SWC March 2008 Newsletter

As my speech discrimination has worsened over the past year, I've had to face up to the fact that I'll need more than simple accommodations to continue in my job as an "analytic consultant" (health-care-related analyses). The global company I work for is heavily "wired" into the modern business world -- teleconferences, web presentations, video conferences, and remote training via those methods abound in our corporate culture. However, none of this high-tech wizardry is initially set up to accommodate HOH or Deaf folks. Not too big a surprise, considering our (particularly HOH) "invisibility" in general.

Now working, as I do, for an employer that's operating on the leading edge of technology, I assumed that when I requested accommodation for my situation, working through the various options and getting buy-in would be a piece of cake. How wrong I was!

As it turned out, the one issue (corporate/client confidentiality) that I had assumed would be "sticky" was actually the simplest and least contentious. But getting support and buy-in on what my best phone conferencing option would be took no less than 6 months of back and forth wrangling (both with my employer, and with the state of California). And though the horizon shines bright with hope -- at this time, my equipment is on order -- I still don't have this work accommodation in place yet (at this writing).

I need to make a really key acknowledgement here. Had it not been for my wonderful support network in the SayWhatClub, I'm quite sure I'd have never made it this far. The information and encouragement from my SWC family was essential for me to navigate the bureaucracy and inertia of corporate and government procedures/policy.

My first suggestion in e-mail to my HR representative was to simply use Sprint IP Relay for phone calls, something I already used for personal calls. This option seemed to me to be the most attractive all around, since it requires no special equipment. The only "sticky" thing, as mentioned above, would be getting the appropriate security agreements signed to ensure corporate/client confidentiality. This I assumed would just involve some formalities that I would be willing to work through.

After a few weeks of waiting for my HR person to get back to me, I surmised that they'd never had to handle an accommodation like this before -- strange, as this is a huge multinational. My HR rep passed the issue forward to an IT person, and let me know they'd be working on it.

A couple months later, the HR rep and the IT person had come to the conclusion that I should consider using something like Sprint IP Relay for my phone calls. If the reader experiences a sense of deja vu, that's because it was my original suggestion. Being the vigilant employee I am, I had mentioned the security issue when I suggested it, but this wasn't even mentioned in the new HR response. So I asked about it again...

Another month went by...

My HR rep contacted me to suggest that I acquire a CapTel (captioned) phone from the state (I guess the security issue for Sprint IP Relay was too much for them). She even included the CTAP (California Telephone Access Program) application form as an attachment. She told me they'd continue to investigate options while I sought approval to get a (free, so the theory went) CapTel phone. I had an eerie feeling this was not going to be easy. I was right this time.

As it happens, I was already participating in the CTAP program with a state-provided amplified phone at home. The process I went through to get that would make a good story unto itself. I went ahead and submitted the application for the CapTel for use at work and it was eventually rejected because my employer has more than 50 employees (recall, they're a big multinational). What I was told, in a long-winded but accommodatingly slow voicemail message, was that I would have to apply for a CapTel phone at home, and if approved, my employer would then qualify to purchase one for work and the state would pay for the captioning service for both.

By now I was about 5 months into this project. I went ahead and submitted the CapTel application again, this time for my home phone. Again it was rejected, this time because their understanding of my hearing situation (recall, I'm already in the program, amplified) was that I don't need it. Of course, my situation had changed, but my hearing had been so variable (it's less so, now, just very poor) that my audiogram came back "functional" in one ear. Now I know, just as surely as my readers do, whether I can understand someone on the phone -- or otherwise -- and my whole point in applying was because I was having increasing difficulty.

Once again, I have to reflect on the stamina and encouragement I've benefited from as a member of SWC. This was a very frustrating moment for me, as you might guess! But I decided I wasn't going to go down without a fight, so this time I filled out my application and TOOK IT TO THE CTAP OFFICE (I'd always faxed it before -- I don't drive these days, so that's my natural inclination). I had to wait about an hour for folks in front of me (another reason I like fax), but I think (really I don't know) that may have actually helped my cause because it's a small office and all the employees knew how long I'd waited.

When my turn came, I handed the application to a very congenial counselor, and explained that I'd been rejected, but I really did need this (my hearing was pretty bad that day, and that didn't hurt my cause either). Without another word, she got on her computer, and after about 2 minutes of fiddling with it, pronounced me approved!

Recall that this phone was for home use. The counselor gave me another form to fill out for getting the work phone, but told me my employer couldn't buy it until I'd actually gotten set up with the service at home. So be it! I submitted the new form, and got approved on that one. A week later, a CTAP field rep visited my home and installed the CapTel phone. So now I have good accommodation at home, but not yet at work...

Today it's all in the hands of my employer to purchase the phone for my workplace (they do have the required analog lines in place). The good news is that they have approved the purchase requisition. So hopefully, only a little more patience on my part will be required!

Moral of the story? Patience, determination, tenacity, and refusal to accept defeat are still essential qualities in the battle to get accommodated. I have a pretty good in-born supply of the first, but the rest took a lot of good information and encouragement from my friends in SWC. To all of you, I say THANKS!