Quote:
A 2005 federal study found that the U.S. had virtually no affordable housing for the deaf. So the federal government helped build Apache ASL Trails, a 75-unit apartment building in Tempe, Ariz., designed specifically for the deaf. Ninety-percent of the units are currently occupied by deaf and deaf-blind seniors.
But now, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development says Apache ASL Trails violates civil rights law -- because it shows a preference for the hearing-impaired.
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What is so special about "deaf housing"? Other than a flashing light attached to the doorbell, it shouldn't be any different than normal housing. I can see some special needs for the blind residents like furniture that won't move. Nothing worse than your friends rearranging the furniture and you tripping all over it.
We can't call them "handicapped" but we treat them special anyway. If you are going to say they can do everything a person with functioning eyes or ears can do, then don't treat them special by building apartments for them. I worked with two different blind computer programmers. One was legally blind and used the building walls as a guide when walking. He knew the entire system by memory. You could tell him a program and paragraph and he would recite the code from memory.
The other was 100% blind and used a seeing eye dog. Other than a smelly dog, he was just like the rest of us. One time my manager called his house at night to ask him a work related question. His wife answered and said Bill was in the back yard gardening. My manager replied "but it's dark outside". It took him a few seconds to figure it out.
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