Sign Bahl Petition Now!
I have created a petition on-line, to object about Bahl’s treatment by the Ramsey County Sheriff Department.
Doug Bahl, a deaf man, was pulled over by the Ramsey County police and Mr. Bahl informed the officers that he was deaf. The police officers, now aware that he was deaf and therefore needed his eyes to understand communication, willfully pepper-sprayed him in his eyes because of his apparent noncompliance with verbal commands. The officers subsequently proceeded to physically assault Mr. Bahl.
Mr. Bahl then was held in jail for four days incommunicado. He was not allowed access to a TTY, a device that enables him to use the phone. He could not contact an attorney, or his family to inform them of his situation. This is a blatant violation of his civil rights and a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The petition checks for spammers and duplicate ip addresses, so this will be a valid on-line petition. So, please make a difference and show your support for Doug Bahl, by signing the petition HERE.
* Sorry for the quality of the vlog. I’m not feeling so good, so it’s not my best, but time is of essence.
Thank You!
The Equal Communication Access website is still being tweaked. But I must thank Bill Creswell, the webmaster for all of his hard work! If it was not for him, it would not be possible!
So let’s give him a round of thanks!
Now that you all have seen the ECA website, please submit your entries for the ECA contest! The deadline is September 22nd!
Equal Communication Access Website
Finally the ECA website is complete. We are still working out the bugs and such, so if you see any problems with it, let me know.
This is just a start for now and as we get more feedback over time, the website will be expanded to reflect that. So please feel free to give feedback on it.
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Sorenson VRS *not* Deaf Community Friendly [ASL Version]
For the non-signers, see my blog post here. I did a vlog, to make sure everyone understands what I am saying about Sorenson VRS.
Sorenson VRS NOT Deaf Community Friendly
So, I get forwarded this job ad – Video Relay Services Operations Coordinator.
Sorenson VRS already has a center in Ann Arbor, MI and the rumor is that they established that center in Ann Arbor to directly compete with CAC VRS in Flint. Now they are setting up another center here in my hometown? How many states out there that do not have a VRS center? I would wager there are many states that have none, while MI already has two.
Why is that? MI already has a hard time finding qualified community interpreters. What is it about MI that is so special to Sorenson? Do we really need three VRS centers here in MI now? Does Sorenson VRS enjoy depriving the local deaf communities of their interpreters?
Seems to me that Sorenson VRS doesn’t care much for the Deaf Community, as they already have a reputation for having an extremely low glass ceiling for their deaf employees. Now this?
Way to go, Sorenson. You’ve certainly endeared yourselves to me and the Deaf Community. I think it’s time for me to switch VRS providers.
EDIT: Michigan is #8 in the United States for D/deaf people.. That means we have a LOT of D/deaf people here! But we are #40 for interpreters available which means we have very FEW interpreters!
Now Sorenson wants to set up a 3rd call center here, while we’re screaming and crying for interpreters!
Especially here in Grand Rapids … we only have three or four nationally certified interpreters, and five interpreters who are QA 3 (the highest state certificate).
Why does Sorenson want to be here?
