Inclusive Framework for deaf and hard of
hearing Catholics

Represents all the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing by providing ‘effective’ communication access allowing the deaf and hard of hearing to participate in the life of the church.

Respects social, cultural and linguistic communication frameworks.  We are diverse.

Respects multiculturalism and diversity and provides equal and effective communication access to the Mass / other parts of church life according to the users communication framework.

Supports spiritual and community connection and access to the Mass and other parts of church life like conferences with effective and equal communication access.

Provides qualified/certified CART providers and Oral Interpreters, along with ASL Interpreters.

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

How do you make it Inclusive to all those who are deaf and hard of hearing?

"However, in order to serve ALL deaf, hard of hearing, 

the hearing impaired or people with hearing loss 

(whichever terms you choose), all of these accessible 

solutions need to be provided, and the Deaf and 

hearing impaired should always be placed down front 

where they can use their eyes to see to hear and the 

audio amplifiers to be picked up by their assistive 

devices. Captions should be on the wall or a screen for

 those who need to read what is being said." 

 (Source:  http://limpingchicken.com/2014/01/16/deaf-discrimination-to-deaf/)

Catholics with Hearing loss interested in having the Mass in CC (CART), audio induction loops and other accommodations, along with conferences and workshops and how to support accessibility in the church and one another.

Focused on the hard of hearing and late hard of hearing, the non culturally deaf, late deaf, late deafen, oral deaf.

To Subscribe:  

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          Are You Losing Your Religion?

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

"About 90 percent of church members and constituents living with any of these forms of hearing loss become church dropouts. The culprit is the not uncommon failure of churches to be "hearing-accessible. ” Source:  ( http://gbgm-umc.org/disc/sosbook.stm)

NOT ALL CAN HEAR IN CHURCH: http://www.catholicnews-tt.net/v2005/archives/nov/sun06/letters.htm

”If we find that diversity, then we are going to put in the ramp. And we'll put in the elevator and we'll add real-time captioning [for the deaf]." 

(Source:  http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-10-19/news/0110190023_1_disabilities-accessible-open-hearts)

"You get the jokes, the satire, the innuendo. You have full access. You are an equal participant. That’s CART Captioning. That’s Communication Access Realtime Translation.”  (Source:  http://www.realtimeworldwide.com/services/cart-communication-access-realtime-translation/)

How do you make it Inclusive to all those who are deaf and hard of hearing?

"However, in order to serve ALL deaf, hard of hearing, 

the hearing impaired or people with hearing loss 

(whichever terms you choose), all of these accessible 

solutions need to be provided, and the Deaf and 

hearing impaired should always be placed down front 

where they can use their eyes to see to hear and the 

audio amplifiers to be picked up by their assistive 

devices. Captions should be on the wall or a screen for

 those who need to read what is being said." 

 (Source:  http://limpingchicken.com/2014/01/16/deaf-discrimination-to-deaf/)

          Catholic Disability Ministries?

As a deaf person, I have become keenly aware of the lack of services and accommodations to not only the diverse deaf and hard of hearing,  and their varying communication needs, but also many other issues.   

Further, accessibility should go beyond the Mass, and  into other parts of church life as well 

(confession, conferences, bible studies and so forth).  

Do you know that only roughly 50 percent of all the Catholic  Dioceses in the USA even have a Disability Ministry?  You are more likely to see a Multi-cultural Ministry, which is the same coin in human diversity in embracing and celebrating the stranger among us.  Is a Disability ministry less important then a Multi-cultural ministry?  Certainly everyone is important and no one should be excluded in the church.  All should be welcomed and embraced.  Welcoming the stranger means giving them an accessible church.  It means allowing them the right to fully and
actively participate.  So why is it that the 'disabled' are being overlooked in churches and not given full access? One person keenly observes and says:

"The Disabled Are Catholic Too!

The biggest problem that I see, as the mother of a disabled child, is that the Church's stand on the rights of the disabled has, if anything, been neglected and ignored while we strove to solidify our stance on abortion and homosexuality and euthanasia. The National Catholic Partnership on Disability estimates that there are over 500,000 Catholics who are mentally retarded or cognitively disabled. That's half a million Catholics who are developmentally disabled. That isn't counting the 8.1 million Catholics who are physically impaired, or the 1.3 million Catholics with a sensory impairment, or even the 3.6 million who are disabled by ill health. It doesn't begin to address the concerns of the 700,000 Catholics who suffer from a mental illness, nor the problems that their families face. There are half a million Catholics, alone, who are mentally retarded, autistic, suffer from Down's Syndrome, or who have one of the other cognitive impairments.

How many do you see active in your parish? Are their needs being met?”

Source:  http://catholicexchange.com/disabilities-and-the-catholic-church

"Accessible meeting space allows

 everyone to participate." 

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

"The importance for people with any 

disability to interact 

in a standard setting rather than do it 

differently is 

critical," (Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/real-time-captions-helping-deaf-kids-realise-potential/story-e6freuzi-1226453656874 -ROSEMARIE LENTINI)

              Creating a budget for Access

   for the deaf and hard of hearing in religion

An article about making religion accessible:

"So what does this mean, to provide access? It means that we do what we can to include a budget for sign language interpreters, if possible. It means that we remember that people age, and as they age, hearing declines. Late-deafened Seniors who spent their entire lives going to Sunday services slowly find themselves left out. This should not happen. We need to find ways to make the services accessible, such as with real-time captioning or  {and} FM systems {and audio loops}...

If you can picture in your mind the greatest spiritual leader of your own faith, imagine how that person, whether divine or not, would treat a deaf individual. I’m sure you can guess.

A message cannot be given clearly and accurately if it’s not given with full access, and what better message that the one you believe is the most important?"

Source:  http://www.munkymind.com/blog/2016/03/21/every-faith-should-be-accessible-for-the-deaf/

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

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

How do you make it Inclusive to all those who are deaf and hard of hearing?

"However, in order to serve ALL deaf, hard of hearing, 

the hearing impaired or people with hearing loss 

(whichever terms you choose), all of these accessible 

solutions need to be provided, and the Deaf and 

hearing impaired should always be placed down front 

where they can use their eyes to see to hear and the 

audio amplifiers to be picked up by their assistive 

devices. Captions should be on the wall or a screen for

 those who need to read what is being said." 

 (Source:  http://limpingchicken.com/2014/01/16/deaf-discrimination-to-deaf/)

                Lip-Reading at a Catholic
                                Mass

Only 30 percent of English sounds are visible on the lips, not everyone can read lips, or find it consistently reliable. Even the best lip readers find it challenging to lip-read in conferences, Mass and classes and often do better one-on-one or in small groups.

Not everyone can lip-read oral interpreters who shut the sound off, if they were trained to use their cochlear implants or hearing aids to guide speech reading. Having said that, only qualified/certified professional oral interpreters should be provided if someone requests that. 

Many people who read lips have realized how many ‘holes’ they had in communication when they had access to CART that they previously were not aware of. You don’t know what you don’t know and many miss out.

CART is often more reliable and effective for many and a ‘Universal Access’.  More people can use CART/captioning.

"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)

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

"The importance for people with any 

disability to interact 

in a standard setting rather than do it 

differently is 

critical," (Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/real-time-captions-helping-deaf-kids-realise-potential/story-e6freuzi-1226453656874 -ROSEMARIE LENTINI)

"You get the jokes, the satire, the innuendo. You have full access. You are an equal participant. That’s CART Captioning. That’s Communication Access Realtime Translation.”  (Source:  http://www.realtimeworldwide.com/services/cart-communication-access-realtime-translation/)

"Accessible meeting space allows

 everyone to participate." 

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

                               Audio Induction Loops for the Hearing Impaired




Why can't they use the Audio Induction loop or Assistive Listening Devices at a Catholic
                                   Mass?

Audio Induction Loops/FM systems and Assistive listening devices:  Are great for those who can use them but they are often not strong or reliable enough for those with more severe hearing loss.

Only 1 in 5 adults who can benefit from a hearing aid wear one. Only 1 in 4 deaf adults have a cochlear implant. 25% of hearing aids do not have T coils in them.

ALDs should be provided if it is effective for a person. However, those who most benefit from ALDs are those with mild/ moderate hearing loss, so it is not ‘Universal Access’.

"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)

Examples of 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

How do you make it Inclusive to all those who are deaf and hard of hearing?

"However, in order to serve ALL deaf, hard of hearing, 

the hearing impaired or people with hearing loss 

(whichever terms you choose), all of these accessible 

solutions need to be provided, and the Deaf and 

hearing impaired should always be placed down front 

where they can use their eyes to see to hear and the 

audio amplifiers to be picked up by their assistive 

devices. Captions should be on the wall or a screen for

 those who need to read what is being said." 

 (Source:  http://limpingchicken.com/2014/01/16/deaf-discrimination-to-deaf/)