Posted on 04/09/2009 1:07:13 PM PDT by Dallas59
Apparently the meaning of that small gesture is not taught at the FW Police Academy.
I was privy to a very funny conversation when I worked EMS. They had a deaf patient and the two Paramedics got into an argument:
“I can’t understand him. He’s deaf”
“What difference does that make? You aren’t deaf. Tell him to speak louder”
“How can I tell him to speak louder if he is deaf?”
“Yell it at him”
I have a mostly deaf uncle so I talked to the guy. That started another argument about how I could talk to deaf people. It turned out they were having fun at my expense. The dual hearing aids on one of the paramedics should have clued me in.
That’s not ASL — that’s the alphabet in sign...
“American Sign Language” is not spelling words by each letter of the alphabet. It’s a “language” with its own words and syntax, and is different from English...
Maybe a simple window placard would solve the problem.
Now, that’s part of ASL...
Ahhh...Learned something...
Sure. And perhaps cops who also understand the serve portion of protect and serve.
In general, our country has turned the “who’s the servant of who” upside down.
This needs to be righted. I don’t think it can be restored “gradually”.
It would also make the occupants of a vehicle easy prey by the known population of nut-cases in America.
I’m partial to ASL, since that was my first language that I learned... English was my second... :-)
No, just another JBT with a badge.
You said — It would also make the occupants of a vehicle easy prey by the known population of nut-cases in America.
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On the other hand, it’s kinda hard to miss a group of deaf people in a car... LOL.. < hands waving all over the place... >
They now have that problem solved :
"Criado said officers now have access to language interpreters who can get to a scene within 30 minutes of a traffic stop. "
See? /s
D Rider, you were quoting — “Criado said officers now have access to language interpreters who can get to a scene within 30 minutes of a traffic stop. “
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Well, I know that’s not a real solution, like you were indicating... but, it’s also impressive that they can get someone out like that in just 30 minutes... That’s no mean feat, actually (to get an interpreter out there that quick). That interpreter is getting paid well for that, too. I think I should get into it (if I were younger... that is...).
But, the police should be made aware of how to recognize that, right off the bat and know *something* that they can recognize initially. Then the deaf community also needs to be made aware of how to interact with officers, too — that part is definitely needed along with the officer training.
Or they could be Italians :)
It’s a bad situation all around IMO. If there is some sort of ‘signal’ it will quickly be found out and disseminated, thus nullifying it’s purpose. Maybe special tags? I don’t know...
For the uninitiated... yes, perhaps...
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A little secret — is that if you know ASL, you can “eavesdrop” on a conversation, from across the room... :-)
Most of the time they’ll assume you have no idea what they’re saying, so you can see them talk about “you”, if they notice you watching them... LOL..
Its not unusual at all for LEOs to use steroids to bulk up like wrestlers on WCW and its a common aftereffect of steroid use to be overly aggressive.
I would think that this should be a case for more stringent policies of the misuse of steroids and officials that are entrusted to be intelligent keepers of the law.
You said — It’s a bad situation all around IMO. If there is some sort of ‘signal’ it will quickly be found out and disseminated, thus nullifying it’s purpose. Maybe special tags? I don’t know...
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Well, I was thinking more like something along the lines of “deaf” (just like that sign given up above). And also, deaf people also know how to “sign” for hearing people, too — when a hearing person doesn’t know ASL... :-)
The deaf person can put his hand more directly to his mouth and to his ears, making it exaggerated to indicate that he’s deaf, while shaking his head “no”. That was more along the lines I was thinking about, without requiring him to reach into his pocket, which the cop could think indicates reaching for a weapon.
And then, if needed, they could then wait for an interpreter. If the guy wasn’t deaf, it would be found out at that time, when the interpreter got there.... LOL..
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And that reminds me of a funny story. Sometimes some people have these cards that say that they’re deaf and there was a guy that went through the neighborhood that had this card and he came up to me outside in the yard and flashed the card and was asking for money.
So, I just started with the ASL with him... and got him “flabbergasted” in the process. Of course, he wasn’t so deaf after all.... LOL..
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But, then again, there are some “deaf people” (whom the deaf community doesn’t really consider to be “deaf” — but rather a hearing person who became deaf) — who had a problem later in life. This kind of person never learned how to be “deaf” and thus is more like a “hearing person with a handicap” — rather than a deaf person in a deaf community — as there is a big difference there.
That kind of person doesn’t really know sign language very well (normally) and may not even be able to do ASL, much less “Sign English” (or Siglish, as I have heard it called...).
So, you can have a wide variety of “deaf people” — but “I” (and other deaf people) don’t really consider that “other person” (that I was describing) to be a “deaf person” really...
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