On March 25, 2025, the National Association of Social Workers Ohio Chapter held their 2025 Advocacy Day. The event connected social workers with their legislators and provided advocacy training. Attending the event, a hard of hearing individual at Wright State University requested an interpreter and did not receive one.
Absence of an interpreter
On the Advocacy Day 2025 website, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) claims to be “committed to creating an inclusive and accessible event.” However, their efforts fell short this year.
The registration for the event included a form with different questions, including a comment box where special requests were to be listed. In this comment box, Heather Emmert, a social work student at WSU, listed that she was a hard of hearing (HOH) individual and needed an interpreter. This comment, Emmert felt like was enough.
“I figured I already sent in my form with my request,” Emmert said, “It’s really easy to be seen as demanding if you do it two different ways. Why do I have to do more work?”
While the organization had seen the comment box prior to the event, they unfortunately saw it too late to get an interpreter. Hannah Ware, a Development Associate for NASW, stressed the importance of e-mailing accommodation requests ahead of time.
“We ask for requests to be emailed to us. We cannot review each registration as they come in," Ware stated.
When Emmert realized there would not be an interpreter, she went to the directors and explained how she did not feel listened to.
“I felt like I was brushed off,” Emmert said.
Emmert was unable to participate in Advocacy Day and had to leave early.
The effect on the Deaf community
The common absence of requested interpreters at events like these is harmful to the Deaf community. It makes these individuals feel unwelcome at these events, especially if the missing accommodations prohibit participation.
“I feel like it’s always a problem to have us there because we cost money,” Emmert said.
While interpreters cost money, most places strive to include them, either automatically or upon request. Sometimes, though, this does not happen. Emmert, who has been a HOH individual for 35 years, has battled many situations like this one, including facing misconceptions.
“Hearing loss is a spectrum. Just because someone can speak without impediment or accent doesn’t mean that they can hear. It doesn’t mean that they don’t need interpreters or accommodations,” Emmert said.
According to the Hearing Loss Association of America, 1 in 7 people in the U.S. experience hearing loss in some degree. Many of these individuals require accommodations in their schools or careers to be successful.
"Students indicated that constantly advocating for accommodations and feeling socially isolated was exhausting," the National Deaf Center reported in a survey conducted from April 2023- May 2024.
The future of NASW events
To ensure that this does not happen to individuals in the future, the NASW plans to make changes in their registration process, including how to request an accommodation.
“Our first priority is to see if there is a way to remove the comment box from the registration form, so that confusion does not happen again,” Ware said, “if something similar happened again where we did see the comment the evening before, we would attempt to let them know that we wouldn’t have an interpreter.”
By recognizing that changes need to be made, they are already making improvements.
“They listened to my experience and learned from it. It’s one of the best responses I’ve ever had after an experience like this,” Emmert expressed.
