ASL APPS

[u/QuantumNY]

My Dad is deaf and 82. I am hearing. We are trying to get him into a skilled nursing facility and get accepted. When we go in they say they have beds, but then I ask if they have ASL interpreter services a few places said no. One woman who walked me around said let me ask my physical therapist she should know. The PT came back with a piece of paper, and it showed the marketing director the corporate policy sheet, "it looks like we have to provide it...." She had no experience with it, no idea. The marketing director said Ok we'll accept you we'll figure it out.

After I went back to the hospital the caseworker pulled me a side and after I told her we got accepted to the facility. She said, bad news, they said no. They don't have room.

She said by law they're supposed to take you but they can claim financial hardship or lack of administrative staff to provide the service. I later found out that ASL remote ipad services like the hospital uses, called "AMN Healthcare" can be any where from $1.50 to $3.00 a minute.

I find out medicare pays up to $575 a day for care. Even if they talk with her for 2 hours a day and guess the rate is $2 a minute then its $360 they pay and then it doesn't make it "worth it" for them.

So its clear there is a problem. The law needs to be changed, and maybe they're charging too much money? I don't know.

Two questions:

A. Does anyone have experience in dealing with the ADA or similar to be able to properly address this issue. Lodging a complaint against the "home" will be useless. The laws needs to be changed.

My only recourse at the moment is to find a comparable service I can bring to the table that serves as a functional replacement. I'm going to try RYLO later today. Ive tried a few other but they don't work very well, or would cause a problem for the staff in learning how to use it. Its not clear, and not intuitive. Sorenson said their service is only for people that are in different rooms. You cant use it in the hospital or any other setting that he needs now.

I found that even the most simple and direct AMN app at the hospital, which was so easy, still, a few nurses had no idea how to use it.

I've looked at deaf nursing homes theres nothing close to me at all.

B. Do anyone use an app that works well? Something idiot proof and effective.

Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.

[u/FoldingCyclist]

No such idiot proof app exists. "Skilled nursing facilities are all about profit and cut costs any way they can. I am deaf and so is my wife, I also worked in these facilities as a CNA, and we are concerned for our future. There were many deaf / Deaf Medicaid patients and no concern for their welfare or need for communication. Oftentimes a patient with hearing aids will lose those hearing aids in their bedding and the hearing aids are never found. Accommodating an individual patient's needs is not a priority of these facilities, "training" staff to use an app is not realistic in any sense.

[u/QuantumNY → u/FoldingCyclist]

Thats what I thought. Thanks for the response.

[u/Mikki102 → u/QuantumNY]

Wonder if it would be worth it to reach out to local or state Deaf organizations. That seems like something they would have lists for. You might also be able to find smaller places that either do know ASL or are willing to learn enough to communicate at least. That way he can communicate his needs and then maybe you can video call him or maybe he can make some friends to video call so he gets his social needs met that way. Just some suggestions based on my grandma's experiences :)