	December 1994

Telephone Access: It's For You!

by Pam Ransom, J.D., M.S.W., Vice President, Issue Dynamics and Director of the Telecommunications Equipment Coalition

Editor's note:
Pam Ransom has been instrumental in developing telecommunications policies at the state and national level. After reading this article, consumers and organizations interested in working with MD TAP on this effort should contact Pam at: ransom@idi.net, (202) 408-5007 (TTY), or (202) 408-1132 (Voice).

Over the past 100 years, the telephone has become an integral part of our lives. Much of what used to be face-to-face communication is now accomplished over the telephone wires. The telephone has developed the capacity to make our lives much easier...from banking, to shopping, to calling the doctor, to using the phone in emergency situations.

However, for thousands of people with disabilities, it hasn't always made things easier. Dependence on the telephone has often erected new barriers and literally locked people out of the telecommunications network. Only recently have people with disabilities been able to use the telephone by purchasing adaptive equipment. TTYs, telebrailles, speech synthesizers, amplified handsets, and more assistive technology have opened the door to access to the telephone lines.

Where once a telephone in the home may have been considered a status symbol, then an option, times are a'changing. There is a movement underway on the national and state levels to view the telephone no longer as a luxury or option, but as a right. Access to the telephone for people with disabilities is a "universal service" right just like making sure people in the inner city or in rural areas have access to a telephone. For people with disabilities, however, just having a telephone in your home means nothing unless you can use it.

At present, there are approximately 33 states that have adaptive telecommunications equipment distribution programs. In Maryland, the newly established Telecommunications Equipment Coalition will be working during the upcoming legislative session to develop and advocate for passage of legislation to establish a telecommunications equipment loan program. The Coalition will bring together a broad base of support: consumer advocates, government, and industry to work together to make a telecommunications equipment loan program a reality in Maryland.


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