Rikki Poynter: Businesses should be more respectful and accessible to deaf clients

In late August, I flew to New Jersey to see someone for their birthday. I booked us a nice hotel so that we could have a bit of a staycation (a vacation but one that is actually in your area- just not in your actual home).

We arrived at the hotel and as I do in any of these situations, I indicated that I was deaf and I wrote my name on Big (a very deaf friendly app that lets people type what they want to say and it shows up in big font) for them too see.

When I do this, I’m hoping that they’ll be accessible and do the same thing for me. I’ve become voice off more often as voicing has lead hearing people to believe more often than not that I hear much better than I actually can.

Unfortunately, the person at the front desk responded with voice and as I tried to get them to write, they instead moved on to the hearing person with me. All information that I needed to know was said to them and not to me, the person paying for everything.

This is not the first time or place where this has happened. I’ve had this happen at other hotels, in airports, restaurants, and more. No matter how many times I request they turn their attention toward me, they ignore what I have to say and continue on with the other person.

Events like this make me feel small, as if I’m unimportant. It tells me that these people want little to do with me and think that I am some sort of inconvenience. But I am a human being who deserves respect and the right to information like everyone else, especially if it’s my name on the forms and payment.

I encourage and ask all businesses to be more respectful and accessible to their deaf clients. We put in the effort to communicate with you when doing business and the like, so why not do the same?

Rikki Poynter is a 27-year-old deaf and too-much-coffee drinking YouTuber who focuses on deafness, disability, mental health, and child abuse awareness with the occasional pop culture video thrown in. When she’s not filming for YouTube, she’s streaming on Twitch, writing, or speaking at conferences and universities around the country. You can visit her website at http://rikkipoynter.com