Summary
In Part 2 of this CareLab series on hearing loss and accessibility, Chase and John Prieve reveal the real-world communication barriers Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals face every day. Through John's firsthand experience navigating air travel, they expose how well-intentioned systems often fail because they rely on accommodations designed for other disabilities rather than meaningful communication access. The conversation highlights the need for practical, inclusive solutions that empower people to communicate independently and safely, while setting the stage for the innovative tools discussed in the next episode.
Key Questions Answered
-
Why is air travel especially challenging for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals?
Many airlines lack effective communication accommodations, relying on verbal announcements and offering mobility assistance instead of accessible communication solutions.
-
What happened when John requested accommodations for his hearing loss?
Despite clearly requesting communication support, he was repeatedly offered a wheelchair or escort service rather than assistance tailored to his hearing needs.
-
Why are existing accommodations often ineffective?
Many organizations confuse mobility assistance with communication accessibility, leaving Deaf and Hard of Hearing travelers without the information they need.
-
What message does this episode convey about accessibility?
Accessibility isn't just about good intentions—it requires the right tools and systems to ensure everyone can communicate effectively.
-
How does this episode lead into the next part of the series?
After highlighting the gaps in current accessibility, the conversation introduces the need for innovative communication solutions, which become the focus of Part 3.
Transcript
Brandy Archie
Hi everybody, welcome to Care Lab. This is part two of our new series and it's all about being deaf and hard of hearing and we've got some really great guests to come talk with us about that and Amelia's gonna introduce them.
Emilia Bourland
Yeah, okay, so in part two of this series, we're gonna explore some of the solutions that people are trying to use, some that may work, some that may not work for hearing loss and communication challenges from confusing technology options or to everyday opportunities that might be missed in everyday barriers. We're gonna dive into gaps that families and caregivers face and why so many existing tools are still leaving people struggling to connect.
Brandy Archie
And if you were not with us for the first episode, number one, go back and listen to it. And number two, let me introduce John and Chase Preeve, a father and son duo, also founders of Hide Their Solutions. And they are working towards making sure that accessible communication is turned into a right like it should be instead of the privilege that it currently is today. So guys, thanks for being with us again. And wanted to start with like,
What? Tell us a little bit more about how challenging it can be to be navigating the world when you have a hearing loss and like what things people have to do right now in order to try to maybe do things that might feel a lot easier to me to do as a person who has good hearing.
Chase And John Prieve
Absolutely Brandy, Amelia. Thanks for having us back. think a good way to kick off this episode. Well, let's have my dad who's got hearing loss tell his own lived experience in travel. Hey Brandy, Hey Amelia. Great to be back with you again. Our mobile app solutions, which are award winning that we've developed specifically for as a communication accommodation for the deaf and hard of hearing community of which there's 52 million in the United States.
And our solutions have been developed by the deaf for the deaf. So in other words, we have some wonderful, wonderful deaf advisors and consultants who we've worked with in order to develop our mobile app solutions. And over the course of our journey of our company in developing our solutions with the advice and consult from our deaf friends, we've heard all about their life journeys.
dealing with hearing loss. Now I have my own hearing loss, a severe hearing loss, and I'm a bilateral hearing aid user. And we've understood and listened to our deaf friends, and our deaf friends are super cool. These are the individuals who sign at the Super Bowl. So the Star Spangled Banner, the halftime show, these are our friends. So cool.
Emilia Bourland
That is very cool. They're
Brandy Archie
It's super cool.
Emilia Bourland
like
Brandy Archie
I like to watch them because they're so, man, and they'd be going hard with the signing and dancing at the same time. I love it.
Emilia Bourland
celebrities. they're so impressive. Yes. They're so impressive. Yes.
Chase And John Prieve
These are awesome people, but we've listened to their life journey because deaf people do the same thing hearing people do. They open a bank account, they buy a car, they shop, they eat out, they travel. And their travel stories with hearing loss, deafness and severe hearing loss, were just horrible. So I said, you know what, let me do some market research on behalf of our company because there's likely...
a really good business to business model that we want to explore and pivot toward. Well, so I travel every week for my day job and I booked a flight, Denver to Phoenix round trip on American Airlines. Now, Brandy, Amelia, pick your airport, pick your airline, it doesn't matter. They're all horrible for a deaf or hard of hearing person. So I booked my flight and I put into my profile.
I send it off to American Airlines Special Assistance. I have a severe hearing loss and I need special assistance and I send off my request. Well, I wait and I wait and I wait. Finally, two days before the flight, American Airlines Special Assistance calls me. I mean, if you're big DDAF or even little DDAF, you're not able to use a telephone. Now, thankfully I can send you.
Emilia Bourland
Yeah, yeah, just let that process
for a minute, listener. If you're listening to this right now, right? Like calling someone who has a severe hearing impairment may be not the best way to reach out.
Chase And John Prieve
Right. And thankfully I can still use a phone with my Bluetooth technology. My hearing aid is so awesome. So I call up American Airlines Special Assistance. The first question they asked me to go, Mr. Preeve, what exactly is your medical condition? I'm like, well, it's right there in my profile. I wrote to you. I have a severe hearing loss. What can you do for me? And they're like, good news, Mr. Preeve. We can get you a wheelchair.
Emilia Bourland
That's no, can I tell you that's exactly what I thought you were gonna say actually because there, cause no for sure. Because there aren't any other accommodations that at least any airlines that I'm aware of. And if you work for an airline and you're listening to this and you know more actually please get in the comments and tell us about it because it would be I think be really helpful for people. But the only accommodation that I'm aware of that airlines offer.
Chase And John Prieve
No way.
Brandy Archie
and let us know.
Chase And John Prieve
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
is wheelchairs and assistance getting on and off the flight for people who have physical or mobility impairments. But I'm not aware of any accommodations for things like vision impairment or hearing impairment or anything like that. So that is, I wish I was shocked, but I'm not.
Chase And John Prieve
Mm-mm.
I was a little shocked when they came back with that, right? I'm on the phone with them. We're going to get you a wheelchair. And I said, Hey, look, I can walk just fine. What else do you have? Well, alternately, Mr. Pree, we can have someone walk you down to the gate. Well, they do this for folks who are blind or low vision. And I said, well, look, I wear glasses, but I can see just fine. I can find my own way, but I'm going to take you up on that.
I want the individual walk me out down to the gate. Again, I'm doing market research. Walk me to the gate. I want them to do one more thing. I want them to sit there at the gate and listen for the overhead announcements because even hearing people cannot understand what's being said about the overhead announcements. They said, yes, Mr. Preeb will take good care of you. So I show up on a Monday morning. I'm at Denver airport. I check in with America and they take me over to Prospect Air Services. The gal is looking for my name.
Emilia Bourland
It's impossible.
Brandy Archie
so much so.
Chase And John Prieve
on the iPad. She doesn't find it. She puts it down, pulls out the wheelchair. As he's standing there. I said, look, I don't need the wheelchair. You're supposed to walk me down to the gate. So she does. go all the way out to the C terminals where American is. And then we get to the gate. She turns to leave. And I said, what are you doing? You're supposed to sit here and listen for the overhead announcements. I have a severe hearing loss. I cannot hear them. She says, no, no, I've got to get up to the great hall, the gate people. They'll take care of you.
Well, no one shows up, no one does anything. Finally, yes, they're doing the early boarding for folks with the wheelchair people, if you will. They wave me over and they go, Mr. Preeve, you can get on now. Well, I'm wearing my hidden disabilities sunflower lanyard that identifies myself as someone with a severe hearing loss. And I stop at the front of the plane and I talked to the two flight attendants and I said, look, I'm John Preeve, I have a severe hearing loss, I have one question.
are all the announcements, including the pilot announcements, in a written form so I can follow along. And they go, well, not quite. Here's what we do have. They pull out a pamphlet and they go, here's the initial safety announcement. It was in Braille.
Brandy Archie
Embrail?
Emilia Bourland
Wait, okay. What? Okay.
Chase And John Prieve
Yeah.
Right.
Brandy Archie
they would have had an
easier time just typing it out.
Chase And John Prieve
I know and here's the thing only 8 %
Emilia Bourland
You're like,
I can see. don't.
Brandy Archie
This is why I'm asking for it in writing.
Chase And John Prieve
I can't. Right?
And here's the thing, only 8 % of blind, low vision, no braille. How's that going to help him? I know. All right. So I say, all right, you guys have nothing. Now I'm in Phoenix. So I actually go to the American Airlines Special Assistant desk. And I assume the role of a big D DAF individual. Not audible. I'm signing only. The people behind the desk, they're like freaking out.
They're like, time out. We need an hour before we can even get an interpreter over here to communicate with you. And I'm like looking at my watch, tick tock, my flight leaves. They then pull out a scratch piece of paper and we're exchanging cryptic notes back and forth. One of their questions to me was, hey, are you okay to sit in an exit row?
Well, hold it. If you're big D deaf, you're not audible, you can't hear, you can't sit in an exit row. And I go, yeah, sure. I can sit in the exit row. Of course, later on, when I get to the gate, they go, they find out you're not sitting in the exit room. They pull me out. But before, as we concluded our note passing back and forth cryptically, they take me over and once again, they pull out a wheelchair.
Emilia Bourland
Okay, wow, well, I actually think, so I think that this is a great place actually to wrap up this portion of our, this part of the series, because I think it's a great segue into really talking about the solutions that y'all have come up with. But I also, I wanna say something before we wrap this up, which is that I don't.
Chase And John Prieve
Okay.
Emilia Bourland
I don't think it's the fault of any of the individuals in this situation, right? Like every single person that you encountered was actually trying to do the best job that they could given the tools that they had, but they didn't actually have a good tool.
Chase And John Prieve
No.
Yes.
Emilia Bourland
with which to assist you, which again is why I think like, wow, this is perfect time to like, let's take a pause and then we'll start in the next portion of the series and talk about, okay, so what are actual good tools that y'all have created that people can use to manage these situations? Because it's not an intention, it's not a goodwill. It's not a these people are bad or this airline is bad or it's not that kind of thing. It's that people don't have.
they don't have the knowledge and they don't have the tools. So I can't wait to talk to y'all about this next bit. So if you're listening or watching, make sure that you tune in to the next part of the series where we're gonna be like diving into that. And if you haven't seen the first part of the series or if you haven't listened or watched the first part of the series, make sure you go back and check that out too. So you have the full story before we get into part three. We'll see you next time right back here on CareLab.
Chase And John Prieve
Let's do.
Emilia Bourland
Bye!
Chase And John Prieve
See ya.
Do us a favor and subscribe to the CareLab podcast on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts! It will help others find our conversations and grow the community and you’ll stay updated with the latest insights and expert advice on elder care.
