This really pisses me off....

[BillyVance 35]

A Deaf Woman has sued the city of New Braunfels near San Antonio when she was denied access to a sign language interpreter to communicate with police in dealing with her finding her boyfriend dead in their apartment...



Story attached. I hope she wins.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[downwardspiral 0]

The article left me with some questions.

Can she read and write english? If so did the police not try to communicate that way? If not, are the police really that dumb?

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[Thanatos340 1]

But was she signing in English or Spanish?? IS there a Differance??

Never really thought about that before. Sounds like she was Spanish/Mexican.

[bloody_trauma 2]

a word in spoken in spanish and a word in spoken in english would be the same thing in sign language.

Fly it like you stole it

[BillyVance 35]

Her lawyer's argument is that American Sign Language is different from written English in structure. Therefore, she would have a difficult time communicating in written form either way, depending on her grasp of the English language as we all know it.

I know I have talked with some deaf people whose written English were damn near impossible to understand. But talk with them in person via ASL and I understand them fine.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Thanatos340 1]

I may be misreading this and making assumptions.. But I think the unspoken thing here may be that she could not read/write English.

Name = Maria Salanis in San Antonio Tx leads me to think she may have been mexican.

The Quote "A person is Fluent in Sign Language may not be Fluent in English" leads me to beleive that she couldnt read or write english.

The real problem here sounds like it was she couldnt speak/read english and wanted an interpreter. not just for sign but for language Translation.

That would explain why Police could not communicate with her in the Normal manner of Writing Notes.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

Quote

I may be misreading this and making assumptions.. But I think the unspoken thing here may be that she could not read/write English.

Name = Maria Salanis in San Antonio Tx leads me to think she may have been mexican.

The Quote "A person is Fluent in Sign Language may not be Fluent in English" leads me to beleive that she couldnt read or write english.

The real problem here sounds like it was she couldnt speak/read english and wanted an interpreter. not just for sign but for language Translation.

That would explain why Police could not communicate with her in the Normal manner of Writing Notes.

And would therefore further the arguement that she should have had an interpretor.

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[jtval 0]

Yea. Had this been some jay walking ticket she was sueing over I would call it frivolous(assuming that she couldn't understand written english) but this was a situation where her boyfriend was DEAD. They should have done everything to inform and calm her down.



Another question would be are they illegal immigrants?
That does not change my view of how they should have treated her.I'm just curious.
If that had anything to do with her treatment.

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[downwardspiral 0]

The reason why i asked is because the article is not clear about her ability, or lack there of, to read and write in english which I find suspect. The whole story is not being told which is SOP for most reporters and the reason I have absolutely no respect for their proffession.

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[BillyVance 35]

I understand your assumption, but there is no indication other than her name that she was Mexican or Hispanic... Even then, she could be 2nd or 3rd generation American. Her boyfriend's name sounds American.

As a rule, the A.D.A. requires public service officials to provide interpreters upon request. This includes hospitals as well. Even then, we're having problems with hospitals across the nation refusing to provide these basic needs and getting sued as a result.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Brains 2]

Hey Billy, having dealt with the police force in New Braunfels, this really doesn't surprise me. Very much a "Good ole Boy" network there. If i remember correctly, they (the department) have also been accused of racial discrimination and profiling in the recent past too. I hope she wins also.

Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you.

[BillyVance 35]

I suppose it wouldn't be a good thing for some of you guys to call the police dept and tell them they're a bunch of douche-bags? I don't advocate local jumpers doing that though...

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[jamesonfd 0]

So, you all are volunteering to pony up the 50K or so required for an on-call interpreter....and don't forget the one for Vietnamese, Chinese, French, Spanish, Arabic, and the other 125 or so recognized languages in the US? "Nice to have" and "required" are two different standards. Yeah, they should have found a way to communicate with the lady, without a doubt. However, there is a perceived duty to be able to communicate in the prevailing language of the country you live in, or to except some dimunition of services. If you travel to Thailand, do you expect remote Thai authorities to be able to speak and write in English?

[flyangel2 2]

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a word in spoken in spanish and a word in spoken in english would be the same thing in sign language.

I want to make sure I'm understanding what you are saying here.

Example:

Spanish word: Brother

English word: Brother

In spoken language those two words are spoken different. It doesn't mean they are signed the same.

Hence American Sign Language. ASL is used for English.

BTW Billy, I took John Woo to the tunnel last night. Damn if I didn't forget my camera. But not to worry, I'll be there later this evening interpreting for a group of Deaf people he's bringing from the Expo. I'll be sure to remember the camera for tonight's flights.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[Viking 0]

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Even then, we're having problems with hospitals across the nation refusing to provide these basic needs and getting sued as a result.

now when you say refusing do you mean they were unable to find one and as a result had to say no or that that have one on staff but were to lazy to call them in? Big difference in my opinion.

I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver
My God has a bigger dick than your god -George Carlin

[hookitt 1]

It's easy to find an interpreter in San Antonio. Here is the first listing performing a search in google.

http://www.deaf-interpreter.com/

411 would do the same thing.

If an interpreter was not provided, it was not because they tried to provide one.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[mjosparky 4]

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The whole story is not being told which is SOP for most reporters and the reason I have absolutely no respect for their proffession.

How many reporters do you know? Do you know for a fact that not telling the whole story is SOP for reporters in general or just a few that you know personally?

What you are doing is the same thing you are accusing reporters of doing. You are posting the written word without bothering to get “whole story”. Bias is a 2 way street.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[BillyVance 35]

Quote

So, you all are volunteering to pony up the 50K or so required for an on-call interpreter

50K? Get real... Most agencies depend on free-lance interpreters from an interpreting service, and the local deaf/blind agency usually has an interpreter coordinator. Sure, there's a shortage of interpreters in a lot of places, BUT the incident in reference, the police DIDN'T even bother to try and get one. The lady's got a case.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[BIGUN 1,488]

Forgive my ignorance, but is there some international sign (like there is for choking) to let someone know that a signing interpreter is needed? And what is that sign?

In most cases, if someone deaf started signing at me, I could logically assume from having seen people sign that an interpreter is needed... but not enough to know the sense of urgency associated with it.

Could there have been a miscommunication between what she was requesting to the ignorant AND the resulting answer of "No?" Did no mean; no not ever - or no not now?

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[gravityizsexy 0]

Quote

So, you all are volunteering to pony up the 50K or so required for an on-call interpreter....and don't forget the one for Vietnamese, Chinese, French, Spanish, Arabic, and the other 125 or so recognized languages in the US? "Nice to have" and "required" are two different standards. Yeah, they should have found a way to communicate with the lady, without a doubt. However, there is a perceived duty to be able to communicate in the prevailing language of the country you live in, or to except some dimunition of services. If you travel to Thailand, do you expect remote Thai authorities to be able to speak and write in English?

*THWAP* You and you alone have become the puppet to whom I will unleash all the fury of todays frustrations on. Sit tight while I grip up my baseball bat... *THWAP* Now seriously, tell me your not serious.

In case your unfamiliar with language (foreign or domestic) it is broken up into region, NOT!!! (I repeat NOT!) country. I would love to see you list off the other mentioned 120 languages, see'ing as how your fit to just brush off the dilema by saying it's her fault she doesn't speak english rather than deal with it head on. verbal audiology makes up for approx. %7-%15 or communication where as body and micro-expressions makes up for a substantial larger portion.

"Perceived duty"??? R U, kidding me? what?, to speak english??? in America? what kind of sense does that make? You should consider yourself lucky that most people in America do speak english.

Is this "perceived duty" documented??? And as for the lack of service that would compensate for the language barrier. it is ridiculous. If you wanted it (anywhere), whatever service it may be, you would find it. It might take a little longer but you'll catch on. It's called "effort". *THWAP*

*unwinds the grip tape*

I don't blame you, I blame television.

"'Someday is not a day in my week'"