Excused From the Table 

–An Article about Disabilities, ADA and the Church –all churches –not just the Catholic Church  

See 

http://www.politicaltheology.com/blog/excused-from-the-table-churches-and-the-americans-with-disabilities-act-lorraine-cuddeback/

"However, the largest group of “disabled” Americans has been ignored with minimal attention given to helping those with hearing impairments. Hearing loss has become known as the “invisible” disability. " (Source:  http://www.seniorsresourceguide.com/articles/art01165.html)

"I honestly feel that hearing impairment is much worse than my inability to walk, because it is so isolating. At least once I get to where I’m going, I can enjoy it thoroughly. Also, I think sometimes people feel that having a sign language interpreter satisfies the requirement to make a performance accessible for the hearing impaired, not realizing that the majority of people who lose their hearing as they age or from disease do not learn sign language" (Source:  https://broadwaydancecenter.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/hard-times-on-broadway-for-the-hard-of-hearing/)

" If a house of worship is not doing CC, however, then a major portion of the dialogue will not be picked up by the whole audience.” (Source:  http://tfwm.com/opening-up-services-with-closed-captioning/)

"Statistics tell us that 98% of people with hearing loss do not have a church home, and the deaf and hard of hearing are the fourth largest unreached people group in the world." (Source:  http://captioningtheword.com/information.html)

A sobering thought for religious leaders is that 90% of those with a hearing impairment may not attend services due to an inability to hear and participate. (Source:  http://premiervisualvoice.com/index.php/blog/16-blog-8)

 Are you reaching out to the deaf and hard of hearing by sharing the Joy of the Gospel with real time captioning at Mass?:  http://www.crisismagazine.com/2013/pope-francis-calls-all-catholics-to-evangelize

 "CART, which alternately stands for Computer-Assisted Realtime (captioning) or Communication-Access Realtime (captioning), provides equal access to spoken information and allows participants to understand and participate in proceedings and discussions." (Source:  http://www.ai-ada.com/our-services/real-time-captioning/)

The CART/Captioning Process

Person speaks.   2. Captioner listens. 3. Captioner writes all that is spoken ("nearly  verbatim" as opposed to "note-taking.") 4. Client achieves communication access/equal access.      (ADA Compliance)

(Source:  http://www.onpointcaptions.com)

"What does it mean for communication to be “effective”? Simply put, “effective communication” means that whatever is written or spoken must be as clear and understandable to people with disabilities as it is for people who do not have disabilities."

(Source: http://www.ada.gov/pcatoolkit/chap3toolkit.htm)

Effective communication:   http://www.dartmouth.edu/~accessibility/effcomm/index.html

"Accessible meeting space allows

 everyone to participate." 

(Source: http://www.ada.gov/business/accessiblemtg.htm

“Just as with wheelchair access issues, 

advocacy is paramount,” Kasper wrote. 

“Staying at home to avoid problems or 

pretending to understand when we don’t 

will not help us or future generations, and

 joining with others in a cause can be 

rewarding in itself.” (Source:  http://globalaccessibilitynews.com/2011/04/17/hackensack-church-offers-captioning-for-hearing-impaired/)

This is an interesting article how churches could provide better access for the deaf and hard of hearing:  

Losing My Religion? : http://origin.misc.pagesuite.com/pdfdownload/7c11713b-7af4-45b3-86b6-2026d9ce54e4.pdf