Here is the execrpt from the deafhouston.org

“Welcome to the Houston Deaf Forum!!!

What is the Houston Deaf Forum?  It is a forum where we the deaf and hard of hearing Houston citizens are now gathering to work toward to one common goal.  To establish an organization that will become a better voice, unity, and advocacy for the deaf/hard of hearing citizens of  Houston and surrounding areas.

So we will be hosting our FIRST Town Hall meeting on August 15th, 2009 at St. Dominic Center for the Deaf. The address is 2403 Holcombe Blvd. Houston, TX 77021 from 12 to 4pm.  We will soon be creating a mailing list – to make sure you are INFORMED when something is going on.  Remember “WE, THE DEAF COMMUNITY” can’t succeed without your participation!”

As a dphhh.com article contributor, I would strongly encourage you to inform others who might not be reading the dphhh.com article and let them know about the Houston Deaf Forum. It will be a great opportunity for you to express your thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Help spread the word and like Billy said, “Together we stand, divide we fall.”

You can follow the Houston Deaf Forum in different ways, they have a website up at deafhouston.org , a Facebook Fan page at Deaf Houston Forum Fan Page, and you can participate on Twitter at @HouDeafForum .

Comments/Concerns are welcomed!

I want to address a few concerns by those in the deaf and hard of hearing community. While we condemned the abuse by the scammers using the ip-relay. We want the community at large to understand that while we conduct business or personal calls through TTY (Telephone Typewriter) ip-relay (internet), Video Phone, or VRI (Video Relay Interpreter). There will be a concern among those in the community at large on whether a relay call would be legitimate or a scam.

This scam reflects poorly on the deaf and hard of hearing community and we strive to fight against the abuse of our services. The purpose of using an relay service provides us the independence in order to function within the hearing community. In fact, there are two devices that provides us the giant leap when we socialize with those in the community at large. First is a relay service which a deaf person has access to and currently the three most common “phones”  are: TTY, ip-relay (internet), and Video Phone. Second is the use of pager/cell phone with a QWERTY key (virtual or physical) in order to communicate with other people.

Let’s put some of the technology we use in a nutshell.

TTY is an age-old technology which unfortunately many of them are still in use within the business community. It is quickly becoming an obsolete device very much like the VHS tape of the old days. You can still find many of them within the government sectors and hospitals. Personally, every time I go to a hospital and I say, “Can I make a phone call? I am Deaf and do you have a device I can use?” The first thing the staff would say, “Yes, we have a TTY.” *record scratching* NOOOOO! Come on! Upgrade already!

Ip-Relay has been around since the 1990’s and is still in moderate use. The most common method of an ip-relay is when we are on our cell phone or pager that has a AIM or an Internet connection. For example, on my iPhone, I use AIM to conduct calls via sprintip and it enables me to make calls quickly anywhere as long as my iPhone is connected to a wifi or a 3G network. Unfortunately, ip-relay is one of the most abused by scammers because it is relatively easy to use and requires no knowledge of sign language in order to communicate. All the scammers have to do is type on a keyboard and communicate with anyone under secrecy. To my understanding, the FBI task force is aware of this abuse and there have been raids in some parts of country, more on that later.

Video Phone is a newcomer and is one of the fastest growing segment in regards of deaf and hard of hearing customer’s preference. It requires the knowledge of sign language to communicate in order to use Video Phone. Also, it is one of the most saturated in the market because there are more competitors than the device themselves. You have competitors such as HOVRS relay, CSDVRS, Viable, SNAPVRS, Sorenson, and Sprint whom are competing for the deaf customer’s business. In regards to the device that is used to conduct Video Phone, is it an ever changing environment because new technology are coming out every year.

The FCC pays for all of those device and the services that is being provided for those in the deaf and hard of hearing community, increasingly, I have been noticing that more and more deaf and hard of hearing individuals are now preferring to purchase the device themselves and do not need the FCC to purchase them for the deaf and hard of hearing community. That will be another story to write about later.

I want to emphasize to the community at large, many of us in the deaf and hard of hearing community condemned the abuse of our relay service and we hope that this communication access will not set us back when we try to call anyone in the community due to the concerns on whether a relay call is legitimate or a scam. Of course, there are preventable measures and the only way to fight against  the scammers is by educating everyone on this issue. Everyone is responsible in educating each other whether you are hearing or deaf in knowing what service is legitimate or not.

Education is the key in exposing awareness of the needs of those in the deaf and hard of hearing community.

By the way, I encourage many in the public, private, and the government sector to take a serious look at VRI (video relay interpreter). It is the new kid on the block and it enables many of those in the community to quickly have a communication access with those whom are deaf and hard of hearing. It is a lot cheaper than having a real interpreter being present and reduced the delay of having an interpreter to show up. For an illustration of an VRI, click here.

Comments/Concerns are welcomed!

Correction: Please note, VRS (Video Relay Service) is a free service that is provided for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and VRI (Video Relay Interpreter) is a pay-per-use service that provides an intermediate interpreting between two parties in the same room. Sorry for the confusion!

http://www.montrosecounselingcenter.org

*Additional Info: *This FREE* confidential group will be open to all
Deaf who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. No one
will be identified as HIV– or + and you do not have to be a client
at MCC. The group’s facilitator (LBSW) is hearing but is fluent in
American Sign Language. This group will consist of up to ten (10)
participants who may join at anytime during the 8 week group duration.
Participants will sign agreement of confidentiality upon entering the
group meeting.

Montrose Counseling Center
401 Branard
Houston, Texas 77006

*Donations are welcome.

Leann Randolph
Email: interpreters@montrosecounselingcenter.org

=======================================================

Our next meeting officially is held at Woodhaven Deaf Baptist Church, located at 9920 Long Point Road, Houston, 77055. Again, it’s scheduled on Monday night, June 15 at 7pm for a final preparation for our June 16 march.

Everyone is encouraged to attend. Don’t forget to bring to the meeting (optional) as follows:

-One white cardboard (size 22” X 28”),
-Several markers (black, red, or blue ink is preferred, but if you prefer other colors, that is fine),
-One wood stick (wood sticks must be ¼ inch thick, according to the city’s rules for the march). These are for making signs/posters.

We also suggest a blue shirt to wear for our march in order to be recognized as a group of marchers for our own cause (can be light blue, royal blue, or navy blue). If you have any questions regarding our march, please email at HouDeafRights@aol.com.

There will be another meeting taking place on June 15th at 6:30pm (location will be updated), you can find out more information on the Communication Access Now blog and there is an outline of explanations from the 5 co-founders.

Hope you find this informative and I would strongly encourage you to attend the meeting. I plan on having a real time streaming and archived video of the meeting posted so that more Deaf/HOH people will be aware of what is going on and eventually feel like they are “participating” . It will be from this account, UStream.tv broadcast and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks!

There were diverse individuals from different background, some were Deaf and Hard of Hearing, some had a strong conviction to protest and some were not sure of what was going on. Neverthless, Brian Determan, one of the co-founders of the Deaf Right Protest (the title of the protest has not been clarified) took the floor and explained the issue of why we should need to protest.

Several issues were brought up.  Some stated that it was a long struggle for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing individuals to gain access to interpreters and the city did not fullfill the needs of Deaf individuals. He said that he met with the city and the city coordinator said that there was not much Deaf awareness and did not know how to provide the support for the Deaf community.

Brian said that he has exhausted all channels with the city including meeting with the County Judge which he mentioned it was a woman, (it is Judge Ed Emmett), contacted with the Mayor Bill White, etc. He also mentioned that they (the co-founders) have contacted the Houston Police Department and came to the conclusion that there was no support for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing individuals through HPD. He has mentioned that he contacted James Solboda of the HPD and spoke with him. That gave a strong conviction that they have tried all means of contact and came with no solution. Hence, the main reason to have the protest on June 16th.

After Brian’s explaination, other Deaf/HOH individuals came up and explained their case. One said he became frustrated when he called ahead to request an interpreter and once he showed up in court, there were no interpreter present. He requested to reschedule the court case and asked for an interpreter, the next time again there was no interpreter available. He felt that he had no choice but to communicate through pen and paper. In the process, he felt lost and was unsure of what to do.

Another said that in the past he had problems with calling an non-emergency 911 call and requested an officer to have an interpreter with him present. Once the officer showed up and  the compliant found that they did not bother to have an interpreter. Then when the second time he had to make a non-emergency 911 call, they did not send an interpreter. He said that it was difficult and frustrating so he felt that the time is now to protest and try to deliver the message across.

There were more people who expressed their frustrations and concerns of the lack of access that the city of Houston is not meeting the needs of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals.

After all is said and done, I decided to get up and press Brian further to ask him a series of questions relating to the protest. I asked him, “Who is representing the protest, who is the spokesperson?” Brian said, “It is me that will be the spokesperson because I know and understand everyone’s situation and what should be done.” Brian explained that he has seen many cases and realized that it became overwhelming that gave away to the fact that it was enough that the city was not doing anything. The only best possible solution would be is to have a protest/march on June 16th to “wake up” the city council and explain the case to them. Hopefully, the result is that they become more aware of the issue and Brian said that he knows it will be a long process. It will be an effort to get the message cross and felt that this is the best way to go.

Previously earlier, when I asked Brian what he does and he said that he works as an advocate with the office of Deaf/Hard of Hearing services. I felt that it was a conflict of interest since he himself leads the protest and is a spokesperson as well. When I told him that I was concerned about the conflict of interest in terms of public relations and the media’s perspective since it might look like a one man march. Brian said that he is willing to have a neutral person that would be in the best position to be the spokesperson for the protest/march. That has yet to be determined on who is the spokesperson and I was asked to be their spokesperson on the spot.  However, I felt that it was inappropriate because there was no proper voting from the members in the meeting. You cannot just select a member out of the blue but in order to have a spokesperson with a strong backing of the members, you have to have a voting prodecure. I also explained that being a spokesperson is a huge responsibility and it would be a person who truly understands everyone’s concern and be aware of the real issue at hand. I think they should have done an voting prodecure but with the protest date nearing, it would not be enough time in my opinion.  Again, this is not an organization.

When I asked Brian on what  the plan was after the  protest? “Do you have an agenda in place?” He said that he hopes to get the message across through the protest with the city council and eventually start from there. One of the member, Don, has said that we need the protest because it was “long overdue” and that for many years there were problems after problems.

It seems to me that there were some members who are still unsure of whether we should be having a protest and there were other members who are ready for it. When one of the member in the audience asked that if everyone was ready for the protest, Brian said that there are more people who has not showed up in the meeting and those are the people who were ready to protest, there are more “numbers”. I got up in front of the audience and told the members in the audience that “numbers” do not mean a thing. It does not matter if you have a LARGE protest or a small one. What matters the most is the message you are trying to get across, that you have exhausted all channels, and you have no options but to protest.

The meeting took more than 2 hours at length and since the mall was closing at 9, many members felt that there should be more time and Brian suggested that there should be another meeting before the protest. Some of the members agreed to have another meeting and some members have expressed to postpone the protest outright.

In my opinion, I felt that there are more to be done and remain exclusive to the idea that there are more channels to go through such as contacting Judge Ed Emmett, etc. There are other options such as establishing an organization such as Houston Association of the Deaf to provide a strong establishment within the Houston community. We need to have a multi-pronged approach and a better plan of attack. We need to have a more democratic form of ideas and vote on it on which is the best agenda to follow through. It cannot just be the co-founders’  ideas and expressions but requires a community of whole.

First thing I would like to see from the founder and co-founder is a blog that explains EVERYTHING in detail of the plan, agenda, why, etc. That way we as a Deaf community can be better informed and have more meeting with the members of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community. I understand that Brian has mentioned that there has been a meeting prior to establishing the protest but the question is, if several members of the Deaf community is not aware of the issue or a meeting that took place then what good would it do for the protest?

Second, I would like to see an establishment of an organization and have that organization to be a representation of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community then eventually lead the protest. I would like to see a more organized form of structure and prodecures that provides an establishment of electing a spokesperson, leader, etc.

That is why I asked to delay the protest to another date, but if the protest is to continue then at least change the message from complaining that there is a lack of access within the Houston community to a better message of establishing a Deaf representative with the mayor’s office (the city council can vote on that, so why not ask?) If the city council refuses to vote on having a Deaf representation, then it would be a stronger conviction for the Deaf community to say that city council is discriminating  the representation of having a minority voice within the city council and the mayor’s office. It would look better for us through the media and the public but of course, that is just my opinion.

However, the good news is that there will be another meeting on Monday and I am hoping more people will show up and voice their concerns on whether they are supporting the protest or not. Maybe provide a better ideas and options that could lead to better result.

As soon as I find out more about the meeting on Monday I will post!

Feel free to express your concerns in the comment box below and remember, “Rome was not built in a day”

Note – this is solely my opinion and does not represent the opinions of the writers/owner of the dphhh.com

First of all, let me share a bit about my experience although it may be different from most of what you had experienced here. I was more fortunate than others, no doubt. I live in a mandatory evacuation zone in Galveston County, right on the edge of Clear Lake within 2 miles from Gulf Coast. My apartment home is situated on a marina so I knew I could NOT take any chances with a hurricane that HAD been forecasted to become a Cat-3 (at that time). I immediately packed up my bags and took my dog and evacuated to the west side of Fort Worth where my parents lived (where I hail from), which was a 5 hour drive from Clear Lake. Many of my friends had stayed in Houston and rode out the storm. I stayed up watching CNN all night worrying about everyone here in Houston. I even saw live coverage of boats rocking back and forth on Clear Lake on CNN as Hurricane Ike churned towards Galveston as a Cat-2. All the DARS offices closed for two weeks. Schools closed down. I returned a week later and was very grateful to see that my home that had been in the path of the eye was spared. Not even a scratch.  Unfortunately, many people’s homes around me had been destroyed.  Debris was everywhere and people threw out all their furniture on the side of streets.  Boats were tossed here and there.  It was very heart breaking because I had never seen anything like that in my entire life.

During this time, people had lost their power and was without electricity for a few weeks.  Deaf people had to rely on their battery powered sidekicks or blackberries to communicate with each other. Some deaf people were without food and water and were begging for food and water. FEMA pods were moved frequently. Many Deaf people had trouble accessing 211 Help. Kelly Curtis-Reagan and I took down boxes of food, water, and clothing to San Leon that had been pretty much wiped out (not as badly as Bolivar though).   It was an eye-opening experience for us.

Which brings me to why I am posting this blog…. I recently hosted an emergency preparedness workshop for the Deaf and HOH in Texas City with Mike Houston at DeafLink. During the workshop, a few consumers expressed their frustrations and concerns such as being left in the dark, not knowing where to go for food and water, and not having certified interpreters for appointments with FEMA, et cetera. This clearly indicated that we have many issues to work on so that we can be better prepared for emergency disasters in the future and to have a list of resources ready to share with the Deaf Community.  This requires better coordination of all agencies and providers serving the Deaf and HOH population in Houston/Galveston region.  We fell short this time so hopefully we can prevent that in the future.

What frustrated you the most during this Hurricane as well as afterwards? If your home was badly damaged, how did your experiences go with the insurance companies and FEMA? Did they provide an interpreter? Did you request accomodations such as interpreter?  What other issues do we need improvement on?   We will address these issues at the Hurricane Preparedness Meeting that will be held at Houston Center for Independent Living later this month.  Everyone is welcome to come and join.

Please share your feedback!  Thanks in advance!

-Julie Reese