Passenger Trains > U.S. agency faults Staples Mill Amtrak station

Given that ADA is law, AMTRAK should comply, right?
http://www.richmond.com/news/local/central-virginia/article_9bdcf0f7-5108-5441-960d-eb6de84b8888.html

Marty Bernard

It's only been 25 years...

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Deafness and Hard of Hearing are cases that are not often obvious to many of us.  It's easy to see that someone is mobility impared, or blind, or maybe mentally challenged but deafness can be hard to notice in a person if you are not dealing with them directly.  You may pass a deaf person every day if you work in a downtown area and have to walk a block or so to the office or ride a bus or train to the office.  Sure, if they are with a companion and they are using sign language to communicate, that's easy to notice.  I used to interpret (not well) for the deaf and some of them can become rather good at reading lips.    That said, 25 years after the ADA and with modern technology, banner boards should be common at every station.  Heck, you can go to Sams Club, COSCO, Office Depot, or Staples, and buy them.  Not quite the quality they normally use but they can be used.  Pay telephones are becoming rare these days with everyone using cell phones.  The few deaf I know ususally TEXT.  Pay phones are usually the property of a phone vendor and finding one for TTY is really rare today.  High volume locations can justify them.  I wonder how many of the bus stations have TTY phones.  Maybe they do.  I don't really know.  As for the conductor not assisting inroute, there is no excuse for that.  Many people are affraid to even try to communicate with a deaf person.  It doesn't take much to pull the stub off the overhead rack with your station stop on it, write on the back, "Next stop is yours."

John

wa4umr Wrote:
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> Deafness and Hard of Hearing are cases that are
> not often obvious to many of us.
AMEN JOHN!

I've been hearing impaired since I was two and have been wearing hearing aids since I was 9. The technology is so much better now that it's hard for someone to see the new hearing aids. However, even with the best technology, noisy environments are a problem. I was just thinking of this today while getting off the train at Chicago Union Station. There are several lighted advertising signs mounted on the columns that could easily be converted to a flat screen messaging system similar to what the CTA is using. Train information can be alternated with advertising. However, neither Metra nor Amtrak seem to be interested.

Lots of non-politically correct phrases in the article.  Deaf do not consider themselves hearing impaired.  Impaired has the connotation that something is wrong with them.  Likewise Deaf do not have hearing loss because how could you lose something you never had!  I was expecting to read further in the article that they gave him a braille menu in the diner.  Do they offer such an item?

I teach ASL and a worthwhile project would be to record simple phrases and signs that would be useful to Amtrak employees after they had assessed the situation how best to communicate if signing is an option.  I'd love to get feedback from other TO members on this if you PM to me.

Wow.  Nitpicking over deaf vs. hearing impaired?  First of all, I would consider hearing impaired to be the broader term encompassing both deaf and those with some level of hearing loss.  Is there something factually wrong with that?   Deaf is a type of hearing impairment, is it not?

Secondly, why are you complaining about something that isn't even in the article???   I just searched it for "hearing impaired" and it only occurs ONE time and in that case was stated alongside "deaf."  So you got the (unnecessary IMHO) differentiation you want even in the sole instance it was use.

All I can say is "sheesh."

Railpax71 Wrote:
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> Lots of non-politically correct phrases in the
> article.  Deaf do not consider themselves hearing
> impaired.  Impaired has the connotation that
> something is wrong with them.  Likewise Deaf do
> not have hearing loss because how could you lose
> something you never had!  I was expecting to read
> further in the article that they gave him a
> braille menu in the diner.  Do they offer such an
> item?
>
> I teach ASL and a worthwhile project would be to
> record simple phrases and signs that would be
> useful to Amtrak employees after they had assessed
> the situation how best to communicate if signing
> is an option.  I'd love to get feedback from
> other TO members on this if you PM to me.

Good points.

Being able to communicate effectively with guests is a basic premise in many hospitality businesses, such as Amtrak. Assuring that a guest hears a fire alarm, understands the evac procedures from a train, can make the difference between life and death,

 

Displaying needed info on reader boards makes a lot of sense.  But, I don't recall ever seeing a TTY device in any public space.  Why is Amtrak being singled out for that in the era of a smartphone in everyone's pocket?