Visor Cards—Bridging the Communications Gap When Stopped by the Police

© July 2005 by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. (Revised February 2008)

Question: I am hard of hearing. If I am stopped by the police at night, what is the best way for me to let the police know that I can't hear their orders. I don't want to be manhandled or shot for deliberately disobeying orders I cannot hear.—S. D.

Answer: Good question. Let me answer by playing this same scenario twice, but with two very different outcomes. First, picture this one.

Late one stormy night you are driving home alone. Suddenly red and blue flashing lights punctuate the darkness behind you. You don't know whether you are being pulled over for speeding, for having a broken tail light, or because you are driving a car that looks suspiciously like the get-a-way vehicle seen fleeing from the scene of a nearby convenience store robbery.

You immediately pull over to the side of the road and stop. You can't see a thing as you are blinded by the headlights behind you. You don't hear the police officers ordering you to get out of your car and walk backwards towards them. Because you do not follow their directions, the police officers treat you as a threat to them, and in your case, storm your car, drag you from your vehicle, throw you to the ground and handcuff you.

This never should have happened—but did—because the police officers thought you were deliberately disobeying them, and therefore must be hiding something. It never crosses their minds that you neither heard nor understood them because you have a hearing loss.

Does this happen in real life. You bet. For example, Terrence Cantrell, who is deaf, said police once stopped him because his car was the same model as the vehicle of a theft suspect. Officers pointed their guns at him as he tried to tell them he was deaf. "Without the ability to communicate, I was frozen," he related.

Here is another man's experience. He relates: "I got pulled over and my deaf ears thought the officer on the loud speaker told me to get out of the car. So I got out with my hands in the air like a good criminal. The cop quickly pulled his gun out and aimed it right in my face! He then told me 'I told you to stay in the car'.  He drew his pistol out so fast he could have accidentally bumped the trigger and killed me. My 3-year old son was in the car with me and saw the whole thing."

Here's yet another real-life example. It this case police were also looking for a vehicle that matched this man's vehicle. In this case, police were looking for an armed suspect. Here's how the Modesto Bee paper article began: "One rainy night last spring, a swarm of Modesto police cars descended on a truck that was heading north. The pickup stopped and the officers ordered the driver to get out with his hands up.

Modesto resident Harry "Dan" Tessien sat in his truck, waiting.

Officer Daniel Starr repeated his order several times.

Tessien sat in his truck, waiting.

Starr gave his order in Spanish.

Tessien sat in his truck, waiting.

Officer Yair Oaxaca fired a beanbag shotgun at the pickup's back window, sending a spray of shattered glass throughout the cab.

Tessien leapt out of his seat, and Oaxaca fired a beanbag into his abdomen. Officer Rodney Garcia delivered two more rounds because Tessien still had not raised his hands.

Oaxaca and Garcia delivered six more rounds, according to their reports, hitting the man in the torso and legs as he ran for cover and ducked under the front bumper of his truck."¹

Now picture the first scenario above, but this time using a visor card to get the police officer's attention. It's another dark, stormy night when you are pulled over. This time, you know exactly what to do. After you have stopped, you immediately reach up and pull your sun visor down, unhook the end and swing it to face your side window. You open your driver's-side window all the way, turn on the dome light, then put both of your hands in plain sight on the steering wheel and wait.

You don't move, even though you are apprehensive, because you faintly hear, but can't understand, any of the instructions blaring from the police loud-hailer. Finally a police officer approaches your door. He shines his flashlight in your window. Instead of dragging you out of your car, he reads the sign attached to your visor. Immediately his demeanor changes. Why? Because he now knows the reason you did not obey his orders. Your visor card, in big, bold letters declares, "Driver is Hard of Hearing."

You can't blame the police for being careful. Theirs is a dangerous job, especially at night. Thus, it is vitally important to establish at the outset that your communications needs are totally different from those of people with normal hearing.

This is where your visor card silently, but effectively, works on your behalf. The front of the card immediately alerts police officers to the fact that there is a communication problem; tells them what the communication problem is; and gives them instructions on how to effectively overcome this problem.

Obtaining Visor Cards of Your Own

Now that you've seen just how well visor cards can work for hard of hearing people, you're probably thinking, "I want one too!" Your next question likely will be, "Where can I get visor cards for my vehicle?"

Although visor cards are available from various agencies in a few states, these cards have one major fault. They lump deaf and hard of hearing people together, as though both groups have similar communication needs. This is just not true.

Now, however, the Center for Hearing Loss Help has designed two different visor cards. One specifically spells out the communication needs of hard of hearing people. The other one specifically spells out the communication needs of deaf people. Download the card that best meets your communications needs.

1. Hard of Hearing Visor Card

Obtain a free copy of the hard of hearing visor card by clicking on this link (http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/articles/visorcardhoh.pdf), or

(If you prefer, you can purchase a Hard of Hearing Visor Card Pak already made up. The pak includes 1 Hard of Hearing laminated visor card; 1 laminated wallet card; and a typeset copy of this article on how to use your visor card. The Hard of Hearing visor card pak is just $4.00 (plus S&H).  Order your Hard of Hearing visor card pak here.)

2. Deaf Visor Card

Obtain a free copy of the deaf visor card by clicking on this link (http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/articles/visorcardeaf.pdf).

(If you prefer, you can purchase a Deaf Visor Card Pak already made up. The pak includes 1 laminated Deaf visor card; 1 laminated wallet card; and a typeset copy of this article on how to use your visor card. The Deaf visor card pak is just $4.00 (plus S&H).  Order your Deaf visor card pak here.)

Each 2-page visor card file is in PDF format. (You need Adobe's free Acrobat Reader, or equivalent program, in order to read PDF files. Most computers have this software already installed. If yours doesn't, click here to download your free copy of Acrobat Reader (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html).

Print out pages 1 and 2 on regular paper and glue them back to back. (A glue stick works great for this purpose.) Even better, print pages 1 & 2 back-to-back on a sheet of heavier paper (80# card stock works great). Then you don't have to bother gluing the pages together.

Cut along the line on page 1 to trim your Visor Card to the correct size.

As a bonus, the bottom part of pages 1 & 2 contain a similar card for you to carry in your wallet. Follow the same procedures you used for the Visor Card.

Then, to make your cards more durable, and to protect them from rain, laminate them on both sides. Office supply stores such as Office Depot, Staples or OfficeMax and some quick print shops such as Kinkos will laminate your cards for you while you wait.

Incidentally, you can have both a Visor Card and a Wallet Card laminated at the same time for one price as they will both fit onto an 8½ x 11 inch sheet of laminate. (Staples laminated both my Visor Card and Wallet Card for just $1.00.)

When you get home, cut out your cards.

While you are at it, you can download a full-color 4-page brochure of this article to read and remind yourself how to properly use your visor cards—courtesy of the Palm Beach County, FL Sheriff's Office.

Correctly Placing Your Visor Cards

Your Visor Cards is useless unless they are instantly available whenever you need them. You don't want to have to rummage around in the glove box or under the seat when you are pulled over. (Police officers may think you are reaching for a gun and act accordingly.)

The Visor Card is called a visor card for good reason. You attach it to your sun visor. That way, it is normally out of sight, yet instantly available when needed.

Here's how to mount it. Fold down your sun visor. Place the Visor Card on your sun visor—right side up facing you when your visor is down. Hold it in place with two elastic bands around both the Visor Card and sun visor.

With the sun visor up, your Visor Card is hidden out of sight so you are not advertising the fact that you are hard of hearing, but it is in place, ready for instant use whenever you need it.

Two Visor Cards are Better than One

So far, I have talked about using just a visor card on the driver's side. However, you should consider having two visor cards—one for each side. Here's why.

If you are stopped along a busy highway, especially one with narrow shoulders, sometimes the police officer may go to the passenger-side window because it is safer. Police officers have been hit by vehicles whizzing past, so in such situations, they may choose to play it safe and come to the passenger-side window. As a result, you will want to have Visor Cards for each side of your car.

In addition, if the police suspect that you are driving a get-a-way car, for example, two police officers may approach your vehicle at the same time, one on each side. This is another excellent reason to have two visor cards displayed, so both police officers instantly know you can't hear.

Using Your Visor Cards

If you are ever stopped by the police, follow these steps in this order.

1. Pull over and stop safely. (If it is dark and you are able to, stop under a street lamp, or pull into a lighted parking area. This will make it easier for you to speechread.)

2. Immediately flip your sun visor down, unhook the end by the rearview mirror, and swing it over so your Visor Card is clearly visible in the driver's side window. If you have two visor cards and you think a police officer will come to the passenger side, deploy that visor too. Even better, deploy both visor cards every time you are stopped. That way, you have your bases covered, no matter what happens.

3. Open your driver's side window all the way. (Police officers get very nervous with today's dark windows!) Also open the passenger's-side window if you flipped that visor down as well.

4. If it is dark, turn on your dome light.

5. Place both of your hands on the steering wheel well before any police officer approaches your vehicle. Police officers want to see both your hands at all times. The safest place is to put them on the wheel at the standard driving positions of 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. Keep your hands on the wheel until after you establish effective communication with the police officer. Have the officer remove your Visor Card and read the instructions on the back so he knows how to effectively communicate with you.

That's all there is to it! You may never have to use your visor cards, but if you ever do get pulled over, you are prepared. You can "hang loose" and let your Visor Cards do the work of bridging the initial communications gap with the police.

References:

¹ Deaf man shot with beanbags at traffic stop sues Modesto police. April 22, 2007. The Modesto Bee, Modesto, CA. http://deafnn.wordpress.com/2007/04/22/deaf-man-shot-with-beanbags-at-traffic-stop-sues-modesto-police-the-modesto-bee/
 

This 1888 photo released by the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston shows Helen Keller when she was eight years old, left, holding hands with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, during a summer vacation to Brewster, Mass., on Cape Cod. A staff member at the society discovered the photograph in a large photography collection recently donated to the society.  (New England Historic Genealogical Society-Boston)

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Researchers have uncovered a rare photograph of a young Helen Keller with her teacher Anne Sullivan, nearly 120 years after it was taken on Cape Cod. The photograph, shot in July 1888 in Brewster, shows an 8-year-old Helen sitting outside in a light-colored dress, holding Sullivan's hand and cradling one of her beloved dolls.

Experts on Keller's life believe it could be the earliest photo of the two women together and the only one showing the blind and deaf child with a doll — the first word Sullivan spelled for Keller after they met in 1887 — according to the New England Historic Genealogical Society, which now has the photo.

"It's really one of the best images I've seen in a long, long time," said Helen Selsdon, an archivist at the American Foundation for the Blind, where Keller worked for more than 40 years. "This is just a huge visual addition to the history of Helen and Annie."

For more than a century, the photograph has belonged to the family of Thaxter Spencer, an 87-year-old man in Waltham.

Spencer's mother, Hope Thaxter Parks, often stayed at the Elijah Cobb House on Cape Cod during the summer as a child. In July 1888, she played with Keller, whose family had traveled from Tuscumbia, Ala., to vacation in Massachusetts.

Spencer, who doesn't know which of his relatives took the picture, told the society that his mother, four years younger than Helen, remembered Helen exploring her face with her hands.

In June, Spencer donated a large collection of photo albums, letters, diaries and other heirlooms to the genealogical society, which preserves artifacts from New England families for future research.

"I never thought much about it," Spencer said in a statement released by the society. "It just seemed like something no one would find very interesting." Spencer has recently been hospitalized and could not be reached for comment.

It wasn't until recently that staff at the society realized the photograph's significance. Advocates for the blind say they had never heard of it, though after they announced its discovery Wednesday they learned it had published in 1987 in a magazine on Cape Cod and a half-century earlier in The Boston Globe. It is unclear whether there was more than one copy of the photograph.

I am a Special Needs Librarian at the Talking Book / Special Needs Library (TBL) of the Jacksonville Public Library.

I am writing to you today to see if you would be interested in helping the library spread the word to the hearing impaired community in Jacksonville about the library system’s Sorenson videophone access and the TBL/Main Library’s monthly closed caption movie for the hearing impaired, their friends and family. 

Each branch, including the Main library, now offers access to a Sorenson videophone. There are two Sorenson videophones in the Main Library; one on the 2^nd floor and one in the Talking Book Library which also offers computer / internet access to individuals with a disability.

Our Closed Caption movie series is held at 1pm in the Main Library’s auditorium on the conference level on the second Saturday of each month. Attendance for these showings has been very poor and we would like to see this improve in order to continue these movies through the rest of the year.

Our current movie, this Saturday, is George of the Jungle 2 and next month’s movie is Star Trek 4. I am always open to movie suggestions however the movie cannot be rated R; must have been produced from a list of approved studios (ex. Paramount, MGM, Miramax, etc.); and be available on DVD somewhere in the library system. I appreciate any assistance that you can give.

Sincerely,

Chris Eaton  

Talking Book / Special Needs Librarian

Jacksonville Public Main Library

Conference Level 063

303 N. Laura St.

Jacksonville, FL 32202

904-630-1999

Those who can't hear phone

can still 'talk,' watching TV

Their use by the deaf community is growing; it's faster than teletype.

By DAVID BAUERLEIN, The Florida Times-Union

At Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, attorney Sharon Caserta can meet in her office with deaf clients and communicate in free-flowing sign language.

Or she can call them by using videophones and converse by sign language at the same rapid speed. The videophones are hooked up to television screens and high-speed Internet connections, enabling Caserta and her client to see each other in clear detail as they sign back and forth.

Videophones might seem like devices straight out of the Jetsons or National Security Council sessions, but for the deaf and hard of hearing, the technology has arrived.

In the past three years, Sorenson Communications of Utah has helped spur the nationwide growth by offering free videophones to the deaf.

Orange Park resident Christine Stevens recently jumped on the bandwagon. She said she's so pleased she hardly ever uses her old technology, which consisted of a teletype machine hooked up to a telephone.

"Soon, it will be covered in dust," said Stevens, who is president of the River City Association of the Deaf.

Stevens and other people with hearing disabilities aren't charged for calls made using their videophones. The Federal Communications Commission requires telephone companies, via their customers, to pay into a national fund that covers the expense for handling the calls.

The fund makes payments to companies, such as Sorenson Communications, that run the relay service. The deaf person contacts a call center where an interpreter answers. The deaf person and the interpreter can see each other on video screens, enabling them to use sign language. The interpreter uses a regular phone line to call the hearing person. The interpreter then relays the conversation between the deaf and hearing person.

Though deaf people can make calls free on the video relay system, they must acquire the necessary equipment and pay for the broadband connection that transmits video.

Sorenson's videophone giveaways originally came with a catch. Recipients could use only Sorenson's interpreters, not rival video relay companies. But this year, Sorenson changed gears and let callers go to any company's interpreters while using the Sorenson videophone.

Sorenson also has expanded its donation of phones to public facilities. For instance, the company gave two videophones for public use at the downtown Jacksonville library. The library system wants to expand the videophones to all 10 regional branch libraries so deaf people without high-speed Internet access at home can take advantage of the technology, said library spokeswoman Stacy Bucher.

Sorenson decides on a contract-by-contract basis whether it will also supply the television needed for the videophone hookup, according to the company. The organization receiving the videophone pays for the Internet connection.

Without videophones, deaf people can still communicate via telephone, but they use a teletype machine that sends and receives text messages. But typing messages is much slower than communicating by sign language, said Jacksonville resident Randy Dickens, who has been using a videophone for a year. He said a phone call that lasts 15 minutes using a teletype machine will take five minutes by videophone.

Dickens turned to Jacksonville Area Legal Aid after he faced legal claims in an automobile accident. The nonprofit organization recently started a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Legal Advocacy Program because many deaf people feel the legal system is too difficult for them to navigate. Caserta, who is fluent in American Sign Language, and Dickens said the videophones made it much easier for them to talk over the telephone. They didn't have to stop and start while exchanging text messages, and they understood each other more clearly because facial expressions and body posture play important roles in sign language.

david.bauerlein@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4581