TRANSCRIPT | ABC NEWS LIVE PRIME | APRIL 28, 2020 FACING COVID-19 WHILE DEAF AND BLIND
[LINSEY DAVIS, ANCHOR]: This pandemic with its months of quarantine and economic turmoil has been a stressful experience for so many of us. But imagine being unable to see or hear clearly throughout this difficult time. Tens of thousands of deaf-blind Americans are coming to terms with a new normal during COVID-19, one that’s challenging their ability to survive and thrive. Here’s ABC’s Devin Dwyer. [AMBULENCE SIREN]
[DEVIN DWYER, ABC CORRESPONDENT] For most of us, sights and sounds of the COVID emergency have been inescapable. [AMBULENCE SIREN]
[DAVID MUIR NEWSCAST] ...cases of coronavirus spiking here in the U.S....
[NY GOV. ANDREW CUOMO] ...on every level, this is a terrible experience...
[DWYER] But for some Americans, the scope of this outbreak has been uniquely difficult to face [PHILIP WISMER, STUDENT, GALLAUDET UNIVERSITY] My name is Philip Wismer. I am deaf-blind. [DWYER] Philip Wismer, a student at Gallaudet University in Washington, is one of an estimated 40,000 Americans facing COVID-19 while unable to clearly see or hear. [WISMER] I have not gone off campus since March 18. I only come out of my dorm to get food, get the mail, and that’s about it. [DWYER] It sounds lonely?
[WISMER] Yeah, it is. Sometimes I do feel lonely. My other friends that are completely blind are feeling very, very isolated. It’s very difficult for everyone, but especially for deaf-blind people across the country. [DWYER] DeafBlind Americans survive by touch: hand over hand to communicate; fingers on braille signs for mobility; hugs and handshakes to feel connected. [DWYER] Experts say deaf-blindness is a spectrum. Not everyone experiences complete darkness or total silence. But touch is critical -- and now comes with significant health risks.
[AHSLEY BENTON, N.C DEAF-BLIND SERVICES COORDINATOR] Our way of communicating and our culture, everything relies on touch. And now we’re not allowed to touch.
[JORGE ARISTIZIABAL, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON] The requirement to stay 6 feet away from other people is actually not safe for me. As a blind person, I need to touch my guide. [DWYER] And many guides are fearful of being touched, and touching back. [TONY CANCELOSI, CEO, COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND] Being home alone is a very big issue that we’re faced with today. We’re talking about all the things that could happen - additional suicides and certain things like that. [DWYER] 28 year-old Tyler Samuel of Nashville, Tennessee, says she’s fighting that loneliness, relying on her partner for help with daily tasks. A genetic condition since birth has degraded her hearing and her sight. [TYLER SAMUEL, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE] In my youth, I just really worried that I wouldn’t find that independence. And when you do find it, you don’t want to lose it. And so for it to be kind of chipped away is -- it kinda lowers your self-esteem. [DWYER] Samuel still walks to work every day by herself. [SAMUEL] ...This is my now kind of empty walk home....
[DWYER] A pediatric surgery coordinator at Vanderbilt University Hospital. She’s a freelance opera singer with dreams of going big...
[OPERA MUSIC]
[DWYER] ..but the pandemic has prompted some soul searching.
[SAMUEL] I lost a friend two weeks ago to COVID and she was very young, early 30s, and it kind of prompted me to go ahead and get my advance directive and my will together. It’s something that I want to make my wishes known. [DWYER] A trip to the hospital is what many deaf-blind Americans told ABC News they fear most. [HABEN GIRMA, DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATE] There is an assumption in a lot of medical communities that it’s better to be dead than disabled. [DWYER] Haben Girma is a leading advocate for the community. [GIRMA] I would be deeply terrified I would not get communication access, that I would not get the care I needed if I were to get the virus and go to the hospital.
[DWYER] She says it’s a fight for equality. The daughter of an Eritrean refugee, Girma is the first deaf-blind woman to graduate from Harvard Law School. In 2015, President Obama recognized her as a Champion of Change. [DWYER] When I’m asking you the questions today, you’re actually feeling my question with your fingers? [GIRMA] When you ask me questions, I’m feeling the questions. [DWYER] With her special braille keyboard, and guide dog Milo by her side, Girma and an informal network of deaf-blind advocates are determined not to be forgotten. [REBECCA ALEXANDER, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK] it’s certainly not sexy to have a disability and to deal with deaf-blindness. I think it makes people very uncomfortable generally. [DWYER] Rebecca Alexander of New York City wants the world to know that deaf- blind professionals can pitch in, too. She’s volunteering her services as a counselor to hospital workers on the front lines. [ALEXANDER] Just knowing that even someone like me, who the community I think at large, if they knew how limited my vision and my hearing was, they might not consider me as someone they would reach out for help and it does feel good to be able to provide that. [DWYER] Ashley Benton, who coordinates services for the deaf-blind in North Carolina, says police in rural areas are checking on residents who don't have technology to communicate. [BENTON] They contacted us, which was beautiful, and so we were able to work with the officers who have the appropriate PPE to go in and check on this deaf-blind consumer to make sure that they were safe. It’s so important because we’re all going through this together [DWYER] Near Seattle, deaf-blind sisters Nancy and Debbie Sommer sticking together through it all. [NANCY SOMMER, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON] Without touch, we can't connect at all. We thank goodness we have computers and smart phones so we can talk to each other with friends. and that’s so much better than nothing, right Debbie? [DWYER] A persistence to stay connected, and to contribute to the recovery. [GIRMA] Figure out what you can do to give back and help your community. [DWYER] The deaf-blind community raising it voice in its own way...