SEATTLE

            DEAF-BLIND

                     SERVICE CENTER

An article from Deaf-Blind Perspectives by Jelica Nuccio:Seattle’s Deaf-Blind Service Center:

A New Vision

Jelica Nuccio
Executive Director
Deaf-Blind Service Center

The Deaf-Blind Service Center (DBSC) is a community-based agency in Seattle committed to assisting Deaf-Blind people to reach and maintain their highest possible quality of life and degree of personal autonomy. The focus and vision of DBSC have evolved over its 20 years of existence, and today we are closer than ever to the community we serve.

The DBSC Board has always required a minimum deaf-blind representation of 50%, but I am the first Deaf-Blind executive director. This is a significant step forward. It provides a concrete model of deaf-blind leadership; it is not just an ideal or goal. It has become reality, and it means that the director experiences the same barriers and issues facing all deaf-blind people. The deaf-blind members of the staff, the clients who come to the agency, and members of the DB community can look to the director as a peer.

In this article I describe our services and the new vision of our agency—the DB Friendly Zone at DBSC and in the community. The agency’s services and activities are a response to current barriers and reflect our vision of the future.

Most people use vision and hearing to know about the world, to gather information and communicate, and to travel from place to place. DB people do not have the same sensory means to achieve these goals, and they encounter barriers to a high quality of life, including:

• lack of access to communication and efficient transportation,
• stereotyping (stigmatizing) of deaf-blind people, resulting in inappropriately low expectations and rigid thinking, and
• the effects of years of neglect and isolation.

The barriers vary by context. For example, rural areas and cities present different combinations of barriers and resources related to transportation and communication. DB people need modifications in order to access their environment. When DB people gather for conferences, camps, or parties, everything is ready for them. The physical environment and the communication or social environments have been modified, car traffic has been eliminated, paths or trails are marked, the lighting is good, print materials are on buff paper in large print and in Braille, and everyone can communicate effectively. We have adopted this as our standard at DBSC, and we call it the DB Friendly Zone.

The second, and often the biggest, barrier that DB people face is the stereotype that many people have about what it means to be deaf-blind. There is a stigma to being DB. People often do not understand how to partner with us, be our allies, and share information with us. Instead, they try to “help” by telling us what to do and how to fit into the hearing-sighted world. We have adopted the motto “DB to DB.” We want to partner with sighted and hearing allies, but first we look to each other for advice about how to live as DB persons. We want to raise expectations, and we want solutions to come from us and our community. Low expectations become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The result of years of oppression is the third major barrier. When DB people are isolated or marginalized for years, the effects add up and can be huge. A DB adult who has been cut off for years will find it very difficult to catch up and may begin to doubt his or her abilities. We need to work to change the attitudes and systems that cause these problems. By observing DB senior citizens at gatherings held at DBSC every month, I have come to understand the damage that this oppression has done. Many of these adults had inadequate education as children and limited choices as young adults. For most of their lives they worked in sheltered jobs that provided a limited income. Their energy, time, and creativity were spent in the struggle to survive. Once retired, many became isolated and unaware of resources or potential hobbies that they might enjoy. Some have been abandoned by their children or grandchildren or have experienced the loss of a spouse.

The DB community is our foundation. DB people want and need access to information, to communication, and to transportation systems so that we can manage our own lives. DB adults do not want someone to do the shopping for them; they want to have access to information and transportation to do their own shopping. DB adults do not want someone to plan their employment; they want the education, information, and transportation to get their own job and to have the choice to make career changes as they go through life. DB people do not just want to talk about themselves and have someone solve their problems; they want to hear about you, your life, and your problems and successes too.

The change must begin with ourselves and our own sense of who we are and who we can be. DBSC can promote this change by increasing opportunities for DB people through:

• setting a clear example of a “can do” attitude as a model for professionals, educators, families, and DB individuals;
• setting a high standard for working together and sharing life experiences and information with which to make choices and decisions;
• developing DB leaders through education and training;
• providing role models for DB youth;
• educating the public;
• providing tools, systems, and strategies for access to information;
• establishing a DB Friendly Zone at DBSC.

In our new model, DBSC is continuing to offer case management and support service providers, with an emphasis on informed choices. It is our hope that professionals, family members, and DB people will be inspired by this perspective and will follow our lead.

Society is not yet accessible. The case manager/advocate at DBSC helps DB individuals to solve problems by providing them with information about their legal rights and available resources and teaching them techniques and strategies for communicating with members of the public such as landlords, hospital personnel, or Social Security representatives. This staff person also works with those same landlords, hospital personnel, and Social Security representatives to teach them about legal mandates, available resources, and techniques and strategies for communicating with DB people.

An important and even more popular DBSC service is the SSP (support service provider) program. An SSP is a communication facilitator and guide. With an SSP, a DB person can go shopping for food, clothes, gifts, and household items without relying on friends or family. SSPs relay visual information about what they see—what is new and changing in the city, what buildings are going up or coming down, what new products are being offered, and what is on sale. SSPs do not interpret, but they relay information. They provide incidental and informal information.

DBSC also provides a communication facilitator (CF) service. Deaf people have used video phones to make calls, and now DB people can take advantage of this opportunity. Communication facilitators are fluent in sign language, and they copy for a DB person the signs made by a Deaf person or interpreter at the other end of the video phone call. The Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHH) has contracted with us to provide this service. It is one more way DB people can access information and be a part of the world.

Just like everyone else, DB people want to learn about things like the growing interest in organic food and the reasons behind it, what is in the news, and where people are going on their vacations and why. These things are not learned by taking a class. This is the incidental learning that happens day-to-day while chatting with others. When DB people have access to these conversations, they come to understand the society in which they live. By learning about others’ experiences, they are able to seek out new experiences for themselves.

Just like everyone else, DB people want to learn about things like the growing interest in organic food and the reasons behind it, what is in the news, and where people are going on their vacations and why. These things are not learned by taking a class. This is the incidental learning that happens day-to-day while chatting with others. When DB people have access to these conversations, they come to understand the society in which they live. By learning about others’ experiences, they are able to seek out new experiences for themselves.

Here at DBSC we start with touch and tactile communication. This is the foundation upon which our community is built whether an individual’s first or primary language is English or ASL. Our doors have pads on the floor so that when someone walks through the door and steps on the pad, a signal is sent to our vibrating pagers. Our computers are ready with ZoomText® or Braille printers, and everyone who works in the office is fluent in tactile sign language. It is a comfortable place to be. The arrangement of the furniture, the type of equipment, and the color of the walls are all DB friendly. At DBSC, the DB way is the norm so that each DB person can feel respected and included.

We embrace our deaf-blind identity and look to each other for healthy role models. We look to sighted-hearing people to be our allies, not to provide advice on how to succeed as a DB person. The following are examples of how we apply this approach at DBSC.

DB to DB. We noticed that many DB people had started to rely on interpreters to communicate with other DB people. We adopted the mottos “Deaf-Blind to Deaf-Blind” and “Pro-Tactile” to emphasize that we can develop the skills to communicate effectively with one another for conversations or small meetings without the help of a sighted person. They also underscore the fact that we know best how to be deaf-blind.

Tactile Sign Class. We offered a tactile sign language class (taught by a DB staff person) that was open to all DB people regardless of their first or primary language. Having a deaf-blind teacher emphasizes our own expertise. Use of the tactile mode minimizes differences and emphasizes similarities. The combination of small class size (four students) and peer-teaching created a safe place to learn and build confidence. Students shared experiences and explored different methods of signing tactilely. Each student could explore and create his or her own method rather than conform to one method intended for all.

Working together. DBSC deaf-blind staff and clients encourage each other to use a white cane, tactile sign, and other tools and approaches that give us the most information. We help each other find creative solutions to problems. In this sense, we (agency and clients) are a team, working together towards a common goal.

In the DB Friendly Zone we are able to take a deep breath, gather information, and create solutions. Having good communication skills, access to visual and environmental information, knowledge of resources, and the skills to use different tools enables us to figure out together how to live. We are developing our own expertise and learning to trust our own perspectives. We are preparing for the future by involving DB youth in this process. Our goal is nothing less than universal access—access to information, transportation, and communication.