MI Interpreter Bill Signed By Governor!
I just got an e-mail press release from DODHH – Division on Deafness and Hard of Hearing. The governor of Michigan has signed the interpreter bill! See below for the press release.
Agency: Labor & Economic Growth
June 29, 2007 – LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm signed legislation that equires the use of qualified sign language interpreters who possess state or national certification in all accommodations required under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), making the scope of Michigan’s law comparable to the federal law. Approximately 1.4 million Michigan citizens are deaf or hard of hearing.
“We’re ending the confusion, frustration, and errors that are so often experienced by the deaf and hard of hearing in important life situations due to misinterpreted information,” said Granholm. “Equal access to accurate communication is a basic civil right of us all.”
Under Public Act 23 (Senate Bill 25) and Public Act 24 (House Bill 4208) employers, state and local governments, and businesses providing a variety of services to the public are now obligated to provide for effective communication. Such entities include public and private schools and colleges; doctors’ offices, hospitals and pharmacies; banks, hotels, restaurants and theatres. Reasonable notice is required if a qualified interpreter is needed.
PAs 23 and 24 amend the Deaf Persons’ Interpreters Act (PA 204 of 1982) which limited the application of interpreter standards to court and administrative hearings and was not sufficiently clear on the standards. PA 23 now defines a “qualified” interpreter as a person who is certified through the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf or by the Division of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DODHH) in the Department of Labor & Economic Growth (DLEG).
“I’m pleased to sign legislation that sets universal standards of excellence for qualified interpreters and protects our citizens from unqualified practitioners,” Granholm said.
If an entity willfully fails to provide an interpreter when one is required or an unqualified interpreter is provided, the business or entity may be subject to a civil fine. Individuals who misrepresent themselves as qualified interpreters would be guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by imprisonment and/or a fine.
Individuals who violate the law are subject to rejection of their application for certification, or revocation, suspension, or limitation of certification.
PA 24 grants rulemaking authority to the DODHH, including establishing rules on minimum credential requirements and levels, minimum standards of practice, and continuing education. Rules must be coordinated with the Michigan Department of Education and the Michigan Administrative Rules for Special Education for the purpose of increasing interpreter qualifications, improving educational services to deaf and hard of hearing students, increasing the supply of qualified interpreters by promoting interpreting as a profession, and increasing the number of training programs.
Michigan becomes one of only a few states to recognize the interpreting field for the skills and credentials it requires and make qualified interpreters mandatory in a broader range of situations. These factors serve the state well in attracting qualified interpreters to Michigan as well as training more people who want to become interpreters.
“This brings significant job growth opportunities to the state,” said Keith W. Cooley, director of DLEG. “We’re already in short supply of qualified interpreters and the demand for services is growing.”
According to a 2006 study “Supply & Demand for Interpreters for the Deaf in Michigan” conducted by Public Policy Associates, Inc., in consultation with DODHH and the Michigan Department of Education (available online at www.mcdc-dodhh.org) the demand for interpreters will grow over the next 25 years and it will take 15-20 years to close the gap between the supply and demand of interpreters.
Factors contributing to the demand include: the aging of the deaf and hard of hearing population; the growing need for interpreters in health care settings; expansion of video relay service (VRS) and other new communication services for the deaf and hard of hearing; and the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act, the ADA, and the Educational Interpreters Proficiency Assessment guidelines.
To meet the demand, interpreters in the future will need to be better educated, possess more specialized skills, and will be required to meet more stringent certification criteria. The study found that 30 percent of interpreters in Michigan are not certified at all.
Currently there are approximately 531 state or nationally certified interpreters in Michigan; 450 state certified interpreters are eligible to renew certification this year. Interpreters who possess Michigan Quality Assurance Certification at levels, I, II, or III are considered qualified until that certification status expires. Such a certificate may be renewed annually until it expires and retesting is required.
Interpreters who currently hold national certification recognized by DODHH must be issued a state certification upon filing a completed application and paying applicable fees.
Senate Bill 25 and identical bill, House Bill 4208 were sponsored by Senator John Gleason (District 27, Genesee County) and Representative Dudley Spade (District 57, Lenawee County) respectively.
Contact: Janet Jurus, State Interpreter, DODHH: ph # deleted Voice/TTY; or ph # deleted Voice/TTY/F toll free.
Visit the DODHH website at www.mcdc-dodhh.org. To view PA 23 and PA 24 go to www.michiganlegislature.org.
Without Further Ado…
Here is the final cut of the Equal Communication Access Video!
Thank you to every one of you who contributed to this project. It would not be possible without you guys!
Now, to make sure this gets the hearing’s attention. please rate the video on YouTube and tell all of your friends about the video and have them rate the video as well.
Thank you again!
My ECA Campaign Update
I wanted to update you all on the Equal Communication Access situation. For those who do not know, I came up with having a public relations campaign called Equal Communication Access. The posts can be found here: An Idea and Equal Comm Access Videos
The update is that due to some differences between Aidan and I, we will be making our separate Equal Communication Access film cuts. Aidan is welcome to do whatever she pleases with her cut, since she did a lot of hard work on hers.
However, since the ECA public relations campaign was my idea and still is mine, I will be using my film cut for the ECA public relations campaign. I do not have all of the videos that were submitted and some that I do have, I can’t use because Windows MovieMaker, the software I am using to edit the film cut, only accepts .wmv formatted files.
I am nearly done with my cut, so if you want yours included (both deaf and hearing), please feel free to e-mail me your clip in .wmv format and I will include it in the cut. E-mail me at: equalcommaccess@yahoo.com
Thank you to those who submitted theirs, and thank you for understanding. I’ll post more later on the ECA campaign – the videos aren’t the only thing that are being done!
UPDATE: Due to some people’s questions, I’ve decided to show what I’ve done thus far. This was uploaded on Google, and is unlisted. So I am hoping people will not download my video. It still is NOT finalized. This is a work in progress.
Censooooorship!
There’s been a lot of discussion lately about censorship on blogs and such, ignited by the controversity of a firing at Gallaudet and a list-serv being forced to find a new host.
(Disclaimer: There could be more to the story than I know, but I am presenting what I *do* know at this point of time.)
The background of this situation for those who don’t know about it: GallyNet, a list-serv discussing issues relating to Gallaudet University was owned/moderated by Slemo W., an internal auditor who worked at Gallaudet. That list-serv happened to be hosted on one of John Yeh’s computers, without Yeh’s knowledge. John Yeh also happens to be a Trustee Emeritus of Gallaudet University.
Now, GallyNet was instrumental in the recent protests at Gallaudet, and its reputation grew even more infamous after the protests, because things would get very heated on there. Recently, it was reported that Dr. Davila became angry when subscribers of GallyNet began attacking him and the university – what the attacks entailed of, I don’t know, since I don’t subscribe to it – and confidential documents were being leaked there as well.
So, next thing we know, Slemo’s been fired. Gallaudet didn’t disclose the exact reason why Slemo was fired, and it was reported that Dr. Davila contacted Yeh, and told him that GallyNet was being hosted on one of his computers. Yeh was incensed at this, and had it shut down.
GallyNet subsequently found a new host – hopefully a legal host.
Now people are screaming about censorship. People are worried about blogs being shut down if they criticize Gallaudet University or Dr. Davila.
See, again, I don’t know the full story here… but from what I see, I don’t have a problem with Dr. Davila’s actions. GallyNet was being illegally hosted. I’m not an attorney, but I do know this much – you need someone’s permission to host something on their computer. It’s their property, after all. And if you are aware of illegal activity going on and do nothing about it, you also can get into trouble.
And if Slemo was in fact, leaking confidential documents, he would have to have a damn good reason to leak them, such as whistle-blowing. Whistle-blowing is protected under the law. Otherwise, your rear can become grass if you’re busted!
As for censoring independently and legally hosted blogs, I don’t think Dr. Davila can really censor them. As long bloggers tell the truth about what’s going on, and are responsible with what they’re saying, they’re pretty safe. But I also think there’s a line there, that sadly enough, many in the deaf community crosses with impunity.
What do I exactly mean? Check out this article I found about Internet harassment, and I think it’s very interesting… Woman fed up with Internet harassment
Was GallyNet a forum for harassment? Are some blogs out there a forum for harassment? I think that’s up to us as a community to decide – but I do know that there are some out there who think so.
Television Media Refuse to Caption!
In a blog post by a guest blogger on DeafDC, Sheila Conlon Mentkowski, the chair of NAD’s Technology Committee, a comment left by Shane Feldman of DeafDC, tipped off us readers about this article, Digital Revolution Excludes Closed Captioning, by TVWeek.
Of particular interest to me was that the companies’ responses to inquires about captioning downloaded videos off the internet and so on, was basically a shrug and a statement of: “We don’t have any plans for that.”
Well, no wonder every time I try to watch something on TiVo, the captions are all garbled. They don’t care if the captions are garbled, as long hearing people watch. Never mind about the 23 million of deaf and hard of hearing in United States. Our pocketbooks don’t count, right?
You know, I think it’s time for us to start filing complaints en masse, and exploring the possibility of lawsuits against the media to force them to start doing the right thing.
Unfortunately, the FCC does not have a specific form for captioning complaints. You have to file a general complaint. http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints_general.html
If you want to file a complaint with the FCC, there are several ways to do it, in the order that I think is most effective to least:
- You can file a general complaint electronically with them at: http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm
- Fax Toll-Free: 1-866-418-0232 (make sure you download their 475 form and fill it out then fax it to them)
- Mail your 475 form to them:
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Complaints
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554 - E-mail your complaint to them: fccinfo@fcc.gov
- Call them at: Toll Free: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice, 1-888-TELL- FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY
ECA Videos Update Redux
Seems like a lot of people are eager for the video to come out! Aidan told me that a lot of you guys are asking her about it. It’s great to know you all are backing us all the way on this project!
Anyway, she showed me a preview of the video and I must say it is looking very, very nice! She is still working on it, so I am asking all of you to be just a bit more patient, please. She has worked 4 days straight on it, without much rest, and she is still going!
From what I’ve seen so far, believe me, the wait will be worth it! Thanks again for your support, and stay tuned! 
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Thank You!
Thank you for your videos for the Equal Communication Access PR campaign! This wouldn’t have been possible with your submissions!
Aidan is now editing it together, then SeekGeo will be subtitling it, in their free time. Aidan and I will let you know when it’s all done and ready for your viewing pleasure.
What’s the Motivator?
I keep thinking about a conversation I had with my mother the other day. I was explaining to her about a thread on DeafDC, where the topic of my eye doctor violating my civil rights was brought up.
My mother said to me, “I don’t think Dr. Dragoo thought you were inferior even though he told you that you were somewhat intelligent. To him, everyone’s like that because he’s a doctor and he knows the best! And you’re right, even if he thought you were inferior, that shouldn’t affect how you think about yourself.
In my opinion, what motivated Dr. Dragoo to deny your civil rights boils down to two things: greed and control. Remember in the beginning, he repeated time again and again that interpreters were too expensive and he didn’t want to pay for it. Talk about greed!
It’s also about people telling him how to spend his money – a control issue. He also tries to assert control over the dialogue by telling you that you two will write back and forth, and use those ‘tumbling E’s’ whatever they are, and so on.
It has nothing to do with your deafness. It has everything to do with his greed and control issues.”
I can’t help but think she’s right on that, and she said it far better than I ever could.
Update on Videos
I thought I would do a quick update on the status of the videos.
We’ve gotten a few and I’ve been told there are more on the way. Several things about the videos:
- As you do the videos please put them in either quicktime or windows media player format, so Aidan can merge all of the clips into one clip.
- I need the clips to be emailed to equalcommaccess@yahoo.com because I cannot save your video clips off the internet.
- I’ve also posted a video on youtube on how to sign the words, if you need help on that.
- And if you aren’t comfortable with doing a video clip, you can do a picture instead and email it to equalcommaccess@yahoo.com
- Submit it by Tuesday, June 12!
Thanks for your support! 
Equal Comm. Access Videos
I’ve set up an e-mail address where you can send in your videos and pictures for the Equal Communication Access PR campaign. You can send it in to: equalcommaccess@yahoo.com
If you can, please subtitle your videos. For those of you who don’t know sign, you can do the picture thing. Let’s get them all in by next week Tuesday – June 12, then we’ll work on piecing it together that week and (hopefully) roll it out the week after or so. Aaaaaaand here’s my pic, since my webcam is broken.
UPDATE: To clarify: I prefer the deaf say something very similar to this: I am Deaf and I deserve equal communication access. For the hearing: I’m hearing, and I support equal communication access for the Deaf. Thank you for your submissions! Let’s keep them rolling in.
If you aren’t sure how to sign your slogan, watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPK_UE7qMTo
