Calling all Toronto folks!

softabak said:
I live in Canada and that's not true - we have some Deaf schools, but our population is a lot smaller than the US so there are many less Deaf and HOH people, so there aren't as many programs. However there are many services for individuals to help with their education and everyday life. I have a note taker in my college classes. I only met one other Deaf person but we have nothing in common otherwise so we don't hang out.
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I said most......There are some Deaf schools, but most dhh kids if they are not very strongly academic will be nudged towards life skills classes in middle/high school. That's b/c you guys don't have dhh programs like we do in the US, and b/c Canada's school system is very strongly college bound. Maybe it's province dependent but I do know that a teacher from Alberta told me that there were kids who were HOH (and just HOH no other problems) in her daughter's life skills class. She also told me that it's very common for that to happen........
Canada isn't alone.....I mean it's not that unusual for dhh kids to be put into special ed or on the certificate of attendance track here.......
 
Audiofuzzy said:
1. About SIGNS - I thought you were talking about HIRING deafies, not deafies eating out?
btw, all the more kudos to Toronto Signs for hiring deafies at such expensive restaurant :)
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yes kudos to Signs for hiring deafies. my friend is a waitress there.

Audiofuzzy said:
2. Perhaps these deafies you know are not trying hard enough, I don't know?
perhaps they are happy to live in US regardless of job issue and would like to move there anyway, even if they were offered jobs in Canada?
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they are trying more than hard enough. the discrimination is pretty bad. the deaf accessibility is godawful.

and no they do not want to live in USA but they love what USA has - VRS and job availabilities. at this point - the American companies do not want to sponsor visa.

Audiofuzzy said:
I know one thing for sure - you shouldn't base your opinion on the words of bunch of folks, otherwise just a few in a sea of many,
and, you know best what's going on at any given country if you LIVE there.
I had people from Europe telling me how to make money in Canada.
I just laughed.
They thought they expertly knew Canadian realities while sitting in their European homes. better than me, living in BC, anyway. LOL :)

Fuzzy
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I have stayed in Canada for a total of couple months. I've been to job fair for disabled people, Toronto's deaf multicultural center, and some. I have dozens dozens of friends there. a few of them have jobs and some have their own businesses. but many of them are still struggling for years. now that the government has passed funding for VRS.... maybe their lives will get better soon.

so no... I don't presume to expertly know what's going on there while sitting in my American home.
 
I am sure VRS is a great help, but come on.
If you want to get a good job you need to have ambitions and clear goals set ahead, and not let anything steer you off the course.
You just need to WANT IT and work hard. That's what's needed, and that's enough.

I came to Canada practically deaf, not knowing a word of English language, nobody helped me learn English but myself, nobody helped me study for my esthetician (cosmetologist) exam but myself, nobody helped me learn Canadian ways but myself.
Sure, I had a couple friends who explained a thing or two about life in Canada, but unlike one Polish Deaf who I happened to meet in an English Language School, I had no special assistant ever, whenever I had to go to an office, doctor aptmt I had to go by myself. Rarely I had any help.
Sometimes I was lucky and happened upon a Polish clerk or a doctor, most of the time I had to struggle not so much with English but my bad hearing making it almost impossible to understand what pple were saying.
But I was ambitious and determined, and I did it, I achieved all had I set to - I learned English, I got a good and steady job, I was very sought after, had busy practice, and I was proud of myself.

I have no patience for wimps who are complaining they can not get a good job "because there is no VRS".

oh please. like it's a problem.

Fuzzy
 
Audiofuzzy said:
I am sure VRS is a great help, but come on.
If you want to get a good job you need to have ambitions and clear goals set ahead, and not let anything steer you off the course.
You just need to WANT IT and work hard. That's what's needed, and that's enough.

I came to Canada practically deaf, not knowing a word of English language, nobody helped me learn English but myself, nobody helped me study for my esthetician (cosmetologist) exam but myself, nobody helped me learn Canadian ways but myself.
Sure, I had a couple friends who explained a thing or two about life in Canada, but unlike one Polish Deaf who I happened to meet in an English Language School, I had no special assistant ever, whenever I had to go to an office, doctor aptmt I had to go by myself. Rarely I had any help.
Sometimes I was lucky and happened upon a Polish clerk or a doctor, most of the time I had to struggle not so much with English but my bad hearing making it almost impossible to understand what pple were saying.
But I was ambitious and determined, and I did it, I achieved all had I set to - I learned English, I got a good and steady job, I was very sought after, had busy practice, and I was proud of myself.

I have no patience for wimps who are complaining they can not get a good job "because there is no VRS".

oh please. like it's a problem.

Fuzzy
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these people want to work for corporations.... not salon. so yea it's harder that way. what can they do if the companies say phone interview only? you're basically shit out of luck. I went to career workshop in Toronto for disabled people and a couple of company recruiters say that they can do emails but they don't sound honest and optimistic.

they have no problem getting jobs in America but it's not where they want to work. they prefer to live and work in Canada.
 
. what can they do if the companies say phone interview only?
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You want to work? FIND ONE. (the telephone TTY, Skype etc)

Fuzzy
 
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Yeah, damn right,
and may I point out that it doesn't matter whether somebody wants to work
for a mega shmega super duper corporation or just a mere humble itty bitty salon.

The fact remains, the salon owner also may wish to conduct the interview over the phone. so there.

There still is TTY, Skype, or you can beg, cry, jump backwards and cajole for a face to face interview.
either you WANT IT, and nothing's standing in your way, - or not.
Your choice.

Fuzzy
 
oh, and one more thing.
that's is not to say I do not appreciate all the wonderful services and gadgets
the Deaf had to fight for and continue to fight for.
On the contrary, I appreciate them well. It IS so much better to be able to use VRS instead of painstakingly conduct an interview via TTY, or Skype, which is not as easy and fast.

I am saying blaming not being able to get the work you want on the imperfect telephone system - is just silly.
It's just, LOL.

Fuzzy
 
Audiofuzzy said:
You want to work? FIND ONE.

Fuzzy
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That is very insulting and cruel of you to tell us off that we are lazy or be a wimps. I don't like the sound what you said.

I was lucky to worked as a Keypunch Operator years ago before the PC (Personal Computer) came on the scene. I did not have to use phone back then. Every thing had change. Now most companies want people even d/Deaf or HOH to use regular phones, not special phone like TTY or Video phone to work with companies. I had been turned down lots of times.

You don't know anything about Canada and USA when it come with jobs which most d/Deaf and HOH had tried for years. Yes, we would like to work for companies and other occupations. There are some d/Deaf people lucky to find jobs if the hearing people understand their deafness.
 
Bebonang said:
That is very insulting and cruel of you to tell us off that we are lazy or be a wimps. I don't like the sound what you said.

I was lucky to worked as a Keypunch Operator years ago before the PC (Personal Computer) came on the scene. I did not have to use phone back then. Every thing had change. Now most companies want people even d/Deaf or HOH to use regular phones, not special phone like TTY or Video phone to work with companies. I had been turned down lots of times.

You don't know anything about Canada and USA when it come with jobs which most d/Deaf and HOH had tried for years. Yes, we would like to work for companies and other occupations. There are some d/Deaf people lucky to find jobs if the hearing people understand their deafness.
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And yet in the movie Sound and Fury this one Deaf guy was able to become a successful financial broker at Wall Street (wasn't that Peter Artinian?) before VRS and even widely available computer era- can you explain how come?
My money is he was DETERMINED and AMBITIOUS, no thanks to VRS
and that's my point.

I did not say wimps are people who can't find jobs, wimps are people who blame their misfortunes on everything but their own lack of ambition and hard work - "oh, sorry, I can't find better job because I don't have VRS.."
oh please. whereas many other in the same situation can and do.


Fuzzy
 
Audiofuzzy said:
And yet in the movie Sound and Fury this one Deaf guy was able to become a successful financial broker at Wall Street (wasn't that Peter Artinian?) before VRS and even widely available computer era- can you explain how come?
My money is he was DETERMINED and AMBITIOUS, no thanks to VRS
and that's my point.

I did not say wimps are people who can't find jobs, wimps are people who blame their misfortunes on everything but their own lack of ambition and hard work - "oh, sorry, I can't find better job because I don't have VRS.."
oh please. whereas many other in the same situation can and do.


Fuzzy
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one pure luck. only one.

when there are hundreds.... or thousands of deafies cannot find jobs and share a similar pattern.... then there is something wrong. that's an epidemic problem in Toronto.

yes many other in similar situations can and do find other job..... in LABOR job! how is it that college graduates end up doing menial low-paying jobs? clearly something wrong in Toronto. I don't think you understand how truly awful it is for deaf people living in Ontario Province. I've stayed there long enough to see and understand that it's definitely not deaf-friendly. Many of them have graduated from Gally and RIT. They reminisce about how wonderful it is to live in America as a deaf person. a fully-functional independent deaf person.

I was pretty helpless in Toronto and I was very limited in what I can do to do what I want because of lack of accessibility, VRS, deaf support, etc. It's terrible. very backward. It reminds me of my 1980's. Many deafies had to depend on hearing people (family member, friend, etc) to make arrangement such as doctor appointment, information, etc. It sucks.

Deafies in British Columbia provinces are fortunate. Ontario deafies? no.

the point you fail to see is that deafies should not have much much harder time than hearing people in finding jobs.
 
Pure luck? :shock: I beg to differ.
I believe Mr Artinian had to work very hard to become the professional of the Wall Street worthy class,
so calling his hard-learned, hard worked for abilities as "pure luck" is insulting.

While I do not deny there is a hardship when it comes to finding any kind of job - due to today's economy - but so is for everyone.
You said it yourself, Jiro -
deafies should not have much much harder time than hearing people in finding jobs.
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meaning, hearies have hard time finding jobs, too.
Deaf people have harder time than hearing, I agree,
however blaming only the lack of VRS or other device on not being able to find the dream job is still not right.
Like I've say before, this is not the true reason.
Like, you can still use TTY or Skype.

However, okay, I understand what you mean by saying it is harder for Ontarians than Americans, even BC-iens, to find that dream job. I am sure it is.
What you did not understood I was saying - if you are seriously determined
you will find your dream job in Canada, too, only with greater difficulties.
And the lack of VRS will not stop you from that.

Fuzzy
 
Audiofuzzy said:
Pure luck? :shock: I beg to differ.
I believe Mr Artinian had to work very hard to become the professional of the Wall Street worthy class,
so calling his hard-learned, hard worked for abilities as "pure luck" is insulting.

While I do not deny there is a hardship when it comes to finding any kind of job - due to today's economy - but so is for everyone.
You said it yourself, Jiro -


meaning, hearies have hard time finding jobs, too.
Deaf people have harder time than hearing, I agree,
however blaming only the lack of VRS or other device on not being able to find the dream job is still not right.
Like I've say before, this is not the true reason.
Like, you can still use TTY or Skype.

However, okay, I understand what you mean by saying it is harder for Ontarians than Americans, even BC-iens, to find that dream job. I am sure it is.
What you did not understood I was saying - if you are seriously determined
you will find your dream job in Canada, too, only with greater difficulties.
And the lack of VRS will not stop you from that.

Fuzzy
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and that's just that. anything else is irrelevant because you're contradicting yourself.

no I'm not talking about dream job. This is what most high-tech jobs are like -

1. You search for jobs
2. You apply for jobs
3. You get a reply-back - usually thru phone or email that they want a phone interview with you
4. Then you hope for the best from there that they will hire you

that is a typical process. in America - it's not a problem because a deafie is equipped with every accessibility tools at his disposal.... Google Voice, VRS, CaptionCall, VCO, etc. I have no problem finding jobs here. It's easy. I have been working at various organizations and companies for several years. I have mentored and coached dozens of people for job interviews, writing cover letters, refining their resumes, and salary negotiations. So I know what I'm talking about.

As for Toronto deafie? you're shit out of luck. Yes some of them have walked into companies and explained their issues. Most of times... the front desk says - you can email us at -------.

LOL! you can figure out what happens from there. Toronto deafies do not have these tools that we have except emails.

This is what your "argument" is equivalent to. A wheelchair person needs to get to 5th floor to apply for a job. But there is no elevator or ramp. TOUGH LUCK! But hey.... there was a handicapped person and he managed to get to 12th floor by crawling up the stairs. He did it and got a job and worked hard for several years and now he's a Vice President of whatever. If he can do it, SO CAN YOU! HARD WORK! PERSISTENCE! Lack of wheelchair accessibility will not stop him from getting a job.

That is a very flawed mindset. If a normal person can walk up to 5th floor and apply for a job without any difficulty.... so should a handicapped person. That's why we have ADA law. A deaf person should not have a greater difficulty in applying for job and getting an interview especially in modern wealthy country like Canada.

This isn't about GETTING A JOB. It's about getting an interview... any reply-back. Toronto deafies have no means of communication with companies except emails and emails are not very reliable mode of communication in there.

You know what's ironic?

Audiofuzzy said:
1. About SIGNS - I thought you were talking about HIRING deafies, not deafies eating out?
btw, all the more kudos to Toronto Signs for hiring deafies at such expensive restaurant :)

2. Perhaps these deafies you know are not trying hard enough, I don't know?
perhaps they are happy to live in US regardless of job issue and would like to move there anyway, even if they were offered jobs in Canada?


I know one thing for sure - you shouldn't base your opinion on the words of bunch of folks, otherwise just a few in a sea of many,
and, you know best what's going on at any given country if you LIVE there.
I had people from Europe telling me how to make money in Canada.
I just laughed.
They thought they expertly knew Canadian realities while sitting in their European homes. better than me, living in BC, anyway. LOL :)

Fuzzy
Click to expand...

I can never understand why Canada is not "one country, one law" especially for ADA. It's divided in 10 provinces and has their own government, own budget, own laws, etc. So perhaps you would know better the reality of situation if you were there.
 
And completely off subject..

Anywho now I'm looking for Vegas peeps.

My friend really wants to connect with other Deaf in the States
 
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