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Federal Relay Service (FRS)

Hearing World

The Federal Relay Service (FRS) was established not only for people who are Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, Deaf-Blind, and/or people with speech disabilities, but for hearing government employees as well. As a hearing government employee, you may find yourself needing to call peers and coworkers who are Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, Deaf-Blind, and/or coworkers with speech disabilities on a daily basis. The FRS is available to assist in that purpose. If you don't have a TTY, the device deaf people use to make phone calls, you can still use the FRS. It is as simple as picking up your phone and calling 1-800-877-8339. That call puts users through to a Communication Assistant (CA) who will then relay the call between a standard (voice) telephone user and text-telephone (TTY). The CA acts as a transparent conduit for the transmittal of information.

Calling Protocol
Dialogue Examples

"I want to learn Sign Language!"

So you want to learn Sign Language...There are TONS of resources available to you through the Internet, within your local community, or even within your own government agency. The best, and maybe easiest, place to start would be within your agency. Get to know some of your deaf coworkers and let them know of your interest to learn sign language. Native users of the language are the best teachers! See if you can set up a brown bag lunch session once a week or once a month for sign language classes. You can also contact your local Community college and inquire about Sign Language courses. Sometimes, even your community center will have a schedule of classes that are taught there. Last, but definitely not least, is the Internet. There is an INFINITE amount of information about learning sign language on the Internet. Click on the link below to take you to deafness related sites. Included in some of these sites you will find online tutorials as well as information on where you can go to learn American Sign Language (ASL).

Sign Language Resources

Where can I buy a TTY?

If you are interested in purchasing the equipment necessary to communicate with coworkers who are Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, or have speech disabilities, click on the link below. It will take you to several resources for purchasing TTYs or computer programs you can install on your PC, that act as TTYs.

Where to purchase TTY hardware and software

What is DHHIG?

Did you know there is an organization called Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing in Government (DHHIG)? DHHIG is a national non-profit organization whose purpose is two-fold. It serves as an employee support group for Federal employees who are either Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing and as a resource organization for the nationwide Federal government. DHHIG coordinates and collaborates with external forces such as OPM, EEOC, U.S. Congress, the White House, President's Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities, Self Help for Hard of Hearing People (SHHH), National Association of the Deaf, Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, and other entities. The internet address is http://www.dhhig.org. Check it out!

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