Links Resources

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it may not be safe to go to your doctor’s office — even for a routine visit. Your doctor may ask you to stay home and discuss your health through video conferencing — this is called “telehealth.” Even though your appointment is done virtually, your doctor must still provide you with an interpreter or captioning so you can understand your doctor during your appointment. The best way for you to use telehealth is for you to see your doctor, the interpreter, and/or captions on the same screen. However, doctors have varying telehealth systems — do you know what you can request and what your doctors are still required to provide during the pandemic?

To address this concern, a coalition of deaf and hard of hearing consumer advocacy organizations, deaf healthcare providers, and other experts worked together to provide special guidelines for deaf and hard of hearing people and healthcare providers to use during the coronavirus pandemic.

Telehealth Guidelines for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People

Telehealth Guidelines for Healthcare Providers

Both guidelines were developed by:

• Association of Late-Deafened Adults (ALDA)*

• Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Loss

• Christopher J. Moreland, M.D., MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine, UT Health San Antonio

• Gallaudet University Deaf Health Communication and Quality of Life Center

• Gallaudet University Technology Access Program/Deaf Hard of Hearing Technology RERC

• Gallaudet University, Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, Ph.D., Bioethicist & Philosopher

• Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA)*

• National Association of the Deaf (NAD)*

• National Association of State Agencies of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (NASADHH)

• Robert C. Nutt, MD, MPH, Physician, Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, Atrium Health / Levine Children’s Network, Concord, North Carolina

• Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law & Policy Clinic at Colorado Law (counsel to TDI)

• Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI)*

(*consumer advocacy groups that advocate for the rights of deaf and hard of hearing people)

If your doctor did not provide access during your telehealth appointment, please contact telehealth@dhhcan.org.

• Consumer Organizations

• Local Agencies Serving DeafBlind People

• State Services for DeafBlind People

• Informational Videos in ASL (Legal, Medical, Technology, etc…)

• Guide Dogs

• Interpreting Agencies

• Other Resources

Consumer Organizations

• American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB)

• Washington State Deaf-Blind Citizens

Local Agencies Serving DeafBlind People

• Community Services for the Blind and Partially Sighted (CSBPS)

• Sight Connection: Products for Vision Loss and Blindness

• The CSB Donation Center: Donated clothing, household goods, and vehicles raise funds to support Sight Connection programs and services for people who are blind or visually impaired. They also offer donation pick-up services.

• Hearing, Speech and Deafness Center (HSDC)

• HSDC Store: Products for Hearing Loss and Deafness

• Lighthouse for the Blind

State Services for DeafBlind People

• Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR)

• Department of Services for the Blind (DSB): The DSB web site has excellent resource pages of technology developers and distributors.

• Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHH), Washington State

• Washington Talking Book and Braille Library: WTBBL also carries large print books.

• Helen Keller National Center: Northwest Regional Representative: Marlene Swarts

Information Videos in ASL
(Legal, Medical, Technology, etc…)

• Legal Informational Videos in ASL: The Northwest Justice Project, in collaboration with ADWAS and DBSC, has created some new video resources around a variety of legal topics that will benefit the Deaf and DeafBlind communities. The videos include information on the CLEAR*ASL program, the ADA complaint process, IDEA rights, Social Security Overpayments, and a video geared toward providers sharing 10 Tips for working with Deaf and Deaf-blind clients. The videos are in ASL – with captions, if you click the caption button. We have posted these videos to our NJP YouTube Channel and invite you to take a look at them and to share them within your community if you feel that is appropriate.

• DeafHealth, a completely free resource for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community to provide clear and concise health education in American Sign Language to promote the overall wellness of the Deaf & Hard of Hearing community.

  • Diseases and Understanding Tests: Definitions in ASL

  • Doctors: Find or recommend a Deaf-friendly doctor

  • Ebola: With the latest up-to-date information from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), DeafHealth.org has partnered with Ohio State University Medical Center to create their latest health education videos (Ebola) in ASL.

  • DeafHealth Facebook

• Signs of Technology: Are you interested in learning signs used for technology? HKNC has provided a new reference guide of ASL signs used to describe technology. A series of videos, organized by category and alphabetically, are presented in ASL, voice, text, and with text transcripts of how to produce the signs.

• Fair Housing Video Series for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 12 videos in American Sign Language (ASL) with closed captioning about fair housing rights under the federal Fair Housing Act.

• Social Security, SSI, and Medicare Information: Here is exciting news about SSA’s first American Sign Language video and webinar “Social Security, SSI, and Medicare: What You Absolutely Need to Know About These Vital Programs.” Check one of them out today to learn more about Social Security!

  • Video Link

  • Webinar Link

  • Enrolling into Medicare by Andrew Tartella
    

  Guide Dogs

  • Guiding Eyes for the Blind

  • The Seeing Eye, Inc.

  • Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc.

  • Leader Dogs for the Blind

  
  

  Interpreting Agencies

  • ASL Interpreter Network

  • Sign-On

  • THAT!

  Other Resources

  • Pro-Tactile: The DeafBlind Way

  • National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness

  • Washington Sensory Disabilities Services: This is a statewide educational department providing various services to schools and students who are deaf or hard of hearing, blind or partially sighted, and deaf-blind.

  • Washington Technical Access Foundation: This program provides low interest loans for any disabled consumers to purchase technical equipment. For DB people, this can be CCTVs, computers, software, vibrating signaling devices, pagers, all sorts of things to promote independent living. WATF is DB-friendly and happy to consult with DBSC if you request it.

  • DeafBlindInfo.org: Current resource guides on DeafBlindInfo.org include guides for parents of deaf-blind children, as well as deaf-blind adults, senior citizens, and youth. Deaf-blind consumers may also benefit from “Tools to Independence,” a list of essential contacts for deaf-blind independence. Minnesota’s online resource of deaf-blind services and community has a new look! The site now has easier access and lookup for the 100+ resources listed.

  • The Deaf Northwest News: A website, newsletter, & mailing list including information from event announcements, news, sports, state school for the deaf news & sports, press releases, state and local newspapers, advertisements, classified ads, business news, education news, technology news, sports news, religious news, ADA, local/state government news, and job opportunities of interest to the deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing, late-deafened, speech-challenged, and professionals in audiology/speech-language pathology/communication disorders in the Northwest (local/state).

  • DBInews: DBInews is a monthly e-newsletter featuring deaf-blind columnists and commentaries. Subscribe to Newsletter

  • Turbo Tax: Offers some really helpful tax tips for the deaf, hard of hearing, and their families.