Disability News

Stick Up for Your Right to Communication Access
Many companies, medical offices, and agencies are not aware of the rights of Deaf and hard of hearing people. They do not know that it is their responsibility to provide interpreters or captioning services for their Deaf patients/clients/students. Often they believe it’s the Deaf/HH person’s responsibility to “BYOI” (Bring Your Own Interpreter), which may be a friend or family member.  

It is important for you as a Deaf or hard of hearing person to request a professional interpreter, or other accommodation, if you need it. The better you can inform hearing people about why an interpreter (or other accommodation) is necessary, the more empowered you will become. You can become familiar with your rights through such resources as www.ada.gov and www.eeoc.gov. You may even wish to share these resources with hearing persons.  

If you believe you are a victim of discrimination (by a business/company/person) because of your disability, you have the right to file a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission http://www.phrc.state.pa.us/. They will then file your complaint with the appropriate federal agency. You complaint must be filed within 180 days of the alleged act of discrimination. 

All of this can seem overwhelming, so if you have any questions or would like assistance in registering a complaint, you may contact either of the following people:

Robbie Graves:
610-770-9781, Ext. 29 (voice/relay) 
Email: robgraves@lvcil.org 

Michele Marks:
610-770-9781, Ext. 21 (voice/relay) or 610-770-9789 (TTY).  
Email: michelemarks@lvcil.org
We are here to help!

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Transportation
We have word from PennDot and LANTA that LANTA has received the grant to expand the PwD Shared Ride Program, which means that those consumers who currently live outside the ADA boundaries for complementary paratransit service will now be able to qualify for paratransit service via the contracted paratransit provider, Easton Coach. As of this writing, the program has not officially been “un-rolled,” but consumers can still apply and LANTA will notify them when they have been approved and when they can start scheduling trips under the new PwD Shared Ride Program. I have copies of the application and would be more than happy to assist anyone who would like to fill one out and send it to LANTA.

LANTA has announced that fares for the fixed route service will be increasing on April 1^st. The Free Fare Transit ID Card for people with disabilities will be discontinued and be replaced by an all day pass for $1.00. This change will be effective on April 1^st, 2007.

“Promoting Wellness for Persons With Disabilities Act”
Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa will be introducing this year in Congress the “Promoting Wellness for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2007.” This legislation will establish accessibility standards for medical diagnostic equipment and create wellness grants to fund health programs that focus on people with disabilities. It will also require medical and dental schools and residency programs to increase training to improve competency and clinical skills in providing care to people with a variety of disabilities. 

In order to help Senator Harkin with this very important and overdue piece of legislation, we are collecting stories from consumers about problems they have had while accessing medical care, so please send in those stories to me here at the CIL. You can also call me if you need assistance with this, as every voice needs to be heard. If you participated in our survey in the fall of 2005, which focused on this topic, please give me a call or send me a note to let me know that I can use your comments, as I still have all those surveys that were completed and returned to me then. Barriers in accessing medical care is a very serious and real problem that many people in the Lehigh Valley have encountered, so this legislation, if passed and made into Federal law, will have far reaching effects and should provide some real equality for people with disabilities when it comes to health care.