Monday, January 07, 2008

Do VRS's Discriminate Against SEE Users?

I'm curious about this one. I've heard bits and pieces about this that Video Relay Services may not have SEE interpreters readily available or the fact if they do have any SEE interpreters versus plenty of ASL interpreters. So, do VRS's discriminate against those who prefer to sign in SEE and/or that they lack the skill to read finger-spelling that well. One commenter in my blog says he has experienced that on occassions.


I have asked.. sometimes I get snide remarks, sometimes "he/she is too busy with another call," and others say flat out they do not have SEE interpreters.

After using Sprint, HOVRS, and i711, nope, I have never gotten a SEE interpreter. Another problem is that I fingerspell a lot - they don't seem to be good at catching that either!
He raised an important question here that I've wondered for some time. Are these VRS companies not advertising truthfully what they have on staff enough SEE interpreters on hand to handle SEE callers? I've noted on a few well known VRS websites say that they do have SEE interpreters or that they have "English based sign language" on hand. But do they really?

Maybe it's the famous "Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!" we're seeing? Let's see what people say. This could all be a huge "misunderstanding."

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