Bridging the communication gap: educating, informing, and understanding the deaf community

Both Deaf men and women in Sonoma County are not adequately serviced in equal portions as the hearing community when it comes to Health and Human Services, especially, the little to no services and resources regarding domestic violence and sexual assault resources for Deaf woman and their children. Agencies such as law enforcement and fire officials have little to no training with regard to the Deaf population and Deaf culture. As a result, they feel unsafe and misinformed. "The lack of interpersonal violence education for Disabled women and their providers and lack of emergency back up providers have been identified as key obstacles to maintaining their safety" (Powers, Curry, Oschwald, Maley, & Saxton, 2002, p. 2). Consequently, both Deaf men and women are underserved, which leads to not only unequal treatment, but segregation. The hearing community in general does not understand that the Deaf community comes from a culture that has their own community, belief system, and language. The hearing attitude and mindset of seeing both Deaf men and women as "handicapped," "disabled," and "broken" may account for not only why the Deaf are ignored, marginalized, and oppressed but for how they are serviced because the hearing community play a critical role in the teaching of how the Deaf are viewed and served in society. Consequently, the Deaf are seen as a disabled group rather than a cultural linguistic minority, and that encourages the biased terms often used that allows the continuation of oppression, discrimination, and marginalization. The way both Deaf women and men are viewed can effect how they receive Health and Human Services, information, and resources from agencies including law enforcement and the fire department. As long as the hearing continue to see the Deaf as "broken," they will continue to try to fix them. Other factors have also led to a gap of inadequate services and the lack of availability to information and resources for both Deaf men and women in Sonoma County. Purpose of the Project The purpose of this two-part project is to 1. educate the hearing, especially federal, state, and county agencies such as the law enforcement and fire department in Sonoma County by developing and distributing a four-fold brochure to be used as a "one-stop shop" educational tool, and 2. the creation of a PowerPoint presentation on Deaf culture and a list of resources and services for domestic and sexual abuse for Deaf women and their children. The brochure consists of information on Deaf culture, effective communication, and ways in which the hearing population can better serve the Deaf community. The brochure also provides a list of services and resources available to Deaf victims of violence. It explains the success of a recent town hall meeting in hopes other cities will implement informational town hall meetings to bridge the communication gap as well. The brochure mentions that the implementation of town hall meetings and forming advisory committees was an opportunity to bridge the communication gap between the Deaf community and local agencies. The development of the training brochure was designed by using samples of brochures designed by the CSUS Students with Disabilities office at California State University, Sacramento. It refers to Deaf agencies who service the Deaf such as Deaf Counseling Advocacy & Referral Agency (DCARA), Deaf Hope, Norcal, Deaf Hood, and Disability Services and Legal Center and by using the anti-oppression methodology approach. Throughout the process of gathering information and resources for the brochure and generating enthusiasm for the town hall meetings, the Deaf community was actively engaged in volunteering to be leaders in their community in hopes they will continue to motivate and encourage others to participate. The PowerPoint consists of information on Deaf culture, audism, myths and misconceptions about the Deaf, ADA law, and information and statistics on domestic and sexual abuse, including resources. The use of anti-oppression methodology was critical to the development of the brochure content of and the implementation of the town hall beings and forming advisory committee. Project Description This project is based on samples of brochures from the Disability Services for Students with Disabilities at California State University, Sacramento, Disability Services and Legal Center in Santa Rosa, and Disability Rights Advocates Agency in Sacramento and created as a one-stop educational tool. The brochure was developed for both the Deaf community and hearing community for easy access to resources for the Deaf community and an educational tool for the hearing community. Along with the four-fold brochure, a PowerPoint is also available for training agencies and organizations such as domestic violence agencies, shelters, organizations, District Attorneys, and law enforcement on Deaf culture, audism, hearing privilege, and available resources and services for Deaf women who are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. The PowerPoint presentation is based on information provided by Deaf Hope and National Online Resource Center on Violence. The instructor, brochure, PowerPoint presentation, and other materials comprise the training portion of this project. The type of educational information, services, and resources enables both the hearing community and the Deaf community to be educated on culture, services, and resources. The hearing will gain an understanding of Deaf culture and audism and the Deaf. Deaf women will have a list of resources in case a dangerous situation arises such as domestic violence or sexual assault.