Miss-Delectable
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Interpreter for deaf is a right, not a perk | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com
Tom Willard just wants what the law requires. And he's not afraid to make a fuss or to stand up for himself.
But, frankly, he is tired of fighting. He's tired of the bureaucratic foot-dragging and the snickering and snarky comments from people who really don't get it.
Willard, 53, of Rochester is deaf. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that businesses, government and most organizations find ways to accommodate people with disabilities if their buildings and events are generally open to the public. Contrary to what some cynics say, the ADA is not a boondoggle intended to pester business and create construction jobs for contractors who renovate restrooms and build wheelchair ramps.
The ADA is all about America; it's about opportunity and access for everyone. Sometimes, that's not easy to achieve. Usually it costs something. But right is right.
Willard, a New Jersey native, lost his hearing 30 years ago and came to study at Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf. He has lived here since.
Two years ago he decided he'd like to attend the annual Northeast Naturist Festival at Empire Haven Nudist Resort in Moravia, Cayuga County. The festival includes a number of discussions and lectures and he'd need an interpreter to participate fully. He approached the organizers and was told that they would waive the registration and grounds fees for an interpreter he would bring (and presumably, pay for). He says that plan was not acceptable to him, but he decided not to pursue it.
He tried again this year, and received an email saying that neither the park nor the festival organizers provide interpreters. Morley Schloss, a festival organizer and retired Rochester city teacher who now lives in Florida, says he's not sure who sent the email, but that it was clearly wrong. Furthermore, he says, he was unaware of Willard's request until he arrived just before the start of the six-day program, which ran from Aug. 2 to 7.
"I responded immediately," Schloss says, "as soon as I was aware of his request." He promised Willard that he would find an interpreter within a couple of days, but Willard says that by then he had already made other plans.
He did respond to Schloss by email, making the point that it's important to hire a board-certified interpreter, not just a volunteer who "knows sign language."
"I know how to use a drill," Willard wrote on Aug. 5. "Do you want me working on your teeth?"
This is where the snickering begins. "He wants an interpreter at a nudist camp?" "He has no need to go there." "What's the matter with him, anyway?"
It's not up to anyone else to decide where a person with a disability should or should not go. This issue has nothing to do with nudist camps. Willard is also readying a complaint against a comedy club that he says blew off his request for an interpreter. But as he quite rightly points out, when there's talk of people taking their clothes off, the media is suddenly interested.
The ADA and the regulations used to implement it are designed to promote interaction and negotiation that can lead to full access, says Bryan Hetherington, chief counsel for the Empire Justice Center, a nonprofit organization that specializes in economic and social justice for poor and disabled clients. A deaf person, for example, can't just show up at an event and demand an interpreter. Access requires planning. Nor can a business or organization dismiss compliance out-of-hand as too costly. Usually there's a remedy. If the naturist festival organizers charged all participants an extra $3 for the weeklong event, Willard says, they'd have more than enough to cover the cost of an interpreter.
Willard has no interest in lawsuits. He's filed his share of complaints with the U.S. Justice Department, and says he may also turn for help in the future to the New York State Division for Human Rights, which also investigates public accommodation issues and may be able to resolve those issues more quickly than Washington.
But he shouldn't have to go that far. If he wants to come to next year's naturist festival, Schloss says, "He is absolutely welcome and we will provide an interpreter, although I'm not promising a board-certified interpreter."
Let the dialogue begin. Guaranteeing acceptable access can be time-consuming and contentious. Nobody ever said that it would be otherwise.
But at the end of the day, all Tom Willard wants is the chance to live the life he chooses.
That's what the ADA promises, and that's what America is all about.
Tom Willard just wants what the law requires. And he's not afraid to make a fuss or to stand up for himself.
But, frankly, he is tired of fighting. He's tired of the bureaucratic foot-dragging and the snickering and snarky comments from people who really don't get it.
Willard, 53, of Rochester is deaf. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that businesses, government and most organizations find ways to accommodate people with disabilities if their buildings and events are generally open to the public. Contrary to what some cynics say, the ADA is not a boondoggle intended to pester business and create construction jobs for contractors who renovate restrooms and build wheelchair ramps.
The ADA is all about America; it's about opportunity and access for everyone. Sometimes, that's not easy to achieve. Usually it costs something. But right is right.
Willard, a New Jersey native, lost his hearing 30 years ago and came to study at Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf. He has lived here since.
Two years ago he decided he'd like to attend the annual Northeast Naturist Festival at Empire Haven Nudist Resort in Moravia, Cayuga County. The festival includes a number of discussions and lectures and he'd need an interpreter to participate fully. He approached the organizers and was told that they would waive the registration and grounds fees for an interpreter he would bring (and presumably, pay for). He says that plan was not acceptable to him, but he decided not to pursue it.
He tried again this year, and received an email saying that neither the park nor the festival organizers provide interpreters. Morley Schloss, a festival organizer and retired Rochester city teacher who now lives in Florida, says he's not sure who sent the email, but that it was clearly wrong. Furthermore, he says, he was unaware of Willard's request until he arrived just before the start of the six-day program, which ran from Aug. 2 to 7.
"I responded immediately," Schloss says, "as soon as I was aware of his request." He promised Willard that he would find an interpreter within a couple of days, but Willard says that by then he had already made other plans.
He did respond to Schloss by email, making the point that it's important to hire a board-certified interpreter, not just a volunteer who "knows sign language."
"I know how to use a drill," Willard wrote on Aug. 5. "Do you want me working on your teeth?"
This is where the snickering begins. "He wants an interpreter at a nudist camp?" "He has no need to go there." "What's the matter with him, anyway?"
It's not up to anyone else to decide where a person with a disability should or should not go. This issue has nothing to do with nudist camps. Willard is also readying a complaint against a comedy club that he says blew off his request for an interpreter. But as he quite rightly points out, when there's talk of people taking their clothes off, the media is suddenly interested.
The ADA and the regulations used to implement it are designed to promote interaction and negotiation that can lead to full access, says Bryan Hetherington, chief counsel for the Empire Justice Center, a nonprofit organization that specializes in economic and social justice for poor and disabled clients. A deaf person, for example, can't just show up at an event and demand an interpreter. Access requires planning. Nor can a business or organization dismiss compliance out-of-hand as too costly. Usually there's a remedy. If the naturist festival organizers charged all participants an extra $3 for the weeklong event, Willard says, they'd have more than enough to cover the cost of an interpreter.
Willard has no interest in lawsuits. He's filed his share of complaints with the U.S. Justice Department, and says he may also turn for help in the future to the New York State Division for Human Rights, which also investigates public accommodation issues and may be able to resolve those issues more quickly than Washington.
But he shouldn't have to go that far. If he wants to come to next year's naturist festival, Schloss says, "He is absolutely welcome and we will provide an interpreter, although I'm not promising a board-certified interpreter."
Let the dialogue begin. Guaranteeing acceptable access can be time-consuming and contentious. Nobody ever said that it would be otherwise.
But at the end of the day, all Tom Willard wants is the chance to live the life he chooses.
That's what the ADA promises, and that's what America is all about.
