Morrison’s Space: A DeafBlind Activist

April 4, 2026

By Morrison

Living as a DeafBlind person in systems that only recognize American Sign Language (ASL) has shown me a hard truth. Many of the agencies and state Commissions that claim to support “the Deaf and Hard of Hearing” are not built for people like me – who are DeafBlind. They are built on a narrow idea of what communication looks like, and anyone who communicates “differently” is treated as an exception rather than a full member of the community. I use tactile language and Protactile language, which are legitimate languages used by DeafBlind people across the country, yet many states (and Commissions) behave as if these languages do not exist, or not a language. When the entire system is built around ASL, anyone who communicates outside that framework is automatically pushed aside.

I have experienced this firsthand. A few years ago, I attended a conference in Arizona that was supported by the state’s Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Before the event, I asked if I could bring my own interpreter who was fluent in Protactile language and able to communicate with me effectively. The conference organizers’ interpreter coordinator told me that I could not bring my interpreter unless they were registered with the state. They were not, so I was forced to use the interpreters provided by the Commission. When I met the interpreters, they were honest with me. They told me they were not trained in communications for the DeafBlind, that they did not know Protactile, and that they had no real experience working with DeafBlind individuals. Yet they were the only option I was allowed to have.

I spent the entire conference lost, disconnected, and excluded. I tried to follow along through interpreters who were doing their best, but their best was not enough because the system had never prepared them to work with DeafBlind people. At the time, I did not know that what happened to me was not just unfair but also illegal. Now I do. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, I have the right to effective communication in the language and modality that works for me and for my needs. Federal law is clear that the individual determines what is effective, not the state, not the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, not the agency, and not the interpreter. State registration rules do not override federal civil rights law, yet many Commissions behave as if they do.

This problem does not begin at conferences. It begins much earlier, in the Interpreter Training Programs that are supposed to prepare interpreters for the communities they will serve. Many ITPs still operate as if ASL is the only and dominant language that matters. They do not have programs or adequate curricula to teach tactile language or Protactile language. They do not include DeafBlind instructors — instructors who are themselves DeafBlind and who understand the lived experience and linguistic realities of our community. They do not prepare students to work with DeafBlind people in any meaningful way. They talk about diversity and inclusion, yet their curriculum does not reflect the actual diversity of the deaf, hard of hearing, and DeafBlind world. As a result, interpreters graduate unprepared for DeafBlind work, and then states turn around and require certifications such as the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), the National Interpreter Certification (NIC), or the Board for Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI), none of which test or assess the skills needed for DeafBlind interpreting. None of these certification systems evaluate tactile language or Protactile proficiency, and none of them include DeafBlind people in their evaluation processes. Moreover, some states have their own “screening” processes for interpreters who have not yet obtained certification, and these screenings are designed entirely around ASL proficiency. Many of these state screenings are long outdated and do not reflect current linguistic or community needs. Yet states continue to require these certifications and screenings being ASL based and force these into interpreting work for the DeafBlind, which makes no sense and creates barriers that should not exist.

This is not just a training issue or a policy oversight. It is a civil rights issue, a systematic issue. When states refuse to recognize tactile and Protactile languages, they are violating federal law, a human rights law. When they force DeafBlind people to use interpreters who are not qualified, they are violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the federal law – Title VI of the Civil RIghts Act. When they block us from bringing interpreters who can communicate with us, they are violating federal law. These are not gray areas. They are clear violations of the ADA and Title VI, and they continue because many people do not know these rights and because the state, Commissions, agencies have become comfortable operating outside the law – and gotten away with it for so long. This is just mind blowing…

What needs to change is not complicated. States must recognize tactile and Protactile language as legitimate languages. Interpreter Training Programs must expand beyond ASL‑only models and include DeafBlind instructors and DeafBlind curriculum. States must stop requiring certifications that do not measure the skills needed for DeafBlind interpreting. Conferences and agencies must allow DeafBlind people to bring interpreters who can communicate with them effectively. Most importantly, DeafBlind people must be included in leadership roles where decisions about communication access are made. It is a must.

This is not an isolated problem or a misunderstanding that can be brushed aside. like I said, It is a systematic issue that many states have refused to take ownership of. DeafBlind people continue to be denied the access we are legally entitled to. These agencies have had years, in some cases decades, to correct their policies, update their standards, and recognize the communication needs of the DeafBlind community. Instead, they continue to hide behind outdated frameworks, internal procedures, and state‑level rules that do not and cannot override federal civil rights law.

The time for excuses is over. This issue is long overdue to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed now. Not later, not when it is convenient for state agencies, not on their timeline, but on ours.

DeafBlind people have waited long enough for systems that recognize our languages, our rights, and our humanity. We are not asking for anything extraordinary. We are demanding what federal law already guarantees us: effective communication, equal and equitable access, and the right to participate fully in our communities without being forced to fit into systems that were never built for us. The responsibility to fix this does not fall on DeafBlind individuals. It falls on the states, the Commissions, the training programs, and the institutions that have ignored these issues for far too long. Change must happen, and it must happen now, because our access, our autonomy, and our civil rights should not have to wait any longer, be delayed (or cancelled) over and over again.