Sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying than stopping by a restaurant for a quick meal. But for many deaf customers, challenges still arise with miscommunications and accessibility issues at restaurants and fast food venues.
Recently, a news story about a deaf customer at McDonald’s went viral, after a woman was left the restaurant in tears when she wasn’t able to order her daughter a meal. Other restaurants, however, have already made changes to their ordering process and staff to make their services more accessible.
So how can restaurants be more accessible for the D/deaf and hard of hearing? And what can we do as customers to help make those changes?
“Can I take your order?”
The customer at McDonald’s, Brenda Lander, was born deaf and uses American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate. According to Wink News, Lander says there was a miscommunication with her order, resulting in a wait time of at least half an hour. When she asked for the manager, Lander claims she became aggressive with her and refused to remove her mask to allow Lander to lipread. She also refused to use paper and pencil, and “shooed” her away. No other staff or customers came forward to offer help, leaving Lander helpless and vulnerable. She went back to her car and cried to her daughter, who is also deaf.
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