Impact of COVID-19 on DeafBlind individuals

The sense of touch is extremely important to DeafBlind individuals. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are strict guidelines nationwide mandated by all levels of government that discourages physical contact and encourages physical distancing. How have those changes impacted DeafBlind individuals? 

 A DeafBlind man from Washington state, Ryan Bondroff, said the pandemic has impacted him as a whole because he relies 100 percent on “everything tactile.” He said Washington state provides Support Service Providers (SSPs) and Communication Facilitators (CF) as an essential service so he is able to continue to have his own SSP who he trusts. Bondroff said it is an ongoing challenge for DeafBlind folks on whether to fully comply with social distancing or to have contact with family, friends, and interpreters. 

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 Last week Gallaudet University informed DeafBlind students who are still residing on campus that the university would temporarily suspend providing Support Service Providers (SSPs) and in-person tactile accommodations due to COVID-19 concerns.

(Gallaudet University has been a sponsor to “The Daily Moth” for the past two years.)   

Gallaudet University said in a statement sent to “The Daily Moth” that “Gallaudet is not positioned to provide (tactile service providers such as CDIs or SSPs) with the necessary personal protective equipment, such as facemasks, to allow them to safely work closely together, especially at a time when the rest of the nation is facing a shortage of the same equipment.” Gallaudet said they have been in touch with each DeafBlind student to work out “alternative, effective ways for them to continue their education.” 

 I was in touch with three different DeafBlind students at Gallaudet to understand more about how this decision have affected them. 

The first DeafBlind student is Philip Wismer, a sophomore transfer student. He has low vision and can communicate via video. He explained that there are five DeafBlind students on campus out of 56 students who are still on campus. Most students have gone home. He said typically uses a CDI for his in-person classes, but now with remote classes, he now uses a setup that involves three screens — one for a Zoom gallery view of his class, one for the PowerPoint slides, and one for a FaceTime call with his CDI interpreter. He said it’s a big change but he is feeling optimistic. 

A graduate student, Jamie Groff, said in an email that it knocked the wind out of him when he found out that his CDI/SSP services were “cut.” He said a CDI/SSP allows him to have one-on-one communication with his professors. Groff said that it is already difficult for a DeafBlind person to pursue academic endeavors and that now things are much harder. He said this is not new to him as throughout his life he has had to figure out backup accommodation plans many times. He said that he would continue to carry on with his courses and work on his master’s thesis. 

The third DeafBlind student is a freshman named Ali Goldberg. He said in an email that he is “fully Deaf-Blind” and that social distancing has made him feel isolated and really alone. He said that his classes now provide him with transcripts and larger screens, but explained that larger screens does not help him because he is totally blind. He said a CDI enables him to have one-on-one conversations with his instructors and to understand his assignments in ASL, but doesn’t have that now. Goldberg said he feels anxiety about the future because he doesn’t know what is going to happen. 

Gallaudet University said in the statement provided to “The Daily Moth” that they have met with each student and recognizes that some alternative methods provided for their education may not be the ideal way. They said they acknowledge that DeafBlind students has had a “disparate impact” but that they are open to their feedback. 

A Gallaudet official told me that it is their understanding that SSPs are an essential service in medical settings, but that it is unclear in educational settings. The official said the bottom line is that if they couldn’t guarantee the safety and health of students, they couldn’t provide the services.

So, clearly it’s a very difficult and sensitive issue that the students and the university are dealing with during the pandemic.

I was in touch with NTID/RIT to ask if they currently have DeafBlind students who are staying on campus. They explained in an email that they have less than 20 deaf and hard-of-hearing students on campus and cannot disclose specific student information. They said that as they do through the general academic year, they work to match the needs of each student with their unique needs.

The DeafBlind Interpreting National Training and Resource Center directed me to a paper with statements from DeafBlind leaders on how to respond to the pandemic. 

A DeafBlind leader and consultant, Jelica Nuccio, said DeafBlind individuals and interpreters would need to wear a mask and wash their hands before and after an appointment. Both needs to be aware to not touch their faces. 

A DeafBlind author and poet, John Lee Clark, said he thinks that DeafBlind people may be “targeted” with concerns and questions on social distancing because they are tactile people. He said that they’ve had to fight for the right to speak Pro-Tactile (PT) and that now it may be that they have to fight even more for it. Clark said that we need to recognize “that there are people for which touch is life itself.” He said our government and many institutions are not good with sensitive, nuanced approaches, and have the strongest tendency to go for one answer, one solution.

A DeafBlind mentor and educator with the DBI, Jason “Jaz” Herbers, said that when following any protocol or practice, it is “critical to include respect for communication and the DeafBlind person’s autonomy and be sure to inform the DeafBlind person of this protocol.”  

The National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes at the University of Texas wrote in an article that tactile interpreters and SSPs are considered essential workers, but the safety of the interpreter, SSP, and DeafBlind student should always be a priority. The NDC also said it is important to be flexible, consider a trial-and-error approach to identify what works best for the student, and investigate options depending on the method of instruction.” 

So, we can see that DeafBlind individuals are experiencing a deeper level of impact during this COVID-19 pandemic. 

DBI: https://www.hearingloss.org/wp-content/uploads/DeafBlind_Interpreting_guidelines.pdf

NDC: https://mailchi.mp/nationaldeafcenter/your-questions-answered-deafblind-students-changing-accommodations?e=394986d08a

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