There is discrimination in these three states concerning telephone
access for people with speech disabilities.  Is there anyone living in these
states willing to help fight the discrimination by sending an e-mail?  The
service is described below.
          Wisconsin and Georgia have established barriers to publicizing the
service to people with speech disabilities.
Oregon refuses to establish the service because of probably unconstitutional
state laws.

- Bob Segalman, Ph.D.

please write me at
[log in to unmask])


PEOPLE WITH SPEECH DISABILITIES NOW HAVE A TELEPHONE SERVICE

If you have a speech disability and live in: ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, MARYLAND,
NEVADA, SOUTH CAROLINA, WISCONSIN, GEORGIA, MINNESOTA and WASHINNGTON STATE,
you can now use a new, free telephone assistance service 24 hours a day.

This service, called Speech-to-Speech, provides "communications assistants"
(CA) for people with difficulty being understood by the public on the
telephone. We hope that the FCC will require all states to provide
Speech-to-Speech in two years.

If you have a speech disability, you can dial toll free to reach a patient,
trained communications assistant who is familiar with many speech patterns
and has excellent hearing and language skills. This operator makes telephone
calls for you and repeats your words exactly. Users now make about 5,000
calls a month nationally.

Speech-to-Speech is also useful if you use a speech synthesizer.
Speech-to-Speech provides the only way for many people to telephone others
not accustomed to their speech.
Many Speech-to-Speech users have Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy,
multiple sclerosis, or Muscular Dystrophy. People who stutter or have had a
laryngectomy or ALS also may use Speech-to-Speech.

I have cerebral palsy and Speech-to-Speech made telephone use
much easier for me. You can try out Speech-to-Speech, report
problems or get more information by calling 800-854-7784 and
asking the CA to call Dr. Bob Segalman at 916-263-8689 (W)
or 916-362-0982(H)  See also the new web page on Speech-to-Speech:

  http//www.stsnews.com/

Here are the U. S. Speech-to-Speech access numbers:

ARIZONA 1 800 842 6520
CALIFORNIA 1 800 854 7784
MARYLAND 1 800-785-5630
SOUTH CAROLINA 1 877 735 7277
WISCONSIN 1 800-833-7637
GEORGIA 1 800 229 5746
WASHINGTON STATE 1-877-833-6341
NEVADA 1-888-326-5658
MINNESOTA 1-877-627-3848

Sweden has completed a Speech-to-Speech Trial.  Australia now has a
permanent service. For Swedish information e-mail: [log in to unmask]
(Inga Svanfeldt) and for Australian information e-mail:
[log in to unmask]
(Tom McCaul)