Incredible as it seems, the systems that promote equality abuse it themselves. One such system is the Social Security Administration (SSA). While Social Security provides social security disability income for people with disabilities (SSDI), they promote a program known as the "ticket to hire" program. It is their effort to afford people with disabilities as a way for them to ease back into a job that might one day be permanent. The program’s idea is to get people with disabilities off of SSDI government funds.
SSA is known for having many people with disabilities working in their office. However, one group of individuals unlikely to be found there is the Deaf and Hard of Hearing people who use captionists during meetings and during training. Sure they have many Deaf and Hard of Hearing people there who use interpreters, but the SSA treats this particular group of people like outcasts.
A few years ago, the SSA contacted many federal agencies touting many job openings for Deaf individuals, preferably with Master’s degrees. They wanted a whopping nine people (or thereabouts) for positions. Many Deaf people showed up that day including one Deaf person that SSA DENIED accommodations for their deafness simply because this person didn’t sign and use an interpreter. Yet, interpreters showed up for the Deaf people! When asked why that was, the interviewer said because the SSA doesn’t fund captionists!
Most of the job seekers had less than Master’s degrees. Almost all of the Deaf interviewees were hired, except the Deaf person who used their own captionist! An SSA insider said there were about three people with Master’s degrees and one was not hired – the qualified one with the Captionist!
The insider also noted that the interviewee not hired was just as suitable if not more suitable for the job then the majority of the hired interviewees. What happened? How could this be? The answer is simple. The cost to have one interpreter for nine or more employees outweighed the cost of having one Deaf person using a captionist!
While many Deaf people do get jobs, the outlook for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people is grim. The cost of captioning services is high and many employers will avoid Deaf and Hard of Hearing people at all costs. The only reasonable solution would be to allow employers to have full tax deductions for the costs incurred by the Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals whom use interpreters and captionists. How do we promote this idea? YOU, the READER, must speak out to your representatives!
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/
Simply ask them to represent you by writing up a proposed bill that would allow employers to make full tax deductions for money spent on Deaf and Hard of Hearing accommodations. Be proactive! It really does work to voice your concerns!
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