When do we shift from Abnormal to Normal? and Who Decides?

The New FCC Ruling has brought a fear to employees and employers who use or want to use VRS for reasonable accomodation. Will they be next?

Discussion:
1) Summary of Important topics of Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA)
2) Original Purpose of TRS and Advancement of VRS
3) Jobs - When do we shift from Abnormal to Normal?


Summary of important topics on Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed by President Bush on July 26, 1990, is landmark legislation to extend civil rights protection to people with disabilities. The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, State and local government services, public transportation, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and telecommunications.

Title I (Employment) requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide qualified individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from the full range of employment-related opportunities available to others.

Public accommodations covered by Title III of the ADA must remove architectural barriers in existing facilities, including communication barriers that are structural in nature, where such removal is readily achievable. The ADA generally defines readily achievable as "easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense."

Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - Telecommunications services for hearing-impaired and speech-impaired individuals codified at 47 U.S.C. § 225. The FCC is required by law to carry out the purposes established under section 151 of this title, to make available to all individuals in the United States a rapid, efficient nationwide communication service, and to increase the utility of the telephone system of the Nation, the Commission shall ensure that interstate and intrastate telecommunications relay services are available, to the extent possible and in the most efficient manner, to hearing-impaired and speech-impaired individuals in the United States.

Original Purpose of TRS and Advancement of VRS

The original purpose of TRS Fund is simply provide a two-way communication between deaf, hard of hearing, and speech-disabled individuals to leverage a functional equivalence experience.

According to the TRS Rules; § 64.601 Definitions and provisions of general applicability; Section (15) it is noted that "..services that enable two-way communication between an individual who uses a text telephone or other nonvoice terminal device and an individual who does not use such a device, speech-to-speech services, video relay services and non-English relay services". The underlying concept of TRS is to provide a true telephone conversation between the caller and called parties (deaf/hoh/speech-disabled and hearing persons)……The Commission shall ensure that regulations prescribed to implement this section encourage, consistent with section 157(a) of this title, the use of existing technology and do not discourage or impair the development of improved technology.

Video Relay Service (VRS) was first recognized as a form of Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) in 2000 …..allows a person with a hearing or speech disability to communicate in American Sign Language, the natural language of many individuals with hearing and speech disabilities. …..connected with a communications assistant (CA) who can see the user via a camera built into the user’s computer…..relays the user’s signed messages into speech for the other party and vice-versa. This incredible innovation allows a conversation to flow in near real-time, a great advancement over other forms of TRS.

It is important to understand that Video Relay is not government funded. It is not an appropriation and it is not a tax. Each telephone company is required to make their services accessible to individuals with disabilities. This has been defined to be relay in the various forms (Traditional, VRS, STS, IP Relay, et. al). Each common carrier contributes 0.01137% of their telephone service revenue. They do this because not all common carriers provide relay individually. There had to be a way to pay those that provided relay for those that did not, therefore the interstate relay fund started. Stating the contribution factor in a different way; it is one thousand one hundred thirty seven hundred thousandths of one percent. You would not be able to see the penny if sliced to the proportion a private telephone company contributes.


Jobs - When do we shift from Abnormal to Normal?

Living the last 50 years has allowed this author to witness change, change for the good and bad. One important note is all of us go through that change in different ways. Many of us use terms like Normal and Abnormal to help define where we are in that change.

Have you ever notice when we see or communicate something that is “out of the ordinary” or abnormal? You will see different responses based upon each person’s life experiences. What makes it so abnormal? Is it because it's not customary in their culture? Perhaps some of us just lack the drive for adventure and remain submerged in the pool of common events. Perhaps new technology that can advance people’s lives is initially abnormal and over time becomes normal. Perhaps the application of the new technology is faced with resistance to change. Perhaps the new technology and application of that technology is so new, that ignorance is a barrier, therefore labeled abnormal.

So we are all aware of the Recent FCC Ruling (February 25, 2010) where the FCC retroactively applied a new ruling affecting VRS Company’s on an attempt to reduce FRAUD and this author wishes to point out an important concerns potentially steming from the FCC Declaratory Ruling.

This author, once again, supports the importance to prevent Fraud - never tolerate “manufactured minutes” and also supports the establishment of new rules to ensure integrity in the VRS industry.

What this author does fear is our Government Regulators and Congress' capability to ensuring due process in establishing rules and regulations, proper clarity in detail of those rules disclosed in the process before stipulation/determination coupled with proper education and implementation that is consistent with the ADA and Civil Rights of our people.

Instead of picking apart the different section of the February 25, 2010 Declaratory Ruling, this author has chosen to address the abnormal and normal issues the Deaf/HH need to understand for their OWN RIGHTS. With unemployment of nearly 60% of these individuals, it is clear, even with ADA, has prevented them from entering into the work force. With the new technology of VRS and the ability to integrate at a reasonably low cost into their facilities, there is now new opportunities that will become NORMAL expectation. Recruiting, hiring and training will integrate Deaf/HH into many positions.

There are ADA organizations and Diversity Directors and Leading Companies that are charged to find new ways to provide reasonable accommodation to the Deaf/HH. Some companies may even integrate Deaf/HH into their workforce simply to become more aware of the Deaf/HH needs. MOST, if not all, of these jobs require the use of VRS. When will this become NORMAL in our society? What rules could be created to prevent it versus reward it?

The FCC February 25, 2010 Declaratory Ruling stipulates that VRS Providers Deaf/HH “Employees/Contractors” are to be treated differently than the rest of the Deaf/HH community by declaring their minutes as non-reimbursable, it is not an expense either since 90% of their VRS minutes are not allowed in the FCC expense worksheet to determine rates.

THERFORE, This author warns the PUBLIC (Hearing, Deaf/HH and Corporate America) that this ruling better not infect the small and large companies and corporations of America and directly compete with the purpose of ADA.