I work at Alcatraz and I need some advice.

Xander Cat

Xander Cat

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Hi everyone,

As the topic suggests I currently work at Alcatraz the famous former penitentiary outside San Francisco. I figured I should post here since this is my first time posting in this community. I really have a specific question, at Alcatraz we offer an option for ASL visitors, we have special audio tour equipment which will go through the whole audio tour but with ASL. I have had a number of visitors turn down this option and I think they would have enjoyed it, I feel that some sort of break down in communication is happening here.

The only other thing I want to mention is that I studied ASL in college and I was really happy to have done so. I know my alphabet reasonably well and I'm a little rusty on a lot of the conversational signs but I think I could pick it back up pretty quickly.

I have a coworker who also uses a little bit of ASL and we try to practice with each other. Thank you everyone!
 
Do you know for a fact that the people who turned down the devices know ASL?

How do these devices work? Is it a video of an interpreter signing the audio?
 
LoveBlue said:
Do you know for a fact that the people who turned down the devices know ASL?

How do these devices work? Is it a video of an interpreter signing the audio?
Click to expand...

Yes it's a video of an interpreter signing the audio. We also offer a printed script of the audio tour and sometimes people take that. And no, I can't ever really know if someone knows ASL or not, but I try to sign with some people and that gives me a good idea.
 
I'm wondering if the video is actually more of a distraction than the paper copy. Like with the printed copy you can look at it, look away, look at it again, look away. With the video you're kind of stuck looking at it until it's finished. So by the time it's over you haven't really had a chance to look at anything. And it may be time to move on to the next part of the tour. Just a guess.
 
Hi everyone!

I have an update and also another question for anyone who can help.

Today I had a visitor who was hard of hearing and also knew ASL. I wasn't sure on what the best way to help them would be so I sent them to my supervisor so that he could talk to them. I noticed that he did give the audio tour headset to the hard of hearing visitor, but also gave them the printed transcript of the audio tour, so that was definitely the chosen version over the translated ASL version of the Alcatraz audio tour.

I think I'm starting to figure this out. A lot of the time people who are deaf are visiting Alcatraz with family members or friends who are hearing. They sometimes take the printed transcript, or sometimes nothing at all (which makes me feel bad because my job is giving out the audio tour), but I strongly believe their hearing partner will be listening to the audio tour and signing it to them.

The only time I've noticed people take the ASL version of the audio tour was a couple who I saw signing to each other etc.

My other question is, the young man who visited today and got the printed transcript and the audio tour, he definitely had cochlear implants. Now, we do have some sort of headset device that I'm not sure how to describe but it connects to the regular audio tour equipment and just goes around the neck and I believe it's for those devices, maybe? The reason I'm not sure is because my managers told me that they don't work very well and so they don't offer them to the visitors, do you guys have any input on that? We do have brand new audio tour equipment with fresh accessories that like I said I believe are for those implants.

Thanks everyone!

[edit] I do have a goal of being able to someday give the audio tour instructions in all 12 languages we offer at Alcatraz, which includes ASL. I love ASL so I think it won't be too hard for me to learn how to just make sure our Deaf visitors are informed of the options we have at Alcatraz.
 
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The. neck loop is most likely one that works with the T-coil in the CIs & some HAs. The t-coil feature needs to be “turned on” in the CI or HA and I’d say most CI/HA wearers have no clue about T-coils. It may be that they “don’t work” because the user does not have it activated on their hearing device.

www.loopanerica.com
 
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