Correctional officers are ill prepared or trained to handle
the blind, the deaf and the mentally ill offenders inside of prisons. An
increasing number of prisoners are becoming members of these four select
groups; the deaf, blind, physically handicapped or the mentally ill persons
that need culturally sensitive supervision and treatment to avoid
misunderstandings, inappropriate treatment and most of all avoid misdiagnosis
for their illness and other diseases prevalent inside prisons. Although there
are a few exceptions to this rule, many employees are not prepared to handle
such prisoners and must be trained to accommodate their constitutional rights
to be treated while incarcerated. Looking one step further, there are few
clinicians trained as well to handle such an event that requires timely
treatment and good diagnosis of illnesses.
These groups of people, a minority in our communities are
rapidly becoming a larger part of our prison population and adjustments must be
made to ensure appropriate treatment is provided reflecting these differences
in disabilities and needs. Accommodations are more than just housing
adjustments or special diets. They consist of having qualified staff available
so these offenders can effectively communicate their medical and mental health
needs. This includes hiring individuals that can interpret with deaf
individuals by using the American Sign Language ASL that has its own grammar,
syntax and vocabulary.
My first hand experience inside of prisons reflects a lack
of resources available to treat these special needs offenders in a medical and
psychiatric setting. The truth is that many facilities are ill equipped to
handle the communication, the diagnosis and the treatment aspect of these
disabled individuals. It not only requires special training but also
specialized mental health training for these ASL interpreters inside prison. To
the best of my knowledge, this is not happening as a routine matter and often
ignored by organizational structure and not intentional.
The presence of a certified ASL interpreter is rare and
finding a clinician skilled in fluent ASL is even rarer making treatment for
the deaf mentally ill prisoner very difficult if not impossible. Witnessing
first hand, it has become a daily practice to communicate by ad hoc gestures
and mime to get through and be in touch leaving the process a deep deficit that
needs to be addressed. Working with skilled medical and mental health providers
over a span of twenty five years, I have witness well-intended messaging and gestures
by those trying to help the disabled offender but in reality has in no way
bridged the communication gap that is often left open thus resulting in
untreated conditions through misunderstandings.
One has to only imagine how to communicate hallucinations
both visual and audio (hearing voices) such as schizophrenia as in deaf
prisoners this could be especially challenging and difficult. Since the
language barrier is real, there are dire needs to be cautious in the manner of
communicating since misunderstandings or misinterpreting can lead to a poor or
wrong diagnosis and eliminating the symptoms of a real psychosis occurring
while incarcerated. Since this mental illness population is showing a steady
growth, it might be worth research to find out how deaf mentally ill and all
the other disabled individuals can effectively communicate with clinicians or
doctors while inside our prisons.
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