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kestrellOn Friday I attended the virtual meeting of the Mass Commission for the Blind Statutory Advisory Board because I wanted to protest what I perceived as the invasive and insensitive questions included on the recent MCB survey which had been circulated online and by phone.
I opened by saying that, as a disability and technology advocate who had also received services from MCB, I applauded their efforts to become more familiar with the needs of their consumers. However, as someone who was involved in healthcare equity, who participated in a number of consumer groups who created similar surveys, and who identified as queer, I needed to protest the insensitive language and the invasion of my privacy regarding questions which had no relevance to providing services to visually impaired people.
For example, the very first question, which asked "What is your original gender as stated on your birth certificate" and the next three or four questions which went on to ask further questions about my gender identity, my sexual orientation, and the type of relationships I'm in.
Aside from being an invasion of my privacy, the overall sense I got from these questions was that they were just creepy, and it was clear that no sensitivity reader had been included in the process.
Most of all, rather than learning about their consumers, the invasiveness and insensitivity of these questions was likely to make LGBT people feel this was not a safe space, and they would just decide against getting any services from MCB at all.
I recommended that in the future, MCB work with the Fenway Health Center, which specifically represents and provides resources for the LGBT community, including how other agencies could include more appropriate language when addressing their consumers.
The response from the board was to ask the Commissioner from MCB how these questions were developed, and he entirely threw the blame on the company that developed the survey, which seemed a little unlikely in my opinion, but the chairperson responded by saying they thanked me, including for offering this resource, and that they would work on improving in the future (he did sound sincere, and I apologize that I can't remember his exact words).
He also added an apology that this meeting was taking place on a holiday that was meant as a day of observance, and no disrespect was intended, and future meetings would be better planned.
I thought it was a little ironic that my mention of the word "equity" seemed to prompt this reminder of Juneteenth in his mind.
Also of note: the Commissioner announced that rehab teachers and other members of MCB would be returning to making home visits, but that whether they were vaccinated or not was private information which would not be released to the consumers they were visiting. Yes, there was a lot of loud protests from the public, but the Commissioner held firm that there was "no one size fits all solution," and that the MCB employees were free to make the decision to not get vaccinated, and it was also their decision whether they chose to release that information or not to consumers with whom they were meeting.
So, heads up if you are receiving any of these Health and Human Services employees at your home: You need to ask them if they have been vaccinated, and do not just assume that they have been vaccinated.
All in all, despite the fact that listening to the Commissioner is like listening to someone trying to sell me prime real estate in Florida (this comic book aimed at visually impaired teenagers was one of his pet projects, and that's him in the cape https://www.mass.gov/service-details/pre-employment-transition-services-pre-ets ), the meeting of the MCB Advisory Board provided an interesting insight into how MCB works, and I think I will attend future meetings, especially if they continue to be made accessible through Zoom. Here's the info if anyone else is interested:
MCB Statutory Advisory Board (SAB)
Meeting dates are posted to the Mass Commission for the Blind Webpage under "Upcoming Eventsfrom Massachusetts Commission for the Blind"
The next virtual meeting of the MCB Statutory Advisory Board (SAB) Meeting - Virtual will occur on
Friday, July 30, 2021
from 12 p.m. - 2 p.m.
For the Zoom link and more details go to
https://www.mass.gov/event/mcb-statutory-advisory-board-sab-meeting-virtual-2021-07-30t120000-0400-2021-07-30t140000-0400
I opened by saying that, as a disability and technology advocate who had also received services from MCB, I applauded their efforts to become more familiar with the needs of their consumers. However, as someone who was involved in healthcare equity, who participated in a number of consumer groups who created similar surveys, and who identified as queer, I needed to protest the insensitive language and the invasion of my privacy regarding questions which had no relevance to providing services to visually impaired people.
For example, the very first question, which asked "What is your original gender as stated on your birth certificate" and the next three or four questions which went on to ask further questions about my gender identity, my sexual orientation, and the type of relationships I'm in.
Aside from being an invasion of my privacy, the overall sense I got from these questions was that they were just creepy, and it was clear that no sensitivity reader had been included in the process.
Most of all, rather than learning about their consumers, the invasiveness and insensitivity of these questions was likely to make LGBT people feel this was not a safe space, and they would just decide against getting any services from MCB at all.
I recommended that in the future, MCB work with the Fenway Health Center, which specifically represents and provides resources for the LGBT community, including how other agencies could include more appropriate language when addressing their consumers.
The response from the board was to ask the Commissioner from MCB how these questions were developed, and he entirely threw the blame on the company that developed the survey, which seemed a little unlikely in my opinion, but the chairperson responded by saying they thanked me, including for offering this resource, and that they would work on improving in the future (he did sound sincere, and I apologize that I can't remember his exact words).
He also added an apology that this meeting was taking place on a holiday that was meant as a day of observance, and no disrespect was intended, and future meetings would be better planned.
I thought it was a little ironic that my mention of the word "equity" seemed to prompt this reminder of Juneteenth in his mind.
Also of note: the Commissioner announced that rehab teachers and other members of MCB would be returning to making home visits, but that whether they were vaccinated or not was private information which would not be released to the consumers they were visiting. Yes, there was a lot of loud protests from the public, but the Commissioner held firm that there was "no one size fits all solution," and that the MCB employees were free to make the decision to not get vaccinated, and it was also their decision whether they chose to release that information or not to consumers with whom they were meeting.
So, heads up if you are receiving any of these Health and Human Services employees at your home: You need to ask them if they have been vaccinated, and do not just assume that they have been vaccinated.
All in all, despite the fact that listening to the Commissioner is like listening to someone trying to sell me prime real estate in Florida (this comic book aimed at visually impaired teenagers was one of his pet projects, and that's him in the cape https://www.mass.gov/service-details/pre-employment-transition-services-pre-ets ), the meeting of the MCB Advisory Board provided an interesting insight into how MCB works, and I think I will attend future meetings, especially if they continue to be made accessible through Zoom. Here's the info if anyone else is interested:
MCB Statutory Advisory Board (SAB)
Meeting dates are posted to the Mass Commission for the Blind Webpage under "Upcoming Eventsfrom Massachusetts Commission for the Blind"
The next virtual meeting of the MCB Statutory Advisory Board (SAB) Meeting - Virtual will occur on
Friday, July 30, 2021
from 12 p.m. - 2 p.m.
For the Zoom link and more details go to
https://www.mass.gov/event/mcb-statutory-advisory-board-sab-meeting-virtual-2021-07-30t120000-0400-2021-07-30t140000-0400
