| Arranging your Communication Support Paul Tomlinson Under the original 1995 Disability Discrimination Act all employers and service providers have a duty to make “reasonable adjustments” to allow customers with disabilities to access their services on an equal footing. This might mean a solicitor or doctor arranging to provide communication support for hearing impaired customers during one-to-one discussions, or an employer arranging suitable support for a deaf member of staff attending a training course. These provisions have been further strengthened by the 2005 DDA, which includes a specific duty on Public Bodies for them to actively seek to engage people with disabilities in public life. This could include providing support to allow a hearing impaired person to serve as a local councillor, or to attend a public consultation meeting being run by the public body. Leaving aside the fact that many of these bodies are still rather ignorant about the extent of their legal obligations to provide support, even more of them are very ignorant as to the mechanics of booking suitable support. This means that even when you have persuaded one of these bodies that they should be providing you with some support, they may well ask if you have any ideas how to book it! This article is designed to provide some suggestions on this issue, for the three main categories of support likely to be of interest to our members: Speech-to-Text Reporters (STTRs), Electronic Notetakers, and Lipspeakers. Please note that the level of supply of these services in the UK at present is shamefully low [especially for STTRs] so you will need to give as much notice as possible of your requirements. Speech-to-Text Reporters A STTR will listen to what is being said and type a phonetic representation of it onto an electronic shorthand keyboard (either Palantype or Stenograph), which is linked to their laptop. Special software will then convert these phonetic chords back into English, which is then displayed for the deaf person to read. The text is displayed either on the screen of a laptop for one or two deaf users, or projected onto a large screen for more users. The STTR produces a word-for-word account of what is said at speeds in excess of 200 words per minute (wpm) and will also give extra information, such as {laughter} or {applause}, to keep the deaf person informed of the mood of the meeting. We strongly recommend that members insist on the use of STTRs who are registered with CACDP, which confirms both the quality [i.e. speed and accuracy] of their work and also that they are committed to an appropriate professional Code of Practice. For many deafened people speech-to-text will be their preferred form of support, but there are today only 25 STTRs registered with CACDP. This means that in several major areas of the country [e.g. the West Country, Tyneside, Scotland] speech-to-text can only be obtained by bringing in an STTR from elsewhere, which adds their travelling costs to the already substantial fees payable for this service. This emphasises the need to make bookings for these services well in advance! We would suggest that in most cases the simplest starting point is to contact STTRs Direct, which is an agency operated by some of the STTRs themselves. The contact details are: Website: http://www.sttrsdirect.co.uk/ An alternative approach is to contact your local RNID Office, they offer a booking service for many types of support service, including all those covered in this article. The best way to find them is through the following web page, which gives email, telephone, fax and postal contact details for all 11 of these RNID offices: [The address list is too long to reprint here, but if you need these details and are unable to get them from the web please get in touch and we will send you a paper copy.] There are also several commercial agencies who will quote to provide STTR support, though their fees tend to be higher than the preceding sources. Not all of their staff are CACDP Registered, and you would need to check this on a case by case basis. Some of the better known commercial agencies are: Sign Solutions Ltd: Website: http://www.signsolutions.uk.com/
Merrill Wordwave Website: http://www.wordwave.co.uk/ Lipspeakers Lipspeakers work with deaf people who prefer to communicate through lipreading and speech. The lipspeaker listens to what is being said and silently repeats it to the lipreader, using exceptionally clear speech movements, reproducing the rhythm and phrasing of the words used by the speaker, and supporting the meaning with gesture and facial expression. The lipspeaker can fingerspell the initial letters of any difficult words and acronyms. The most effective way of booking a lipspeaker is probably via the Association of Lipspeakers, which provides access to all of the CACDP Registered lipspeakers. The details are: Website: http://www.lipspeaking.co.uk/ Electronic Notetakers Electronic notetakers type a summary of what is said on a computer. This information then appears on a screen for the deaf person to read it, or via a refreshable braille output for a deafblind person. Electronic notetakers work with deaf people who are comfortable reading English, as all notes are typed in English. The summarised notes are the property of the deaf person at the end of the meeting. Electronic notetakers work primarily in the educational environment, and aim to provide a précis of what is being said, rather than a word for word verbatim record. For situations requiring full verbatim access an STTR should ideally be booked, but because STTRs are in such short supply in many parts of the country there will sometimes be situations in which you find that an electronic notetaker can be obtained but an STTR cannot. How to proceed in such cases is a matter of personal taste and judgement: electronic notetakers are not qualified to meet the 200 words per minute standard used for STTRs, but some of the better electronic notetakers can work at over 100 wpm. Details of qualified notetakers [both electronic and manual] can be found via the Association of Notetaking Professionals. The details are: Website: http://www.anpnotetaking.co.uk/
Their directory of qualified notetakers can be downloaded from the web site. |