Art Frank, a Wai'anae resident, was instrumental in getting deaf citizens access to state government.

By Art Frank

In June 1977, I became deaf and was paralyzed from the chest down. It was a frustrating, painful time. I had to spend two months at Straub and 13 months at the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific.

With the grace of God and the help of many beautiful people at Straub and Rehab, I was released in a wheelchair in August 1978. It took another year or so of rehabilitation before I was able to walk with crutches and braces. It also took tenacity, perseverance and the kokua of my therapists at Rehab for me to become independent again.

But I'll never forget the day I wanted to talk to someone. I walked into a telephone booth and dialed the number, but as I put the receiver to my ear, I realized I was deaf and could no longer use the telephone. Tears fell uncontrollably. In life, communication is important.

In 1980, after I found out at the state Capitol that the government did not provide sign-language interpreters for the deaf to participate in government, I got mad. I lobbied for accessibility to our government through the necessary tools to communicate — mainly sign-language interpreters and a telecommunications relay service (TRS) other cities on the Mainland had.

Today, deaf citizens can attend any public meeting in the state and request sign-language interpreters, real-time captions, note-takers, whatever they need. It took about five years to obtain sign-language interpreters from our government so the deaf could participate in the process of government. The TRS took nine years before it became a reality.

As a deaf person in this state, I cannot even begin to describe the appreciation and fond memories I have of all the communications assistants who have assisted me since 1989 to make thousands of phone calls. Not once has anyone ever complained, but instead they all have been consistent in doing an excellent, professional job in helping this deaf man communicate with the hearing world.

With Sprint taking over the TRS on July 1, I would like to express my sincerest mahalo nui loa for a job well done to all the present and former communications assistants at both Verizon Hawaii and GTE Hawaiian Tel.