Thus, I'm referred to as a multi-generation Deaf person. Interestingly enough, 3.6% of the population, 11.5 million people have a hearing disability. I grew up in a mainstream setting. That means that more often than not, I was the only Deaf child in a school full of hearing children. I utilize the services of an interpreter for both communication and education. I was fortunate though, because I was able to communicate at home in ASL with my family and friends. In the hearing community, I relied on writing and lip reading. Let me emphasize that this lip reading and writing is my experience that it may not be the same for other Deaf people. This is unique to me. The modality of communication for Deaf varies and it may not always be the same.

- [Narrator] Can you explain what sign language is?

- ASL is a complete national language that has the same linguistic properties of spoken languages. It incorporates signs, gestures, facial expressions, and body movements. However, keep in mind that it's not universal. There are many different sign languages same as there are spoken languages across the world. It's interesting to note that ASL is the sixth most widely used language in the United States. And it's also widely accepted as a foreign languages in universities all across the United States too.

- [Narrator] Can you explain what an interpreter does?

- An interpreter is a language specialist that accommodates the communication needs of consumers at two different languages. In my case, those two languages are ASL and English. If you have two consumers that speak two different languages, you provide an interpreter who facilitates the communication needs, not only through language, but also through culture to ensure that everything is smooth. Oftentimes, they provide cultural mediation to effectively communicate ideas and nuances. Again, you can see why a CDI is optimal.

- [Narrator] Can you tell us about your best experience when you were trying to get help?

- Thankfully, today, more people are aware of deafness and the use of interpreters. The reason for this is that we see it more often now in media, on television, and also on social media. Thus, some of our hearing consumers have a rudimentary idea of my disability and will often attempt to communicate or even accommodate and support me. Let me give you an example. Some people are willing to try to write on paper to communicate, others want to offer interpreting services, and some try to communicate using body gestures. Another positive experience is the advancement in technology and all that that affords us. An example of that would be the VP. The VP is a video phone. Another example is the VRS. VRS is video remote services. These two are widely available on different devices as well as in different businesses. Also today, apps assist by recording what hearing people say and allowing us an opportunity to read it. And let's not forget about texting and email. This also provides an opportunity to break down some communication barriers. But I have to be clear with you. Texting and email is no substitution for an interpreter. Understand that having a live interpreter is very important. It ensures that communication is extremely clear. Emailing and texting is for basic communication needs.

- [Narrator] Can you tell us about your most frustrating experience when you were trying to get help?

- Wow, unfortunately, the list is exhausting. Oftentimes, I'm expected to be able to lip read proficiently or let's say if they see me out at work or in public, they avoid me. Many times people are always thinking they know best and they want to make decisions on my behalf. This is not cool. If I asked to provide an ASL interpreter, they refuse to accommodate, or they tell me, "Hey, can you bring your own ASL interpreter?" That's not acceptable. Many times they completely ignore or disregard the ADA law, and they don't provide me with services. Allow me to share my own personal experience. Oftentimes when I ask for an interpreter, I think people get very frustrated with me. They just expect me to be able to read their lips or they even speak louder because I told them I was Deaf. The big problem is they're more concerned about their financial expense over my needs as a patient or the consumer, very sad.

- [Narrator] What suggestions would you give to people that are working with persons with disabilities like you?

- Here are some helpful suggestions or tips from dealing with Deaf people. Do not tell them you're sorry out of pity. Don't ask them silly questions about how they survive or how they do things on their own. The word, help, don't use that. Instead, use the word support. If you have something to say to me, say it to me directly. Don't inadvertently go through family members, friends, or interpreters. Speak directly to me and look me in the eye. Use the word deaf, not hearing impaired, not deaf-mute.

- [Narrator] Unique tactics used by abusers.

- These are some important tips for you to be aware of and to make sure that you don't do. The first tip is, oftentimes abusers will encourage you to speak with them first or even to ask the interpreter about the Deaf person, me. That is not cool. Second tip that I'll tell you is oftentimes abusers would tell you that Deaf people don't know how to communicate or socialize or they're incapable of doing that with you. That is definitely not true. A third tip that abusers do as they often make all the decisions for us without even consulting with me or with us. This happens often in appointments. Another thing abusers do is they appropriate our language. They do this for profit and also for popularity. Understand this was our language long before it was theirs. And a final tip is oftentimes family members will insert themselves as our interpreters. That is inappropriate, should not happen.

- [Narrator] Resources, Disability Independence Group, www.justdigit.org, 305-669-2822. Legal Aid Society, www.dadelegalaid.org, 305-579-5755 extension 2229. CVAC, www.miami-dade.gov, 305-285-5900. MUJER, www.mujerfla.org, main office 305-247-1388. Sexual Assault Helpline 305-763-2459.

- Thank you all so much for watching and learning from my experiences as a Deaf person. I hope you were able to see that we are very much alike, although we communicate differently, but we think the same. I hope you keep that in mind. And I just want to say it's really been an honor to be here and to teach and share with you. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, bye-bye.

- [Narrator] Thank you for watching this webinar today. We hope you enjoy the other webinars in this series, Your Lived Experience.