Read on Twitter
A thread on why asking a Deaf person: "Why don't you just call them!?!" is insensitive:
First: a disclaimer-- I tweet this as a white signing Deaf person. I also must emphasize that video relay services are essential and many of us do have positive experiences using VRS for calling people. That being said...
The actual experience of connecting on a call with an interpreter is *not* the same as picking up a phone to place a voice call [i.e. hearing person calling another hearing person via audio call]. Here are some reasons:
1. The interpreter can see you on video- and vice versa. That has several implications. The most obvious one being the need to put energy into getting situated. Clothes. Space. Light. Less thought about: the anxiety and sensory triggers that come with adding eye contact.
For someone who is struggling with very low energy- sick, depressed-- getting set up to place or receive a VRS call can be exhausting.
2. The addition of another person (interpreter) adds a layer of unknown that we have to prepare ourselves for. Will it be someone we know (in small communities that can happen). Will the person be skilled? Will the person's gender be a good fit for the call I am about to place?
Some folks find it easy to ask for a different interpreter during the call. Many don't- many of us were socialized to be nice to people- to make sure we don't hurt their feelings. Deaf children are frequently gaslighted to believe the oppression they experience at the hands of
hearing people is really not violence or oppression, just "good intentions/helping" and how dare we be unappreciative!?! -- that is a learned dynamic that gets buried deep within the psyche-- so, no. Not easy to say: please switch interpreters.
Additionally: most interpreters are more skilled at signing ASL than they are at "reading" ASL. The translation is not equal-- so signers are more likely to experience frustration with mis-interpretation / requests to repeat what we sign than hearing people.
3. People and businesses often respond negatively to a VRS call. We get transferred. Hung up on. Yelled at. Talked down to. Questioned about the authnecity of the call.
4. Trying to navigate a call system where you have to "push #x for..." and then end up on hold? Super awkward. And sometimes you have an interpreter that appears annoyed/bored. And then you feel pressured to end the call... for them.
So, no. "Just call them" is not as straightforward as it seems.
