Another negative outcome for a D/HOH driver...

You know, I've been talking until I'm blue in the face about the fact that D/HOH people drive.  And, when there is a problem with either their driving or they are involved in a situation with the police, they are not able to effectively communicate with the officers.  Or, the officers don't give a hoot and help them out a bit so that all parties understand what is going on.

I received this email today (see below).  It's not the first that I have gotten.  Yet, when I 'volunteer' to come to some of the police stations around here, they aren't interested.  Or, they just don't understand how an otherwise positive situation can quickly turn into a disasterous one.  Some examples are:

An officer is driving down the road looking for a suspect in a recently committed crime.  He sees a person who just happens to be D/HOH and verbally asks them to stop so that they can have a conversation.  The person does not hear them or just waves and continues on.  Now, the officer is upping the stress factor since he has no clue as to who this person is or what they might have been up to.  He calls for back-up and proceeds to exit his car to 'stop' this person.  If the person still does not understand him or can't hear what he's saying, you can imagine what the situation can turn into.

A D/HOH person gets pulled over for a traffic stop.  The officer has reason to believe that this is a 'escalated' situation and via his loudspeaker or while standing back by the trunk of the car, he asks the person to put their hands out of the window.  The person does not hear or understand.  Think of the many ways this one would turn out.

Believe it or not, this is not the fault of the police departments.  They have not received any directive from the powers that be or suggestions from their community that quite possibly they may need some information on how to deal with someone that is D/HOH.  They are out there to enforce the law and protect the citizens.  How do you think they are perceiving a D/HOH person that talks funny, slurs words or mispronounces things?  They are going to think that they are drunk, on drugs or nuts.  (Sorry to be blunt, but since I'm HOH, I can say that)  And, who knows how many people have tried to pretend they are D/HOH just to get out of a ticket?  I don't blame them for not believing us.

I've checked with the State of Wisconsin DOT as well as the State/Local Police and there is not any identifying sticker that you can put on your back windshield or wallet card that you can carry compliments of these agencies.  Unless the United States 'adopts' or passes some sort of legislation, you could probably find something for your car or wallet, but it will not be common knowledge across the country.  I know that the Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in West Allis has cards, but unless you want to go online and pay, no one else has them.  And, the stickers for the vehicles are very hard to find.  I know of one place in the Country.

Here's the email.  I won't even begin to discuss how I feel about the reaction that this person got from the Court House regarding accommodations for her meeting with the D.A.  I believe that's grounds for a lawsuit.  They are very lucky that this person is not considering that.

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In a nutshell....
 

Believe it or not! I got pulled over for not stopping at a stop sign. I yield instead of a full stop. The police officer spoke to me as if I was a hearing person. I told him I have a hearing loss, showed I wear hearing aids, signed and spoke to him at the same time, it made no differ.. I got a ticket with a big fine. When my husband had a car accident last winter, his police officer never asked "What happened?" or made an attempt to communicate with him. So..... To make me feel better, I am writing a recommendation (a proposal) letter for the police department to provide "Hearing Loss Training for Law Enforcements." I searched for resources on-line and had no luck finding any formal training available in this state!!! Michigan has a great training program. - I wanted to provide training resources in the letter.

Back to the ticket, on the bottom it stated “if you have a disability contact the Clerk of Court's office," no number was given. During the pull over, I asked the police officer what’s the number to call? “He said there was no number” – Talk about confusion! So, I gave him a ‘dumb smile’ and off he went.  I looked up the number and called the Court’s office. I was transferred to two different departments (possibly the Traffic Safety Department) and I spoke to a lady who had no patience. I explained my situation that this was very new to me. I told her I would like to request an interpreter for court. The lady told me since I was able to talk on the phone the meeting is one-on-one with a DA, first floor in the lobby. Then I asked, is the lobby quiet? She said it depends on the number of people in the lobby. So is there a glass window with a small opening? She said, no. Then I asked, If I'm unable to hear, then what? She stated sometimes DA will relocate to another room. I told her from my experiences, last minute accommodation is difficult for some people to comply. She didn't know what to say. That was the end of the conversation.  No progress. I will call again to see if I can get an interpreter arranged, when I called, my ticket info wasn’t in the system yet. Talk about slow system.

So as you can see…  This is a problem.
I'd like to see the whole state of Wisconsin to receive training how to communicate with people with hearing loss (both Deaf and Hard of Hearing). This state doesn't even have a card with an ear image to show/prove we have a hearing loss, one HOH person wished he could have it on his driver's License!

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It may interest you to know that this person is a very highly educated professional here in the State of Wisconsin.  She is married to a Deaf person and she is also very HOH.  And no, she does not make it a habit of getting traffic citations.

So, here's my offer to all of the governmental departments that interact with the public.  LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT SOME INFORMATION ON HOW TO DEAL WITH THE D/HOH!  ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ASK ME!

Have a great week!

Copyright 2009 Tami Klink