The ultimate dream job

Once I graduated from RIT in 2011, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do career wise. As you know I majored in criminal justice. I focused on corrections/policing until I found passion with court/law in the last year of college. I was considering to go to law school. I wasn't prepared to commit to another 3 years of school, so I decided to take the time to make sure it was what I wanted. I knew I had the passion for the criminal justice field so I just had to narrow it down.

I moved to Groton, CT after my graduation, reuniting with my boyfriend who had moved there for his job the previous year. I started applying to jobs in the area which I ran across Transportation Security Officer (TSO) position with T.F. Green airport in Providence, R.I. which I applied to in March 2012. This became the ultimate dream job because with my love for airplanes and security combined in one, I thought it would be the perfect job. I also loved the airport environment every time I traveled. I was invited to take the x-ray exam (identifying items in x-ray monitor images) and I drove to East Smithfield, R.I. to take the exam. I was a nervewreck not knowing what to expect, but I passed it with flying colors as I got the e-mail the very next day.

I was excited for the next step which was waiting for a call from the airport to come in for airport assessment (interview, color vision test, paperwork). A position finally opened up in August 2012 while I was employed at American School for the Deaf. I called back immediately and left three voice mails in a week period. I even tried to call to get a person on the line, but no luck. A month later, they stated that they never got any of my messages and that the position had been filled.

I didn't want to give up so I continued the search for Transportation Security Officer positions which a few opened up at Tweed in New Haven, CT and Bradley in Hartford, CT. Unfortunately I never got any calls. In April 2014, another position opened up at T.F. Green in Providence, R.I. so I applied again. The first test I had taken was only good for certain time so I had to take the test again which I passed the second time. A week later I got the call for airport assessment. I was thrilled to finally get this far.

The woman on the phone recognized that I was deaf from using the relay on the phone so she requested that I put in a formal request with Transportation Security Administration headquarters. I had a week to put in the request and have it approved in order to be able to participate in the assessment. It was a VERY stressful week of calling the headquarters every day and getting the paperwork faxed to them immediately.

The headquarters finally sent me a letter on the last day of the window to schedule the assessment. The letter had been sent to me via Fed Ex overnight. I also got an e-mail from the director of accessibility services. Both letters had REJECTED the approval to have an interpreter at the assessment. It SHATTERED my confidence for the assessment. The letter stated that TSA had a hearing level that I had to pass in order to be able to do the job. How did they know my hearing level? I didn't even the chance to take the hearing test part of the physical exam which would have came down the road. I was very disappointed and hurt because I had high hopes of being a TSO and felt very confident that I could do the job despite my disability.

I contacted the state lawyer who worked for Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities to see if TSA had the grounds to deny me the right of having an interpreter. The lawyers looked into it immediately and came back to me saying that they did have that authority since it was federal based agency. The letters stated that even through the interpreter request was denied, I could still schedule the assessment without interpreter. I decided to do so with hopes of communicating verbally as much I could and resort to writing when necessary.

After scheduling the assessment, I got another e-mail from the director at the headquarters confirming my scheduled assessment and stated I was NOT able to bring paper/pen or alternative method in communicating. She also stated it would be group style interview with 3 supervisors/employees with 3 other candidates as well. My heart broke after reading this e-mail knowing I cannot do group style interview without any assistance in communicating. My confidence SANK even further to the Earth's core. I felt that it was their mission to make it IMPOSSIBLE for me. They were making everything difficult for me and continue to shatter my hope on getting the ultimate dream job.

I was shocked at how little the ADA law could help me in this situation. This needs to change, to allow accessibility to people with disability to be able to work for TSA. Deaf people are considered to be more visible than an average person since we have the loss of hearing we rely more on our vision. That skill would be very helpful for TSA as it is the primary job to inspect civilians/their luggage which requires vision more than anything else. I hope that someday TSA will be able to hire deaf people.