2010 i&r services for culturally deaf, oral deaf, deafened & hard of hearing

Information & Referral Services for the Culturally Deaf, Oral Deaf, Deafened and Hard of Hearing People in Central East Ontario

Published by Community Connection, 275 First Street, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada 705.444.0040 [email protected] 2


Report Purpose 211 Ontario is in the early stages of development and there is no formal process to establish relationships with specialized organizations such as those that serve culturally Deaf, oral deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people within their own community. The 211 Service Provider for Central East Ontario, Community Connection, has more than doubled their service area in the past 18 months and as a result awareness of 211 is still low. However, the agency believes that it is useful to produce and distribute reports about the strategic relationships established to deliver effective information and referral services. By effectively sharing information about learning’s and best practices it may impact the improvement for more comprehensive and effective services for citizens in Ontario and Canada. Over the next 5 years annual calls in the Central East region are expected to increase to 150,000, with an anticipated increase in contacts by culturally Deaf, oral deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people that use devices to communicate. Technology Community Connection offers three access channels for culturally Deaf, oral deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people to communicate with their Information Specialists – TDD/TTY, Internet chat and email.

is a software program (also known as a TDD or Telecommunications Device for the Deaf) that enables deaf or deafened individuals to communicate over the telephone with TTY devices. TTY (or telephone typewriter, teletypewriter or text phone) is a device used by some deaf or deafened individuals to communicate over telephone lines. Telephone calls to Community Connection’s toll free TTY telephone number are routed through the public telephone network onto Community Connection’s computer network. TTY calls are received on the Information Specialist’s computers and when a call is connected, a dialog box opens on the computer allowing for instant two way communication with the caller.

Each of Community Connection’s websites provides two options for the public to communicate with Information Specialists. The first option is a

website link to access the live chat feature of and establish an instant online communication with Information Specialists. When the website link is accessed, a dialog box opens on the Information Specialists

computer and instant two way communication can be established. The second option allows the public to email questions to Information Specialists. Email responses are returned within 24 hours.



Training for Community Connection/211 Central East Ontario Staff at Community Connection received onsite training from The Canadian Hearing Society, Simcoe County office and Deaf Access Simcoe Muskoka. Multiple sessions were conducted and follow up sessions will be provided annually or more often as needed. Database listings of the multiple programs offered by The Canadian Hearing Society and Deaf Access were reviewed with each organization to make certain complete details were available to Information Specialists to ensure accurate referrals could be made. Training included an overview of etiquette rules that users of TTYs may use. Callers must take turns when sending messages. You cannot interrupt as in a normal conversation. To facilitate proper protocol, codes are used at the end of each transmission to let the other person know when it's his turn. Training included the explanation of a number of abbreviations and conversation guides. Information Specialists were provided a list of etiquette rules for reference. With many people now using computers for communication and fewer people using TTYs these etiquette rules should only be used if a caller is using them.

Commonly used etiquette rules:

BRB Be Right Back CA Communications assistant (another term for a relay operator) CU See You (be seeing you) GA Go Ahead SK Stop Keying GA OR SK, GASK Goodbye SKSK Now hanging up HD Hold (transmitted before a voice intercept message) Q, QQ, QM Question Mark (?) PLS Please RO Relay Operator OIC Oh, I See OPR Operator NBR Number TMW Tomorrow THX Thanks WRU Who are You? (or Where are You?) XXXX Xs are often used to indicate a typing error instead of backspacing

Sample conversation Caller A: HELLO JOHN, WHAT TIME WILL YOU BE COMING AROUND TODAY Q GA Caller B: HI FRED, I WILL BE AROUND NOON GA Caller A: OK, NO PROBLEM, DON'T FORGET TO BRING THE BOOKS AND THE WORK SO FAR GA Caller B: WILL DO SK Caller A: BYE BYE SKSK

Sample conversation Caller A HI, THIS IS JOHN, CAN I ASK WHO IS CALLING? Caller B HI JOHN, ITS ME FRED, I AM WONDERING WHERE YOU ARE, ITS GETTING LATE TO GO OUT TO THE PUB Caller A HI FRED, SORRY I DONT THINK I CAN GO Caller B WHY CANT YOU GO? Caller A COS MY WIFE IS NOT FEELING WELL. AND I GOT NO BABYSITTER FOR MY KIDS! Caller B AWWWW DARN. I WANTED YOU THERE. OH WELL WHAT CAN I DO ? Caller A I KNOW.. I GOTTA GO. THE KIDS NEED ME. SEE YOU AROUND! BYE FOR NOW SK Caller B OK NO WORRIES SEE YOU SOON! BYE BYE SK GA Caller A SKSK (THE PARTY HAS HUNG UP)



Lessons Learned As a result of the work between Community Connection, Deaf Access and the Canadian Hearing Society, the following best practices have been identified. Best Practices for Service Providers: 1) Information and Referral organizations should offer an access channel (such as through using

software) for the culturally Deaf, oral deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people in their community.

2) Information and Referral organizations should seek out and establish relationships with organizations in their service area that provide advocacy services for culturally Deaf, oral deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people.

3) A protocol should be documented in a Memorandum of Understanding between the organizations that clearly outlines the roles of each service provider, when referrals should be made to each other, and a clear communication process for staff to follow to ensure callers receive the services they need.

4) Cross training of staff within these organizations should occur annually. Best practices for Information Specialists:

For Information Specialists serving callers using software and responding to email queries: 1) Email and chat users may not be deaf. Information Specialists will determine if the caller is Deaf or

has a hearing loss by asking the caller “would you like the phone number or the TTY number?”

2) When providing information back to callers, Information Specialists will specify this is the phone number or this is the TTY number.

3) Do not assume that the caller is not Deaf or has a hearing loss if they do not use abbreviations (such as GA). This practice is mainly used by individuals on a TTY phone.

4) Callers requesting business information will be referred to both Bell Relay and 411 services.

5) Callers referred to other agencies that do not have TTY capability will be referred to both Bell Relay and the agency’s phone number.

6) Callers may not have confidence in using the service due to literacy issues. Information Specialists will take their time to ensure they understand the needs of the caller. The caller will be assured there is no time limit if they seem to be having difficulty communicating.

7) Referrals to local advocacy organizations would follow agreed upon protocols.



Community Impact for Central East Ontario

To help ensure callers have support to access needed services Community Connection has established a protocol with Deaf Access Simcoe Muskoka to ensure appropriate referrals will be made for Simcoe County callers in need of advocacy services. Community Connection will establish relationships with similar organizations across their service region.

Deaf Access Simcoe Muskoka reports that 23% of the population has some form of hearing loss, and because culturally Deaf, oral deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people have an invisible disability more awareness is required for organizations to provide improved services. To increase awareness, Community Connection, Deaf Access Simcoe Muskoka and The Canadian Hearing Society hosted a 211 Launch to the Deaf Community in June 2010:

During the G8 and pre‐G8 (June 24 to 27) the North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) provided a key role in disseminating summary reports and status advisories to all LHIN health care providers and community partners. These communiqués were issued a couple of times per day over the G8 weekend to service providers. A local radio station provided public broadcasts throughout the event to keep the residents informed of important information relating to the G8’s affect on the community.



The Executive Director of the Canadian Hearing Society was concerned that the radio reports would not be heard by the Deaf or hard of hearing people such as the majority of seniors. As a result, the LHIN ensured this information was provided to Community Connection for culturally Deaf, oral deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people to access the information via 211’s TTY system.

i Note: i Ontario is the first jurisdiction in Canada to develop mandatory, province‐wide accessibility standards. These standards apply to both private and public sectors. The Ontario Legislature passed the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act AODA), 2005 on June 13, 2005. Details can be found at http://www.accesson.ca/en/accesson/index.aspx. Even with the AODA, most organizations including health and government services have limited capability to communicate and provide services to culturally Deaf, oral deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people.

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2010 i&r services for culturally deaf, oral deaf, deafened & hard of hearing