« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Chapter four: Extent of access to public
services in
BSL
4.1 The starting point for the study was the extent of
access which Deaf people experience when using their own
language. The interview questions tried to elicit views on
how often and in what situations, Deaf people were able to
use
BSL to interact productively with
hearing people in service situations. There were a great
deal of negative experiences but some Deaf people could
recount at least one positive situation.
Some positive experiences of access
4.2 As might be expected there were virtually no reports
of Deaf people being able to access any public services
directly in
BSL. However, around one in six of the
Deaf respondents implied that they were satisfied with the
situation of contact with hearing people (although this may
reflect low expectations of such contacts) with similar
numbers being able to recount one positive experience when
a hearing person could sign - a little.
"London Heathrow airport, one member of staff
finger spelled p.a.s.s.p.o.r.t. please. It felt good -
but there was nothing (no one) in shops." E176
"At Aberdeen airport, I told them I was Deaf,
although I wasn't expecting anything. I noticed they
were on the phone right away. To my surprise, an
interpreter came along and interpreted for me. Only
happened once." C165
"I went to the passport office …. I found the forms too
difficult to understand. ….Mum read the form for me…. After
she was done, I returned the form back to the office, I
gave it to the receptionist and told her I was Deaf. She
told me to wait. I realised they had a person working there
who had Stage 2 in
BSL. This person who could sign, told me
that she would fill in the form and it wasn't necessary to
take it home …." A103
4.3 In most cases, Deaf people were surprised to
discover a person who could sign to them. Some mentioned
situations where people had said 'thank you' or 'good
morning' and felt that was good; others disagreed and said
that the hearing person should learn more signing. A
similar number suggested that Deaf people overcame the
problems without giving any specific strategies to
elaborate. However, the vast majority recounted problems
and the problems became more obvious in the group
interviews.
Deaf people trying to cope in direct
access
4.4 Whenever, Deaf people meet hearing people, they have
to make adjustments to communication or make repeated
complaints about lack of communication. Most people tried
to adapt but felt they had to "grin and bear" an
unsatisfactory situation; the most likely response being
that they tried to write things down.
"Normally I avoid the stress by writing down
immediately but there is one aspect which frustrates me
is when I ask for pen and paper the person takes ages
to find it." A10
"I feel that it is part of life. I feel I have to
modify myself for the hearing people. ….so forces me to
put it in writing." A5
"I write notes to the assistant but he kept me
waiting to sort out others first, which was very
frustrating for me." C16
4.5 This multi-tasking of assistants seems likely to
occur in any busy queuing situation but is a severe
irritation to the Deaf person. A significant number of
people simply said that they avoided these situations or
took a relative.
"I never go anywhere without my daughter." C61
"If staff don't understand, I bring my hearing wife
to sort it out for me." B41
4.6 Deaf people anticipate the problem and rely on other
people to solve it. However, even in asking for positive
adaptation, we found Deaf people recounting the negative
experiences.
"When I went to my bank, I didn't understand my
Visa card letter. The bank staff didn't understand me.
So I gave up and went home." C67
"I asked staff at organisation for pen and paper.
They wouldn't give it to me. Instead the staff tried to
speak to my 2 small children. But I moved them behind
me and insisted on pen and paper." E75
"They make me feel "angry with myself" I feel
useless and embarrassed at being Deaf. If the person is
not nice, I would never go back to that place again."
C63
4.7 This last point is telling. This Deaf view is that
the way in which hearing society copes with the lack of
communication (since both parties fail to communicate) is
that the Deaf person is made to feel a failure. When Deaf
people feel they have made an adjustment but see a negative
visual response from a hearing person, the natural reaction
is to withdraw. When it is the Deaf person who wishes to
use a service, the action becomes self-defeating.
Throughout this section of questioning, the terms
'frustrated' and 'annoyed' appear regularly and on the few
occasions where they found someone who signed, the terms
'happy' and 'confident' are used to describe the feelings.
Deaf people are more
frustrated and
annoyed than happy.
Physical Barriers in direct communication with
Services
4.8 Deaf people tend to have to deal face to face with
services such as Local Councils, as using the telephone is
not an option. The situation in the reception area is of
some importance. The vast majority of respondents claimed
that having a glass window of any sort was a major problem
as it hindered communication. Most frequently they
suggested that there should be a separate private room for
Deaf people to use.
"Always I ask for a private room. I don't like full
glass - I need rapport with the person to enable better
communication. Often I walk off, if no room is on offer
or it is difficult to communicate". A13
"Hate it. It creates an embarrassment as people are
behind me in the queue. They told me to sit down and
wait for 10 minutes and in the end I waited for one
hour with no information. Window pane creates a barrier
and I always ask for a spare room." A18
4.9 Sometimes, the response from hearing staff is not
helpful as in this example.
"I had a problem with the staff (at the Council) -
it was difficult to lip-read. They laughed at me when I
tried to talk. I asked for a social worker but there
was none. I went back to work and asked my boss who
agreed to come with me on my next visit. This time the
staff behaved differently because I was with my boss.
She agreed to come with me in future if necessary."
L2
4.10 A simple change in approach from the hearing
service could deal with this - make available a separate
room for clients who wished some privacy. This might be the
default option for Deaf people. Once Deaf people have the
attention of the hearing person, they still have the
problems mentioned in 4.2 above. One positive strategy was
for staff to use the computer screen to display
information.
"Had one experience with the bank, where I was
unable to lip read so the member of staff turned the
computer round to face me and then I could read what
she was typing." A2
4.11 The majority of people suggested the need for staff
to learn to sign since they agreed that interpreting was
not possible or desirable in all situations. However there
were also concerns about using staff who had limited
signing.
"Better use interpreters rather than hearing who
can sign (stage 1 or 2) because they may have no
confidence to communicate with deaf people." C64
"Council Service is the worst! The assistant talked
with his mother - thought she knew signs but she was
appalling! She didn't understand. Stage 1 and 2 is not
good enough. I gave up and wrote notes only." B33
4.12 The problem in this case is that a designated
signer among the hearing staff may have limited contact
with Deaf people, despite having learned some signing at
evening class. The fact that the hearing signer does not
understand or more commonly, signs so poorly that the Deaf
person does not understand, is not necessarily recognised
by the service provider. The service provider may believe
that an intermediary is in place and all that is spoken is
relayed in sign to the Deaf person. The Deaf person
struggles with the poor signed message and is unable to
take part properly; their own signed message may be
transmitted incompletely and the Deaf person feels that
he/she has no control over the choice of English words. The
Deaf person loses confidence in the situation.
Direct contact with Emergencies and
Hospitals
4.13 Of the topic areas covered in the interviews,
contacts with emergency services and hospitals are probably
the most predictable and the most disturbing. In certain
situations, Deaf people have no option but to try to
communicate directly. At the point of greatest need in
emergency situations, Deaf people's well being is greatly
at risk. Deaf people frequently languish in waiting areas
not knowing that their names have been called.
"It happened to me at the A&E. I waited for a
long time, unaware that my name was called out 3 times.
After a while I saw the staff change their shift. I
went up and asked what happened and they said they
called my name 3 times. I had told them I was Deaf.
They need more Deaf awareness training, to change their
attitude and staff should be able to sign." A8
"I went to hospital, told them my name and that I
was Deaf. I showed them where I was sitting, so there
was no need to shout but they should come up to me or
"wake" me when it was time to see the doctor. But after
waiting, I saw someone call my name with exaggerated
mouth pattern. I was embarrassed … I told them … but
they simply ignored what I had said." A26
4.14 Deaf people consider this failure as a matter of
'attitude'. Hearing people are seen not to care, to be
resistant to change in their routine and sometimes, just
ignorant of the needs of Deaf people even when these have
been pointed out. It is a matter of considerable
frustration. This frustration can turn into very bad
experiences.
"It happened with my (hearing) wife who was
diagnosed with breast cancer. It was confusing as the
doctor explained to her about it in front of me. I was
lost for information. My wife was upset and she was
crying while trying to explain to me. The doctor was
not aware of Deaf needs. On the next visit, I called
for an interpreter so that my wife did not have to try
to explain to me what the doctor said." A14
"One time after a chest operation, I was
transferred from Edinburgh hospital. I was left in the
waiting room overnight as the bed wasn't ready. I was
in so much pain and they gave me no medication. I was
cold and really suffering. The next day, the nurse
found me and said "you are up early". I explained that
I hadn't been given a bed. The medical team were
shocked and I demanded to be sent home to recover."
E79
4.15 This is an area of great concern where
communication barriers and lack of simple procedures were
reported to be seriously affecting Deaf people's well
being. In terms of waiting, Deaf people see the problem as
lack of a visual display system and simple lack of Deaf
awareness - they believe that these are simple matters to
rectify. In the case of the communication issues, they see
the problem in terms of lack of emergency interpreters.
Direct contact with the police
4.16 While many people had little contact with the
police, those who had, gave a wide range of accounts of
their experiences with the police. Few of these were
positive. The positive experiences involve finding a
policeman who could sign or where information could be
given easily because the deaf person could speak. Otherwise
most of the reports concern problems. A number of the
stories cannot be reported as they would identify the
individuals in extremely sensitive situations and in a
number of other cases, the quotes have had to be altered to
protect identity. In many other cases, the reported issues
were of general behaviour or of the nature of the crime,
rather than the issues of
BSL. There were some good
experiences.
"A long time ago a policeman came to see me and he
could sign. His parents were Deaf. It was easy to
understand him - it made me feel safe." B31
"I once made a report to police as someone harassed
me via
SMS. Police sorted it out with the
company - changed the numbers. Police were helpful."
A27
"Once my car was broken into at 1am. I tried to
call the police by minicom and it worked! It gave me
confidence to deal directly myself." A16
4.17 Here the terminology switches to 'personal safety'
and 'confidence'. The possibility to communicate and to
convey the problem to the policeman created a sense of
success in the Deaf person and a consequent feeling of
better security.
4.18 As with contacts with doctors and other service
personnel, the problems reported relate to lack of
communication, lack of preparedness to obtain interpreters,
and temptation to address questions to children rather than
to the Deaf member of the family.
"When police came to my house, my hearing daughter
talked to them. I was left out. I asked my daughter
what they said but they just kept on talking. I really
wanted to get an interpreter but I could not find one.
I was really frustrated." E77
"I wanted to make complaint about the children
outside making noises and ignoring me when I told them
to stop. The police came but were reluctant to write
things down and tried to talk to my daughter. I moved
her away and said they should write things down."
E75
4.19 This is a major issue for Deaf people. On the one
hand, some Deaf people will themselves ask their children
to translate for people on the doorstep or in other
informal situations; however, when a hearing person
attempts to use the children, rather than addressing
remarks and questions directly to the Deaf adult, they feel
marginalised. When the child has no training in
interpreting and not enough maturity to know how to stop
the hearing person from talking, the Deaf parent is left
hanging on, hoping for scraps of information. At the heart
of this is the issue of control over the situation. Deaf
adults, like all adults, wish to take responsibility for
the situation, themselves.
4.20 The issue of who is responsible for contacting
interpreters appears often and the general inaccessibility
of the legal system and the right to appeal against poor
service (lack of interpreters or not understanding the
interpreters provided) is problematic for Deaf people.
"My brother was mugged but the police would not
contact the interpreter…. Now my parents have received
a fax asking them to bring an interpreter to the
station. It should be the police responsibility to do
this." A20
"I'm from Deaf family, I was at home, waited for my
son to come home, but I didn't know where he was … I
discovered he was in hospital after he had a fight.
Police faxed me and asked me to come to police station,
the receptionist told me to wait and I waited for long
time but I didn't know what was happening. I
SMSed my daughter to ask her if she
knew what happened to her brother.. but nothing. I
continued to worry. Hours later police told me that my
son was in hospital but I was so shocked, eventually I
had to drive to hospital by myself as police wouldn't
give me a lift or would not help me. I didn't know
which department. Eventually I found my son's friends
waiting there. I was surprised to see their parents
were there…. I later realised police contacted them
first not me… that was because they were hearing. I
feel really angry that they didn't let me know straight
away." A23
4.21 There are many other issues reported in the
interviews which bear on Deaf people's rights and the way
in which they are discriminated against in favour of
hearing people. This is a real and continuing problem,
where the Deaf respondents identify hearing-hearing
interaction as being preferred by service providers. This
is considered to be blatant and ever-present by most
respondents. Being a Deaf Asian creates an additional
problem in this area of activity but as a general rule the
rights of Deaf people are re-directed by the police to the
hearing relatives. This creates frustration and anger.
Communication problems remain immense and the lack of
emergency interpreting services are a major stumbling
block.
Other contacts where lack of access in
BSL proves to be a problem
4.22 There were many other situations where access to
public service could not be provided in
BSL. The Deaf people often considered
this a failure in provision of interpreters which is dealt
with in more detail later. Deaf people are also parents and
have hearing relatives. There are situations which occur
where the Deaf person has a responsibility for the hearing
person or child and must attempt to communicate on their
behalf. Similar problems are reported. A typical scenario
is where the Deaf parents have to deal with schools in
regard to decisions about their hearing children.
"Scottish Government should be aware of Deaf
Parents with hearing children. They ought to provide
support to Deaf mothers. I am always frustrated with
everything - my children's school and parents'
evenings. Schools should provide interpreters for my
needs. I do not want to ask my children for their help.
I want to know how my children get on with their school
work and their relation with their teachers. I want to
get full information - their school work, reports,
events etc). When I went to the parents' evening
without my husband (who is hearing) I just did not get
any information. I am still upset about it." B40
4.23 In this situation, the service providers seem even
less well prepared. From a Deaf perspective, the school
makes the hearing child, or hearing parent, the target of
the service. As a result parents' evenings are often
problematic. Deaf people report the lack of interpreter,
but the 'attitude' problem of the school approach is
considered a more severe obstacle to development.
Is there access in
BSL?
4.24 It should be fairly clear that there are almost no
circumstances where a Deaf person can expect there to be
direct communication with service personnel in their own
language. Although Deaf people would like to see the
situation improved, they have become resigned to the
problem as one person in Stornoway explained:
"I live in a village, just a Post Office. People
know me. One man at the Post Office talks to me - but
just says 'how are you?'. He has known me since I was a
kid. If I want something , I write it down. Usually we
exchange, regular brief messages like, 'weather's cold'
- that's all. I wish he could sign." S2
4.25 The last sentence is the key - Deaf people struggle
on through contacts with hearing people believing that
there is a simple solution for the hearing people to learn
to sign. One Deaf interview gave a good summary of Deaf
views.
"Deaf people are more accepting and used to the
problems which they face everyday. They never complain,
compared to hearing people. If one hearing person was
to swap places with me, that person would not cope and
would become totally stressed. We are born with it. We
do get stressed and frustrated but do not keep a note
of these, so do not remember them. I think Deaf people
are stronger than hearing people. We survive in the
hard world of hearing people." A11
4.26 Access in
BSL is almost non-existent and Deaf
people have to cope with the continued marginalisation on a
daily basis.
Comments on Access
4.27 Partly as a result of the reported situations, Deaf
people's expectation of
BSL access are very low. There are very
few locations and certainly none in public services where
Deaf people reported a policy in action, or a pattern of
availability of signing staff. In rare cases, for reasons
other than their employment, certain staff were able to
sign - perhaps because they were related to a Deaf person.
Other than this, Deaf people do not expect to be able to
deal with public service in sign language. This explains
their lack of complaint - on the one hand because they do
not expect to be able to sign and on the other, because
there would be no one to 'hear' their complaints in sign
language.
« Previous | Contents | Next »