Telephone, I hate you!

G'day Everyone!

Well, gotta hand it to Jamie Berke. She wrote a good article on the deafness.about.com blog this week.
Let me show you what it is: http://deafness.about.com/b/

When you go to an interview, every employer is going to ask: Can you hear on the phone? It's a dreaded question. It smacks of a LEGAL discrimination when a employer is NOT disabled friendly!

I realize our business world is built on the phone communication ever since the days of the telegraphic wires. Alexander Graham Bell improved that into the phone. But now, since the ADA laws, we should have an ability to use videophone and relay interpreters for this. Heck, We should be able to use AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), YIM (Yahoo Instant Messenger) and other instant messenger and emails.

The phone may be a has been but the Internet should play an ability to help the disabled people to communicate more with hearing people. In my last job, most of my communications with my co-workers and clients were right off the instant messengers and the phone rarely rang unless it was important! I was very happy with that!

Just as much as I told my last interviewer: all I need is an amplified phone for my hearing aid. *A pure simple 10 radio shack device!* Heck, phone companies do have hearing aid compatible phones as well!

Some day, our videophones will soon become common place in the hearing world and putting us on an equal footing with hearing people. It's the technology of the future already. While we are using the videophone in the deaf community, some hearing people already want it for themselves. Get in line out there you hearing people! You'll get it.. in 10 years or less!

But at the present time, I rather tell my prospective employers: The job I do for you is my physical job. If you can shift that phone to the messenger user, that works! If you won't, then you'll have lost support of the disabled community for your product already!

There are some disabled friendly employers out there. It takes time to find the right one.
Wish you all the best to the job seekers out there.

Semper FI.