This was written in the early 2000’s this segment was recorded over and I no longer have the video. It originally aired on Rogers Television on a news program called Focus NB.
Lead: There are many disabilities faced by New Brunswickers. One of the most noticeable is cultural deafness. Our Reporter Charles Frees-Melvin brings us the difficulties faced by the Deaf in day-to-day life.
Stand-up: Deafness is a condition faced by several hundred residents in this province. Many people are unaware of some of the difficulties faced by these people. Gerald Frazee stressed that the biggest concern is the need of interpreters to be present.
Gerald: (48:47-48:59) 12 sec
“Culturally I am deaf and a lot of what goes on in the world I perceive with my eyes, so probably the biggest concern for me would to make sure interpreters are present”
VO: Mr. Frazee can’t stress enough the troubles he would faces trying to cope with day-to-day life without an interpreter.
Gerald: (49:08-49:21) 13 sec
“Oh, Gosh it’s chaos, the communication breaks down, writing back and forth isn’t adequate enough only having an interpreter there are we able to interpret adequately.”
VO: Joanne Burke also agrees with the need for interpreters.
Joanne: (49:24-49:55) 31 sec
“Without the interpreter present I have to rely fully on my Children, and it’s not their responsibility they’re not professionally trained so we have to hire a professionally trained interpreter. and then we can communicate and make designs that we need. For us English is our second language, and not necessarily do we know it so by having the interpreter present, being able to communicate in our language of American sign language we have the confidence to make the decision we need to make.”
VO: Another difficulty is the lack of Public Tele-Type devices so the deaf can make phone calls. Mike Clark definitely thinks that stores and malls should be equipped with these devices for their deaf patrons.
Mike: (59:15-59:41) 26 sec
“A lot of deaf people go into stores or into companies and they have absolutely no devices for us to make phone calls. We must have a teletypewriter. It is a device that deaf people use to make phone calls we need to make in public.”
VO: (Insert Name) and (Insert Name) say they want to see devices installed so that they can become more independent. And that New Brunswick is far behind other provinces in meeting their needs.
Group 3: (04:29-05:21) 52 sec.
“In Ontario they have a lot of services for deaf individuals, flashing alarms for fire in public places, TTY to make calls. When they are in the public however in Saint John there is nothing isn’t anything like that for deaf people, no fire alarms, TTY, every time I have to go to the mall, I have to get a hearing person to make a call for me, but I want to be independent. I don’t want to have to rely on someone else.”
Stand up: A special thanks to Interpreter Shelly Williams for assisting us with the interpretations. In Saint John, I’m Charles Frees-Melvin, for Focus NB.
