TO: Job Placement and Vocational Rehabilitation counselors. What I did for Carrie (see The Story of Carrie), you can do for your unemployed deaf clients, as follows:

1. OPEN UP A NEW HUGE EMPLOYER MARKET AND NEW ENGLISH-ACTIVE JOBS FOR QUALIFIED DEAF JOB-SEEKERS. Job Placement and Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors should open up and develop the vast, new, rich employer market of literally tens of thousands of new employers who never before hired deaf people for any jobs. With the same job placement effort you regularly exhibit, Job Placement Counselors will see more productive and satisfying job placements as they open more employers who offer many new good and better-paying job opportunities for qualified deaf job-seekers.

The key thought and statement Job Placement Counselors should announce to the new employers is, I have a qualified deaf job-applicant who will communicate with you and his co-workers face-to-face in English -- no sign language and no interpreters will be used. He’ll come to you with new keyboard communication equipment for use in a job interview. He’ll tell you his ideas in clear, precise English. He’ll set up this equipment in seconds, and your interviewer and the deaf job applicant will be exchanging information immediately. Make sure that your interviewer can touch-type.

The Most Powerful "Voice" a Deaf Person Can Possibly Have More Effective Than Sign Language More Effective Than Interpreters More Effective Than Oral Skills More Effective Than Computers

Most Powerful because only this "Voice" and nothing else, enables deaf people to communicate face-to-face in clearly understood English with hearing people! This is the "Voice" that gets valuable job interviews and will open up thousands of new, better jobs for deaf people! This is the "Voice" that will break the shackles of isolation and 2nd Class Citizenship to free deaf people to achieve their proudest independence and freedom. TTY's can easily and quickly be modified at virtually no cost to become face-to-face communication equipment. See the schematic diagrams page for more information

The interviewer will have a piece of equipment, the deaf job applicant will have a piece, and the two people will talk face-to-face by keyboard. You will learn that the deaf applicant has talent, skills, ideas and an enthusiastic attitude which you can consider for job openings. Most importantly, he’ll be using the national workplace language, English, face-to-face with his co-workers. He won’t be using sign language and you won’t be using interpreters

2. APPLY AGGRESSIVE SALESMANSHIP. The vast, new, rich employer market will be opened up by using good, old fashioned American salesmanship. An aggressive, smart approach to this never-before-opened-up employer market will open up new good job opportunities for deaf job-seekers. You don’t have to use pressure. Use a soft sell. Youj’ve got a wonderful story to tell, that your job applicants will be using English face-to-face – clear, exacting, precise English.
Again, your basic “sales” message to employers is that you have deaf job applicants who will use English face-to-face in the workplace.

3. TRAIN YOUR DEAF CLIENTS TO USE FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT IN ORDER TO COMMUNICATE FACE-TO-FACE IN ENGLISH WITH HEARING CO-WORKERS. You’ll have to accustom your deaf job-seekers to the idea of using face-to-face communication equipment. They’ve never used this equipment before. Inform your clients that the new jobs you’ll help them get require face-to-face English communication with hearing co-workers, that no sign language and no interpreters are used in these new jobs. Importantly, emphasize that the new jobs feature superior salaries, job conditions and benefits unlike anything you’ve gotten for them in the past.; Tell them that in these new jobs they’ll be acquiring new job skills that lead to upward mobility promotions and greater job security.
Set up two pieces of equipment for use by you and your deaf client.

Use GA just as you would during telephone calls. Both you and your client will get a good idea of how your client performs with you in such a setting. Tell him that this is how easy it is to commujnicate in a real job interview.

4. MOCK JOB INTERVIEWS -- GETTING YOUR JOB APPLICANT ACCUSTOMED TO JOB INTERVIEWS IN ENGLISH. Have face-to-face communication equipment on hand ready to be used. You’ll need at least two units of this equipment. Use the equipment in special Mock Job Interviews to prepare and train deaf job-seekers for successful job interviews. Have a hearing person unknown to the applicant play the role of an interviewer. Tell the applicant that this is only a training exercise which will prepare him for real job interviews with hearing employers, that the hearing “interviewer” is only playing a role.

5. TELL THE DEAF JOB APPLICANT THAT YOU ARE LOANING HIM THE EQUIPMENT FOR JOB INTERVIEWS AND, IF HE IS HIRED, HE’LL USE THE EQUIPMENT IN THE WORKPLACE. When the employer replaces the equipment with equipment of his own, then and only then should he return the equipment.

6. WHEN YOU LINE UP A JOB INTERVIEW for a deaf job applicant, tell the employer that the interviewer should be able to touch-type. Remind the employer that no sign language and no interpreters will be used in the interview, and that if he hires the applicant, the applicant will use the equipment in the workplace to communicate face-to-face with his hearing co-workers in English..
Tell the employer that the equipment is on loan to the job applicant, that he will return the equipment only when the employer replaces the equipment with equipment of his own. The employers will welcome these facts. Remind the employer that under the Americans With Disabilities Act he gets a tax write-off on the purchase of equipment.

7. KEEP IN MIND THAT THE NEW EMPLOYERS WANT TO HELP DEAF PEOPLE IN NEED, and that now, with appropriate communication equipment available to them, they can hire qualified deaf people for English-active jobs. Importantly, you should understand that these new never-before-opened- up employers will hire qualified deaf people for jobs where hearing ability is not a mandatory requirement for employment. THESE EMPLOYERS WILL HIRE ENGLISH-USING DEAF PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH!

WHO ARE THESE NEW “UNUSED” EMPLOYERS?

There are literally tens of thousands of “unused” good new employers “out there” who:
(1) Don’t have interpreters on their payrolls or in their workplaces.
(2) Don’t want interpreters.
(3) Never had and don’t want sign language used in the
workplace.
(4) Will not hire an interpreter just to put a deaf person on the payroll.
(5) These employers need and want clear understandable English communicated in their workplaces. They don’t care if the employee is deaf or hearing. As long as he communicates face-to-face in clearly understood English, the employer will be satisfied. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT DELIVERS – COMMUNICATIONS WHICH ARE CLEARER AND MORE EXACTING THAN SPOKEN ENGLISH BECAUSE IT’S PRINTED!
(6) These employers will purchase and introduce good inexpensive keyboard communication equipment to their workplaces for face-to-face use in order to hire qualified deaf job-seekers..
(7) THESE EMPLOYERS WILL HIRE QUALIFIED DEAF JOB-
APPLICANTS FOR ALL KINDS OF JOBS WHICH PAY GOOD MONEY.
Here are some ideas on how to open up this vast, rich new market of employers for qualified deaf job-applicants.

GIVE THESE NEW EMPLOYERS WHAT THEY WANT

1. Give them qualified deaf employees who are fully prepared,
because you trained them, to use face-to-face communication equipment in the workplace.
2. You may want to give certain of these employers the equipment as a gift as an incentive to hire a deaf job applicant for a job. Or, if may be sufficient to tell them where to get the equipment, or to use free schematic diagrams provided by Modern Deaf Communication to modify used TTYs to become face-to-face communication equipment.. The modification diagrams appear in this website. This is something you may want to do yourself in order to insure that you have a supply of face-to-face communication equipment on hand ready to be used. Depending on your situation and pending the availability of equipment to Modern Deaf Communication, we will loan you the equipment if we have a supply on hand..

A WORD ABOUT ORAL SKILLS

It’s a known fact: 30% of what ‘s spoken by hearing people is missed by deaf people with good oral skills. Experienced employers are aware of this fact, and missed English is intolerable for many employers. While oral skills are acceptable in some jobs, there are many good jobs where oral skills don’t help. These jobs require clear, precise, exacting English communications which are clearly understood all the time. This is precisely what face-to-face communication equipment delivers.
THERE ARE EMPLOYERS WHO WON’T OBJECT AND WILL WELCOME ORAL SKILLS, BUT MOST EMPLOYERS WITH THE BIG, GOOD JOBS PAYING GOOD MONEY DEMAND EXACTING. PRECISE ENGLISH ALL THE TIME If a deaf employee has good oral skills and good writing-typing skills, all the better! But the crucially needed skills are
reading, writing, typing and thinking using face-to-face communication equipment for the delivery of clear, exacting English all the time.

NOTE: Face-to-face communication equipment can be hooked up for one-on-one communica¬tion, or conference communications among 3 or more people. As many units of equipment as are needed can easily be hooked up together in a conferencing arrangement. Also, a printer can easily be installed to record one-on-one or conferencing communications, Employers will like the idea of having a printout of conversations among employees discussing some problem.

Remember that the equipment is battery-operated as well as 110 volt A.C. operated. It is lightweight and portable, and can easily be toted and used anywhere. A plain telephone wire with a modular plug on each end connects one piece of equipment to another for desk-to-desk or room-to-room or face-to-face.use.

YOUR DEAF CLIENTS DON’T NEED A COLLEGE EDUCATION
TO GET A GOOD JOB. IF THEY CAN COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH, THEY ARE WINNING!

Certainly, a college education helps, but if the deaf job-seeker has keyboard English skills and has used a TTY, with face-to-face equipment in the workplace he can get a superior job paying a superior salary offering greater challenge and job-satisfaction than any of the jobs which preceding generations of the deaf ever got in the past. With English skills, the deaf job-seeker can choose from among thousands of good employers who never before hired deaf people for any jobs. He’ll be using English
face-to-face in the workplace and earning a good salary — exactly what employers and deaf people want in the 21st Century.

GETTING STARTED. A JOB PLACEMENT COUNSELOR NEEDS AT LEAST 2 PIECES OF
FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT.

First things first. The Job Placement Counselor must acquire at least 2 two pieces of equipment (TTYs modified for face-to-face communication which can still be used to make phone calls). The Job Placement Counselor should have this equipment ready for use at any time. A Modern Deaf Employment Program cannot get underway until the Job Placement Counselor has this equipment on hand.
Walker-Ameriphone is the only manufacturer currently producing TTYs featuring face-to-face communication circuitry.

This is their Q90D model. It costs under $200 per unit at various outlets. Two Q90s hooked up together cost $400. If a deaf service agency is short on cash to purchase the Q90s, I suggest the acquisition of used TYYs in good working order which can be modified to become good face-to-face communication equipment. Gratis schematic diagrams showing how to modify TTYs to become good usable equipment appear in this website. Copies can be printed directly from the monitor screen..

The TTYs to be modified must operate on the same operating voltage. Ultratec TTYs operate on 9 volts d.c., Krown units operate on 6 volts d.c. DO NOT MIX DIFFERENT OPERATING VOLTAGES.
Give the deaf job applicant 2 pieces of face-to-face communication equipment which he will “live with.” Make sure the equipment batteries are fully charged before the applicant goes into his interviews. Tell him to plug in his TTYs every night for a re-charge. This will keep the batteries properly charged. Tell him to take the adapters along with him when he goes on interviews, that he should not use the adapters unless they are needed.

NOTE: Inform fraternal organizations such as the Lions Club, Kiwanis, Knights of Columbus and others about your new Job Placement Program. They may be glad to assist Job Placement Counselors in lining up new English-only employers. Churches may also assist. Mock Job Training Interviews or actual job interviews can be conducted with equipment on the premises at a deaf service agency, in employers’ offices, or in the office of a fraternal organization or church. These places can also provide people who will play the rfole of Mock Job interviewers.

FOLLOW THROUGH WHEN YOUR CLIENT BECOMES EMPLOYED
IN AN ENGLISH-ACTIVE JOB.

Your job doesn’t end with a job-placement of a client in an English-active job. Besides helping other of your unemployed deaf clients become employed in English-active jobs, you must impress on the job seeker you helped become employed to stay in touch with you, to contact you immediately if there are any problems. Keep in mind that you placed your client in a good job, but don’t forget that he never in his life held such a job. There’s some adjustment to do. Don’t be surprised if your client is a bit insecure at first of the prospect of holding a good, better-paying job. He’ll get over it because you’re there if he needs you – because you’ll help him/her get over being insecure.

MORTON WARNOW IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE
FOR CONSULTATIONS

If you have a problem you’d like to discuss, give me a call. If you haven’t already done so, I suggest that you install the free NEXTALK computer program in your computer. This enables you to make TTY telephone calls anywhere in the country for any duration at no cost. We’ll discuss any problems you have via TTY. It won’t cost you a cent to call me.

WHEN YOUR CLIENT GETS A JOB, SEND HIM A CONGRATULATORY NOTE.

Your client will appreciate this. You’re sending him a written statement via U.S. mail, something he didn’t expect. It’ll make him feel good, and important, feelings he’ll be having more of on the job. He’ll remember you for this.

THE STORY OF YOUR PLACEMENTS OF DEAF JOB-SEEKERS IN ENGLISH-ACTIVE JOBS WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR A NEW PUBLICATION, MODERN DEAF EMPLOYMENT.

Up ahead, Modern Deaf Communication will be introducing a new publication, Modern Deaf Employment. This will be a magazine devoted to informing the deaf community, job placement professionals and others about what’s happening in deaf employment. There will be stories and photos of deaf people at work in English-active jobs and of the Job Placement Counselors’ efforts who helped them become employed. Modern Deaf Employment will help spread the word of something very fine and good happening in the lives of qualified, but unemployed, deaf job-seekers.. These stories will help inspire other unemployed deaf people to go after English-active employment.

BESIDES YOUR EFFORTS TO PLACE DEAF JOB-SEEKERS IN ENGLISH-ACTIVE JOBS, MODERN DEAF COMMUNICATION’S OUTREACH JOB PLACEMENT PROGRAM WILL ALSO BE PITCHING IN.

Elsewhere in this website is a description of Modern Deaf Communication’s Outreach Job Placement Program. Either I or another representative of my organization will respond to qualified deaf job seekers’ calls for help by going to the town where the deaf job seeker lives and do what’s necessary to help him/her become employed in a good English-active job. We’ll get on the phone and line up job interviews. We’ll loan face-to-face communication equipment to the deaf job-seeker for use in job interviews and, if hired, he/she will use the equipment on the job. We’ll train deaf job-seekers in the use of equipment. We’ll set up Mock Job Interviews. The equipment will be returned to us when the employer replaces the equipment with equipment of his own. Interested deaf job-seekers should fill out and return the English-Active Job Assistance Registration Form found in this website.

WE’RE PUTTING THE WORD OUT THAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR JOB PLACEMENT COUNSELORS TO BECOME EMPLOYEES IN OUR OUTREACH JOB PLACEMENT PROGRAM.

These are salaried positions. The Job Placement Counselor can work out of his home. He’ll travel to towns around the country helping unemployed deaf job-seekers become employed in English-active jobs. Our Job Placement Counselors will receive full support. He’ll carry with him equipment to give to the deaf job-seeker (on loan from Modern Deaf Communication) for use in job interviews and, when hired, in the workplace. Anyone interested should contact Morton Warnow directly.

OUR GOAL

We have every intention of wiping out deaf unemployment among qualified deaf job-seekers. Too many of these qualified deaf people are out of work, and some including those with college educations have been unemployed for years. (See The Story of Carrie). There’s no longer any reason why these people cannot be helped to get good English-active jobs earning good money. All wherewithal is available to reach our goal. We believe that before the decade is up, the back of deaf unemployment will be broken. Those on our team will be trailblazers. They will be making history.