The Americans with Disabilities Act is pretty explicit about providing deaf and hard of hearing Americans with unfettered access to sporting events. A handful of lawsuits lodged against colleges and universities as well as professional sports teams have only reinforced that point. This has led, in some respects, to the use of captioning as a way to level the playing field.
Now an activist in Texas has come up with an unusual way to accommodate hearing-impaired fans, which may pick up steam at a time when many programs are looking for ways to fill the stands
Enter Brian Guendling. The former Texas State University football player has worked with the athletic department to not only secure a section in Bobcat Stadium for deaf fans, but also discounted tickets, from $25 to $10.
Fifteen to 20 people sat in the section near the 40-yard line during the team’s recent 63-24 win over Prairie View A&M University. The section can accommodate 1,000 fans. So the small number is just a start.
Guendling told a local television station that the hearing impaired “are no different than anybody else, so I just wanted to provide equal opportunity for everybody to enjoy the football games.” Guendling isn’t deaf, but has been an advocate since he was a child. He hopes that the idea will spread to other sporting events at Texas State and across to other universities and colleges.
“I had the idea of making a section in the stands to make them feel welcome,” Guendling told USA Today. “I wanted them to feel included.”
He added that he worked with Texas State Assistant Athletics Director – Sports Information Rick Poulter and Assistant Athletic Director for Ticket Sales and Operations Matthew Carson.
“I think what Brian is doing is special and unique,” Larry Teis, director of Athletic, told USA Today. “Brian reached out to the athletic department and asked that we provide a group discount and allow the individuals to sit together. … We obviously are trying to accommodate Brian as much as we possibly can since this is such a wonderful initiative.”
John Waldo, Advocacy Director and Counsel of the Washington State Communication Access Project (www.wash-cap.com), told Sports Litigation Alert that if the university was responding to a lawsuit, which it apparently is not, then there may be a question about whether “providing an interpreter” would be sufficient.
“The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) has filed a number of lawsuits about stadium accessibility, and those actions all ask for captions, not ASL interpreters,” Waldo said. “The work I’ve done in this area on behalf of folks, who are hard of hearing but are not primarily ASL users, has also focused on captioning.”
Regardless, others applaud the move.
“You have to applaud the efforts of Brian Guendling and Texas State University,” said Carol Studenmund, the CEO of LNS Captioning, which works with facilities to provide captioning. “Setting aside an area at the games creates a sense of community at the football games for all students. Anything that can raise awareness of people with hearing disabilities is good for the entire community.”
