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We don’t often think about the impact that the coronavirus has on deaf people. It causes them to face extra challenges in their daily lives, especially if they end up in the hospital. Most of the nurses and doctors in hospitals do not know American Sign Language (ASL), which is always a challenge when medical professionals have to communicate with deaf patients.
For all the other deaf people at home, they must rely on ASL interpreters to translate spoken words to them in sign language. For instance, if you watch your local news channel, such as Nevada’s News3LV, then you should see ASL interpreters providing life-saving tips and strategies to all deaf viewers who are watching TV at home or via Youtube Videos.
Whenever a governor or some other public official gives a press conference about the coronavirus, there is usually an ASL interpreter close by to interpret their words into sign language for all the deaf viewers out there. There are ASL interpreters at the press briefings of each of the 50 State governors as well.
Strangely enough, the White House press briefings do not have any ASL interpreters.
Unfortunately, many of the coronavirus risk and prevention videos on the internet do not contain sign language. Sure, you could turn on the subtitles if it’s a YouTube video, but the subtitles are not always 100% accurate. The captions are generated automatically by the vocals detected in the video. But if the vocals are difficult to hear, for instance, then the subtitles won’t reflect the actual words spoken.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention has solved this problem by releasing a series of deaf-friendly coronavirus prevention videos. The following YouTube Playlist is the ASL video series that was uploaded by the CDC to inform the deaf community about ways to protect themselves and others during the coronavirus pandemic.
Here are their “Coronavirus Prevent Tips in ASL” series:
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services has also released its own ASL video, which offers essential information about New Hampshire’s stay at home order. It instructs deaf viewers on the only reasons they can leave their homes, such as to seek medical care, purchase food and supplies, and exercise outdoors.
Even if you do not live in New Hampshire, their stay at home order is the same as other States’ stay at home orders. You can get an overview of the rules of the order by visiting:
The internet is a valuable tool for deaf people during such a crisis. You don’t have to rely on the television news channels and hope that an ASL interpreter is available. Instead, you can search the CDC’s YouTube video channel or government websites to find helpful videos with ASL interpreters relaying important information about the coronavirus to the deaf community.
Get Additional Help.
Are you a deaf person who needs to talk to a nurse, doctor, or government official about the coronavirus? If so, then you’ll want to hire a certified ASL interpreter.
Certified ASL interpreters are basically like translators for deaf people. If you need to communicate with someone who doesn’t know sign language, then an ASL interpreter can communicate their words to you through sign language and your words to them through speech. It can all be done through a video conference call via your computer or mobile device. Wherever you are, the service is available to you remotely. It is that simple. Click Here for more information on ASL Video Interpreters.
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