Barriers, Privilegeand the SSP Role Chapter 4.1.4

Overview• DB people face many barriers.• The cumulative effect of these barriers

can be devastating.• Access (through SSP service, available,

qualified interpreters, transportation and effective technology) is the answer.

BARRIERS (OPPRESSION) & RESULTS

AccessCommunication access is often not available for DB people.• Accessible print• Qualified interpreters• Qualified SSPs• Accessible media and• other entertainment

Transportation is also often not accessible.

IsolationThe results of these barriers are:• Severe isolation, • Severe gaps in information with which to

make (informed) choices and decisions,• Loneliness, depression, and anger, and

• The DB person becomes less and less employable.

“Vulnerable”• Lack of information makes one

vulnerable to financial scams.• Loneliness makes one vulnerable to

unhealthy relationships.• Oppression attacks the sense of self-

worth and self-esteem.

Lack of Access and Service Providers• Service providers such as case

managers and vocational rehabilitation placement people can fee overwhelmed. They are trying to make up for a society that is not accessible.

Lack of Access and Service Providers, cont.• The results aren’t good. They include

burnout, blaming the victim, paternalism and apathy.

• Currently there is great need for access advocacy for DB people.

PRIVILEGE

Privilege• ‘Privilege’ is the concept of unearned

advantage. SSPs have an unearned advantage over DB people vis-à-vis access to information and transportation.

• It is tempting to misinterpret the results (e.g. superior knowledge) as being ‘natural’ (i.e. that SSPs are just superior to DB people).

Role• It’s important to remember we are not

smarter than the DB person; we just have an unearned advantage.

• It’s also important to remember that as SSPs, it is our role to mitigate that advantage and to provide information to the DB person.

Looking• As SSPs we are often privy to

information about a DB person that we would not know if it were not for having vision and our role. For example, we may be in a DB person’s home and see the inside of their house.

• Any advantage we gain should belong to the DB person, not to us.

For Example• If we use the restroom, we should not

snoop.• What we see in the home is private and,

of course, we keep it to ourselves.

For Example, cont.• If we notice things the DB person may

not be aware of, such as a salt shaker that has fallen off the table or a letter that has fallen behind a chair, that information belongs to the DB person whose home we are in. We should mention this information to them.

Information, not Doing• You will notice in the previous example

that the SSP should inform the DB person, not pick up the salt shaker or letter for them.

• This is a subtle difference but it is important.

• It is not just a question of role, it is an issue of both power and of responsibility.

SYSTEMS OF HIERARCHY

Victims of Unfair Discrimination• The barriers facing DB people

(including attitudinal barriers) victimize them as a group.

• Trying to ‘rescue’ DB people rather than focusing on removing barriers is a losing game. It is a hopeless task and ironically disrespectful. (More on this later.)

Individualism

Burnout• This happens in agencies that are

focused on ‘serving the disadvantaged’ and are underfunded, understaffed and overburdened. Staff members end up becoming apathetic and/or blaming the people they serve.

• The focus in such agencies is on the victims of unfair discrimination rather than on removing the social barriers in their way.

Removing Barriers• Barriers to full civic participation are a

societal issue.

• Individuals and even agencies cannot ‘fix’ the exclusion of DB people.

• Together, however, we can create real change.

SYSTEMIC SOCIAL SOLUTIONS

Systemic Social Solutions• Since the biggest barriers for DB

people are access to communication and information, the biggest social solutions include interpreters, communication technology and SSPs.

Systemic Social Solutions, cont.• The laws are in place and in some

instances so is the funding, but for DB people the systems have yet to be implemented.

• Thus there is a need for concerted, qualified systems advocacy.

SSPs as Part of the SolutionBarriers Solutions 1. Seeing

merchandise available for purchase

2. Reading the price to make choices

3. Reading mail, newspapers and bills

1. SSP describes the merchandise

2. SSP reads the price to the DB person

3. SSP reads the mail, etc. to the DB person

SSPs as Part of the Solution, cont.Barriers Solutions4. Negotiating

streets, aisles and finding check stands

5. Communicating with clerks

4. SSP provides sighted-guide through streets and stores

5. SSP provides light interpreting

Community as Part of the Solution• While it is true that “DB people”

constitute a diverse category, they face common barriers.

• Metaphorically putting their heads and hands together they become stronger.

Community as Part of the Solution, cont.• DB people coming together at the AADB,

in retreats and camps, as well as in local or state organizations, offers an opportunity for mutual problem solving, learning, leadership and renewal.

ALLIANCES

Resources & Self-Advocacy• What are the resources we have as

privileged (sighted/hearing) people and how does this relate (prove useful) to DB people?

• The first, of course, is information.• The second is transportation. • We can put these resources at the

disposal of DB people so they can advocate for themselves.

Self-Advocacy• The concept of ally is different from

that of rescuer. The rescuer (think life-guard) does the work (swimming) for the victim.

• The ally stands beside the person in the struggle, often providing resources, but not directing the moves.

DPN / ADA• In the “Deaf President Now” movement

of 1988 it was deaf people who made it happen with the support of interpreter-allies (who put their skills at the service of the deaf students, faculty and community members).

DPN / ADA, cont.• In 1992 the Americans with Disabilities

Act (ADA) was passed as a result of activism on the part of disabled people themselves.

• In both instances, media attention helped.

DPN Demonstration

ADA Demonstration

Ownership• We, as service providers, do not own

the problems that are created by the barriers. They are barriers for the DB person and become their problem, but we can be allies.

• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a law enacted by Congress, senators and representatives acting as allies to disabled people.

Voice• But it was disabled people themselves

who identified the problems, the priorities and the solutions.

• It was disabled people who marched, rallied and communicated with the media.

• Allies facilitate the change by making sure DB people have access to information.

Presence• Allies, like venture capitalists, invest

resources in the project but do not themselves direct the project. They know it is not theirs.

• Ultimately, allies want the project to succeed and to come to a successful result.

Collective Action• Ironically, it is especially difficult for DB

people to organize collectively towards action and to communicate with the media.

• It is therefore especially important to support DB people in groups and organizations where they gather for mutual support, to exchange information and plan, because this is the foundation of self-advocacy.

Conclusion• The DB Community is in its infancy. • Advocacy for DB peoples’ right to

access is in its infancy.• SSP service is a foundational service

for DB people at the level of interpreting services.

Conclusion, cont.• We can be allies by developing our

professional standards and ethics, and by volunteering.

• SSPs can be important allies to DB people in their efforts for equity.