Wow, the early parts sound pretty much like except I eventually decided I wanted a bigger challenge beyond games and something more realistic and balanced (sometimes), reality.
I actually liked groups, I really do. You can see me sometimes chatting in groups online. Unfortunately, due to my deafness, it's keeping me back from some groups unless there's unlimited time and understanding. I even bombed some (important!) group interviews because of time constraints.
I'm guessing Florida Relay is the text-relay service? I was so excited to hear about something like this and when I tried it on two mates, the first thought it was a prank and immediately hung up. The second kind of knew it was me but said it was like talking to a cold person. This made me fear that even seeking employment is difficult since I can't do phone interviews or followup calls without creeping them out. So I try to emphasise how great I am, just have some initial difficulties with phones (I dislike how a lot of entry level jobs in IT require phone use).
I've actually been working on the MVP (prototype) for some time, it's not quite what I want it to be but I agree it's a good start.
Florida Relay is a text-relay service. The first time I dealt with a relay service, they took 30 seconds to explain how it worked. From my standpoint, it was pretty easy to remember to say, 'go ahead' at the end of a phrase, but, often times, we were in-sync enough that I would get halfway through and would be alerted that he was typing. Usually Relay was an exceptional case, i.e. I was driving somewhere and SMS or ICQ wasn't possible. It did mean that he couldn't handle incoming tech support calls, but, 95% of our support calls came in across tickets, livehelp or ICQ (at the time). I would agree, the people that handle the relay service are almost robotic and often female.
We did have clients that never knew he was deaf and were shocked to find out. I think one time he was working with a client, it was somewhat involved and they requested his number so they could talk with him direct to address an issue.
As far as employment goes, I believe some US employers write intentionally vacuous job requirements to exclude groups of people: Must be able to lift 150 pounds, front-line phone support, ability to distinguish colors, other tasks as assigned.
Many employers look for reasons not to hire someone... anything that makes you different can be an impediment. Regrettable, but, it happens frequently.
However, if you have the skills, I don't think most employers would be creeped out and would be willing to conduct a phone interview over an instant messaging platform. If you've got the skills, a decent employer won't have a problem with accommodating your circumstances.
> This made me fear that even seeking employment is difficult since I can't do phone interviews or followup calls without creeping them out.
When I have a phone interview, I tell them I'm deaf and people are usually happy to do it over IM.
Text relay is iffy, especially if it's the interviewer's first time using it. I would never use video relay for a technical interview since the interpreter won't be familiar with the terminology.
Phone interviews bother me too. I am pretty sure I come through a little dimmer because I often ask the question to be repeated. It never occurred to me to prevent a potential misconception by letting the interviewer know that I have difficulty in hearing.
Comments
Wow, the early parts sound pretty much like except I eventually decided I wanted a bigger challenge beyond games and something more realistic and balanced (sometimes), reality.
I actually liked groups, I really do. You can see me sometimes chatting in groups online. Unfortunately, due to my deafness, it's keeping me back from some groups unless there's unlimited time and understanding. I even bombed some (important!) group interviews because of time constraints.
I'm guessing Florida Relay is the text-relay service? I was so excited to hear about something like this and when I tried it on two mates, the first thought it was a prank and immediately hung up. The second kind of knew it was me but said it was like talking to a cold person. This made me fear that even seeking employment is difficult since I can't do phone interviews or followup calls without creeping them out. So I try to emphasise how great I am, just have some initial difficulties with phones (I dislike how a lot of entry level jobs in IT require phone use).
I've actually been working on the MVP (prototype) for some time, it's not quite what I want it to be but I agree it's a good start.
Cheers
Florida Relay is a text-relay service. The first time I dealt with a relay service, they took 30 seconds to explain how it worked. From my standpoint, it was pretty easy to remember to say, 'go ahead' at the end of a phrase, but, often times, we were in-sync enough that I would get halfway through and would be alerted that he was typing. Usually Relay was an exceptional case, i.e. I was driving somewhere and SMS or ICQ wasn't possible. It did mean that he couldn't handle incoming tech support calls, but, 95% of our support calls came in across tickets, livehelp or ICQ (at the time). I would agree, the people that handle the relay service are almost robotic and often female.
We did have clients that never knew he was deaf and were shocked to find out. I think one time he was working with a client, it was somewhat involved and they requested his number so they could talk with him direct to address an issue.
As far as employment goes, I believe some US employers write intentionally vacuous job requirements to exclude groups of people: Must be able to lift 150 pounds, front-line phone support, ability to distinguish colors, other tasks as assigned.
Many employers look for reasons not to hire someone... anything that makes you different can be an impediment. Regrettable, but, it happens frequently.
However, if you have the skills, I don't think most employers would be creeped out and would be willing to conduct a phone interview over an instant messaging platform. If you've got the skills, a decent employer won't have a problem with accommodating your circumstances.
Hopefully we'll be reading about your MVP soon.
> This made me fear that even seeking employment is difficult since I can't do phone interviews or followup calls without creeping them out.
When I have a phone interview, I tell them I'm deaf and people are usually happy to do it over IM.
Text relay is iffy, especially if it's the interviewer's first time using it. I would never use video relay for a technical interview since the interpreter won't be familiar with the terminology.
Phone interviews bother me too. I am pretty sure I come through a little dimmer because I often ask the question to be repeated. It never occurred to me to prevent a potential misconception by letting the interviewer know that I have difficulty in hearing.