[CapChapOhio] Columbus Speech and Hearing & Jury Service

[Todd Elzey]

Good morning!  As many of you know, I was among the clients impacted by the
closure of Columbus Speech and Hearing. The dispatch published a piece
today about the details of the closure and its impact on many clients. The
article can be found at:
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/healthcare/2026/02/27/clients-speak-out-about-columbus-speech-and-hearings-sudden-shutdown/88860058007/?tbref=hp
Many clients have been impacted by the sudden closure, and some even have
hearing aids on order that they now don't know if they will ever receive
them. This article just scratches the surface on this issue, as it still
hasn't addressed what happened to the Support Services Program and/or the
money the legislature authorized for that program. I understand that the
Dispatch reporter is still researching that subject, and I am hopeful that
there will be a follow-up piece about that issue soon. So we still need to
keep up the pressure to keep that issue before the public so that somehow
the program and funding so vital to Deaf-Blind Ohioans is restored.

On another note, earlier this week, I received a Summons for Jury Duty.
That Summons mentioned no information about reasonable accommodations for
people with disabilities. When I initially reached out tot he Jury
Commission office asking about accommodations for my Blindness and hearing
loss, I was initially told that they didn't provide accommodations other
than sign-language interpretation and that if sign language interpretation
would resolve my issue, I should have my doctor fill out a form to certify
that I was physically unable to serve on a jury.  Apparently, that was the
standard response to people summoned for jury duty who happened to have
disabilities. Of course, under the ADA this is a completely unacceptable
policy. So I went digging to find out who the Common Please Court ADA
Coordinator was.  I eventually determined that there was a bit of a
disconnect because the ADA Coordinator is the Court's personnel director.
I met with the Court's ADA Coordinator, the Court's Information Technology
Director, and one of the Jury Commission Managers on Wednesday.  I am
pleased to report that I will be reporting for July service on Monday with
appropriate Reasonable Accommodations in place to ensure that I will be
able to participate in the jury process if I am actually seated on a jury.
I also received assurances that the Jury Commission has informed their
staff that no person with a disability should ever be told that the Court
can't provide accommodations beyond sign language interpreters for Jury
Service.  Rather, the Court is putting in place a Reasonable Accommodation
process for all jurors with Disabilities and will be adding this
information to Jury Summons that are mailed out to prospective jurors.  I
know jury service can be an inconvenience and even a pain point for many,
but we, as people with disabilities, should have the same obligations to
serve as our fellow citizens who don't have disabilities.  So I hope that
if you receive a jury summons, you will ask for the accommodations you need
to actively participate in the process.

Thanks!

Todd Elzey
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/capchapohio_nfbnet.org/attachments/20260227/4d2ada33/attachment.htm>