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The following is not constitute legal advice. It is only one opinion
on the issue.
Dear Radvocate:
I have a speech impairment, and I am applying for some jobs. Should
I bring an interpreter with me to job interviews to make sure that I will be understood?
Signed,
Eager To
Work
Dear ETW:
It depends. If you expect to use an interpreter in the work setting, and if you are used to
using an interpreter, then you certainly should. If you do, you should consider contacting the company's human resources department,
to formally request permission to bring your interpreter as "a reasonable accommodation." (A reasonable accommodation is any
kind of service, equipment, policy change, or anything else that allows you equal access to the job.) Since you will be bringing
your own interpreter, at no cost to the company, they should approve your request for the accommodation. Or you may just want
to surprise them and bring the interpreter with you. Either way, during the interview, the employer is allowed to ask you
what reasonable accommodations you think you will need in order to do the job; so practice the answer to this question. They
are NOT allowed to ask you about your disability or any medical questions. However, you can offer this information if you
want to do so.
If you are not used to using an interpreter, using one during the interview would probably just be
confusing for both you and the interviewer.
I always start off interviews by saying "I know I am hard to understand,
but if you do not understand me, stop me and I will repeat. People tell me that after a little while, it gets easier to understand
me." Then I watch the interviewer's body language and repeat my key points until I know I am understood.
There is
no one approach that works for everyone. Find the approach that works for you, and keep practicing and adapting.
Good
luck on your job search!
If you have a question for Radvocate, click here to send an email
Action
Item: Tired of phones that don’t meet your needs?
Consumer Complaint Campaign: People with Disabilities
Fed Up With Poorly Designed
Phones
Over the past several months AAPD, and several other national disability organizations, have been
assisting consumers with disabilities with their complaints about phones that are not accessible or usable. These complaints
are from persons with vision loss, physical disabilities, hearing loss, and in several cases multiple disabilities. Several
of the complaints involve aging boomers who expect the same usability they used to have when younger. Complaints range from
lack of access to the information on the cell phone screen, such as not being able to navigate through the menus or being
able to enter caller information from the keypad, lack of hearing aid compatibility, keypad buttons that are too small or
keypads with no indicators, missing calls because the ring tone and vibrate function cannot be turned on simultaneously, customer
service reps ignoring disability concerns, bills and product materials unavailable in alternate format, and other barriers
to making and receiving calls like everyone else.
AAPD believes that most of these concerns are readily achievable and we remain
puzzled why the services providers are not insisting on more usability from the device manufacturers, particularly as the
product life cycle is short and many of our design needs help America 's aging population. The Section 255 phone accessibility
and usability law was passed in 1996. Yet, eleven years later, people with disabilities are putting up with clumsy workarounds
and barriers to making and receiving phone calls that mean they are overpaying for their phone devices and services. It's
time to make sure the phone companies hear from you!
AAPD will continue to assist
consumers with informal complaints involving cell and other phones. Please contact Jenifer Simpson, AAPD staffer, if you have
just such a concern. Alternatively you can file your complaint directly at the FCC using their online Form 475 at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm
Source: AAPD
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Resources
Speech-to-speech service phone numbers in the United States
International Travel Opportunities for People with Disabilities
Find Independent Living Centers in your Area
List of Job Openings at Independent Living Centers Across
the U.S.
Quick and Simple Guide to Disability Laws in the United States
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| Dustin, Destiny, Tammy, Benny visit the zoo |
Meet Tammy: Busy Mom, Busy Advocate
"It takes two to four villages to raise a Benny and a Destiny!" says Tammy Burton,
29, mother, wife, full-time student, and busy advocate for people with disabilities. Her children Benny, 3, and Destiny, 2,
never stop moving, growing, or asking questions.
Tammy, who was born with cerebral palsy, depends on personal assistants
for all activities of daily living. She also has a significant speech impairment. "Speech creates the biggest barrier for
me, not my wheelchair," she says. "People seem to be okay with my wheelchair -- it's when I open my mouth that people shut
down. But if they would just listen, they'd understand me." Her kids don't mind her speech impairment, but they do see other
people's attitudes. One time, Tammy got on a city bus, Benny in tow, and told the bus driver she wanted to get off at Ash
Street. When the bus driver didn't understand her repeated requests for "Ash," and got impatient with her, Benny shouted,
"My mommy said she needs off at 'Ass'!" Everyone laughed and the bus driver felt like an ass.
Tammy grew up in San
Bernardino, California where she attended a school for children with disabilities, then fought to transition to a regular
school in fourth grade. She graduated high school in California a year early and moved to Colorado where she attended a community
college near Denver. After graduating from the community college, she attended three colleges in Montana and Boulder. While
living in Montana, she met a Mormon missionary named Dustin in 1999. He annoyed her, but after finishing his two years as
a missionary in 2001, he kept writing her, even though she never wrote back. Tammy then moved to Utah to take a job as a VISTA
worker at the Disability Rights Action Center in 2001, and she began dating Dustin at the end of 2002. In July 2003, they
were married.
When she got pregnant, all the obstetricians in the little Utah town where they lived refused to take
Tammy as a patient. So she and Dustin moved to Salt Lake City in hopes of finding a doctor. Instead, Tammy found a midwife
who helped her through her pregnancy and a planned natural birth. Benny had different ideas and decided to get stuck in the
birth canal so Tammy had to have an emergency C-section. Destiny also had a midwife for her nine months in the womb, but with
a planned C-section. Much easier on mommy!
Tammy and her family moved to Boulder, Colorado, a little over a year ago
because Utah does not have good home services and it was difficult to take care of her two children even with her husband.
Since moving to Colorado, she is getting the home care services that she needs. Attitudes are different in Colorado regarding
disability, she notes. "People don't gawk or criticize me for having kids," says Tammy. Dustin can work and there is money
coming in to support the family as well as in-home support services for Tammy.
Tammy is continuing to fight for the
rights of people with disabilities. She works part-time as an organizer for Boulder ADAPT. In September, Tammy and Dustin
and Benny took part in the national ADAPT action in Chicago. Hundreds of ADAPT activists will long remember Benny chanting
"FREE OUR PEOPLE!" She has also contacted US Senators to urge them to pass the Community Choice Act. She is always working on advocacy issues.
In the future, Tammy hopes to create a resource program for parents with
disabilities as well as to get independent living centers to address the needs of disabled parents.
Note: This interview
was done on instant message for two hours and a few emails.
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