Justin wrote, “Meg from Mandarin Design, has developed an entry on her blog about asking for deaf bloggers to sign in. Her purpose for this is to meet all deaf bloggers and get to know them.”
Her questions with my answers:
Q: Where are you from?
A: Plano, TX. Born and bred in Fort Worth. Lived in Washington, DC for six years, the only time I had exposure to deaf people.
Q: What do you do?
A: Wifing, mothering, writing, editing, and technical writing for Snave Co, a teleco, and meryl.net.
Q: Why do you blog?
A: To learn, share, and inform.
Q: Have you noticed that little symbol on some sites that make you know there is audio? Do you think you are missing anything?
A: Yes and no. We are bombarded with so much information that it’s just something else to overwhelm us. On the other hand, I’d like to be able to listen to select items.
Q: Does your work present any challenges related to IT (or other) ?
A: My company finally installed its own instant messaging system last year and I’ve been with them for five years. Nonetheless, the biggest challenge is not IT. It’s POTS… plain ol’ telephone service. They teleconference like it’s going out of style. A co-worker recently got a promotion to another area because they knew her from the teleconferences.
I’ve been in our group the longest and many don’t know me because I couldn’t join certain committees who met solely by phone. However, I did lead a project team and we were in three states. Thanks to a terrific co-worker’s notes and letting me know what others said, the project was a success. But it was very hard to do it.
Q: Are job interviews any more or less difficult using interpreters?
A: Never used interpreters.
Q: Do you love your work?
A: I love the freelance work I do most of the time. I also love my children and they still drive Paul and me crazy on a regular basis. All jobs are that way even if it’s the perfect job.
Q: Do you work in an environment where you have deaf coworkers?
A: No, but I have in the past.
Meg says, “I’ve also noticed that people will come to me and say ‘Will you tell Curtis..blah, blah, blah.’ Hmm, you can tell him. He reads lips well (unless they have an accent). Then we type on his PC to discuss. It seems to me that he is left out of the loop sometimes.”
This is exactly what I work hard to avoid. I saw this happen to a deaf co-worker years ago in my first job out of college. She worked in HR and covered several departments. When a manager from one of those departments had questions, I saw him talking to her boss instead of her. I don’t want to be viewed as weak and incapable. That’s why I value computers. They’re a great equalizer except for the audio part.