Local ASL Translators Work To Inform Community During Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

As new information is released every day on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, two women are in charge of making sure the deaf and hearing impaired community in Tulsa is informed.

At each news conference for the city, you'll see two women beside the mayor using sign language.

KT Laughlin translates the speeches in American Sign Language -- or ASL -- for Glenna Cooper -- Cooper then uses a more conversational former of sign language. Both are with TSHA, or Total Source for Hearing-loss and Access, which provides services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

The women translated for the mayor during 2019's historic flooding; now, they have the difficult task of sharing life-saving information on this pandemic. They said they are grateful the city and the state are using translators, however, they said more needs to be done to share videos online and in hospitals. 

The women said most hospitals and doctors do provide interpreters for the deaf patients but it's important to keep informed. 

They said they are most concerned about the deaf elderly population who are isolated and don't have access to technology.  

“The deaf community is as fearful as you are right now; we have the same concerns but our concerns is about limited access, about the fact that when we would get tested we would not be able to communicate with our providers,” Cooper and Laughlin told News on 6.  

Cooper and Laughlin said the are grateful Mayor G.T. Bynum and Governor Stitt have both used ASL translators during this pandemic. They said it is crucial for the deaf community to have televised news conferences translated because that is the easiest way to get information to them.

However, they said the White House is not using a translator during national news conferences. So, Oklahoma and many other states are pushing for the president to do that.    

“The federal level should be a model to look up to and follow but it seems like the states are the ones doing the right thing and the federal government is not doing what they should be doing. So, that is a little bit of surprise to me,” Cooper and Laughlin explained.

The women said if someone is deaf or hearing impaired and are needing more information about the virus, the CDC and the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) has been providing ASL videos on how to deal with COVID-19.

You can find that link HERE.