Advocacy – Page 84 – Delaware Association of the Deaf (DAD)

November 2, 2020

Hospital Sued For Refusing Interpreters During Hospice Care

Steven Beyer wanted to take care of his mother, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer and referred for hospice care. He could not because Ascension Health and its hospice center refused to provide effective communication to him.

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD), Stein & Vargas, and Iglesia Martell Law Firm represent Mr. Beyer in his lawsuit against Ascension Health. The lawsuit also names the hospital’s subsidiaries including: Ascension Michigan, Ascension Providence Hospital, and Ascension Clinton Township Reverence Home Health and Hospice care.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants violated the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Michigan Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act of 1976. These laws require hospitals and hospice workers to ensure effective communication with deaf and hard of hearing individuals.

Read the rest of the article at https://www.nad.org/2020/11/02/hospital-sued-for-refusing-interpreters-during-hospice-care.

October 25, 2020December 2, 2020

Request for help with Delaware Hospital use survey

We need your help with a survey about your experience using any of the Delaware hospitals around the state. The survey is at https://www.delawaredeaf.org/communication-access-survey.

October 22, 2020

Voter Safety

** If you do not feel safe voting, bring a friend. If you see anyone breaking the law (i.e. weapons, blocking entrance, giving you a hard time) – call 911 or inform election officers (not the election volunteers, supervisors best). Take pictures or video for proof. **

English (original) video from ACLU at https://www.aclu.org/video/voter-intimidation-know-your-rights
More info about voter rights: https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/voting-rights/
NAD has ASL videos covering some of this stuff too. See https://www.nad.org/asl-voter-hotline/
Georgetown University Law wants to know about voter intimidation too. Call their ASL/VP # at 301-818-8683 (from https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2020/10/Voter-Intimidation-Fact-Sheet.pdf)
Rumors vs Reality from CISA (government) – https://www.cisa.gov/rumorcontrol
Example of voter intimidation – https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/20/politics/threatening-emails-sent-to-voters-florida-alaska/index.html
Need more election help – see https://866ourvote.org/

Vote Safely! Do not let anyone stop you from legally voting (consider provisional ballots if they give you a hard time unless your criminal record does not allow you to vote).