New tool makes employment accessible to locals who are deaf | Western Colorado

But when a restaurant goes out of business, even its best employees have to find new work. Securing a new job shouldn’t take long for someone with experience, gumption and personality like Busick, and yet, he remains unemployed one year later.

While he can’t change it, Busick knows why his countless applications never make it past the interview phase: the would-be employers realize he is deaf.

“Just because I can’t hear, they say, ‘Not Thomas,’ and they’ll skip over me. And that is really hurtful — I’m not dumb, I’m just deaf,” Busick said. “I get really emotional about this. I’m excited about work, and I want people to do it. I don’t want people to sit back and not know what to do.”

He began visiting the Mesa County Workforce Center (512 29½ Road) for assistance, hoping there might be something he was missing that he could actually control.

Busick went through the wringer, mastering mock interviews, perfecting his application and applying to countless additional jobs.

Still, nothing changed.

The workforce center’s Disability Program Navigator, Jeana Brown, saw the disconnect firsthand. Sure, Busick would get courtesy interviews, but it was evident that many employers thought communicating with Busick wasn’t worth the hassle.

“We sat in an interview, he answered the (first) question, and they didn’t even ask another question. They wrapped up the interview, went on their way and got rid of us quickly,” Brown said. “You could tell they just didn’t want to deal with the stress of having to interact with someone who was deaf.”

“It’s unfortunate there are a lot of employers who aren’t willing to give that chance and that effort, because he’s a great asset to have around,” she added. “He’s a great employee, and he knows exactly how to answer all those interview questions; getting the chance to communicate it properly is the struggle.”

According to Brown, in-person interpreters are one of the few ways to overcome the communication barrier with those who don’t speak American Sign Language, the third-most popular language nationwide.

Still, few interpreters exist in the Grand Valley, and coordinating their limited availability with interviews can be yet another factor that makes employers wary.

Taking a significant step in the right direction, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment recently launched a pilot partnership with Aira ASL: a mobile app that connects users with professional ASL interpreters in an instant.

For the first time, Busick used the service in an interview with the Sentinel.

“Our communication has been really effective this way, and this is the first time that I’ve used it. I really like that I can talk to hearing people through my phone,” he said. “It’s really fast, I don’t have to wait to request the service, and I don’t have to waste time.”

While some virtual interpreter tools were available before, Busick said Aira is a major step up in quality because he can access it through a mobile app, on the go and without advanced scheduling.

Other tools, like the video-relay service, are often limited to home use and vastly more complex to use and coordinate with people who don’t know the service, including many employers.

With the new Aira pilot, Busick can access 30-minute or longer interpretation sessions for free at any workforce center or vocational rehabilitation office across Colorado.

“This will make it easier going forward if he lands a job interview,” Brown said. “Instead of arranging for me to follow him to an interview and get an in-person interpreter, I’ll have him invite the employer, or I’ll invite the employer to do the interview here (at the workforce center). They can just sit in a room, and I don’t have to be involved. He can just do his thing.”

Beyond job interviews, Brown added that Aira empowers anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing to access the center’s employment services without barriers or having to depend on others to relay their

needs. This pilot isn’t Colorado’s first Aira experience, as the state offers Aira’s visual interpretation app to Coloradans who are blind or have low vision at all state-operated facilities, including state parks.

The Aira ASL pilot is currently set to end by the start of August, although a state press release said it could be continued, depending on usage and feedback.

Still, even with the virtual advancement, Busick said that a lot of room for improvement remains. At the end of the day, he said much of the existing stigma will persist until people take the time and initiative to engage and understand their deaf community.

Busick added that, in an ideal world, people could at least make an effort to learn some basic sign language. He knows it’s possible, as he has taught many co-workers over the years.

“Most people out there just automatically start talking, and then they’ll be like, ‘Oh, it’s so sad that you’re deaf.’ And I’m like, (you can) sing a song with your hands!” Busick said.

“I needed to communicate with coworkers, so I’d teach them: I’ll show them the alphabet, the signs … and over time, they learn,” he added. “Then, there were all these people who started signing in the restaurant, and I was able to read what they were saying.”

To learn more about the Mesa County Workforce Center and their services, visit www.mesacounty.us/wfc or call 970-248-0871.

To learn more about Aira ASL, visit oit.colorado.gov/accessibility/aira-asl.