Deaf people who use American Sign Language are using a full language with its own grammar, not English on the hands. For many, written English is a second language learned without hearing it, and reading it under pressure in an interview or eligibility conversation is harder than staff assume. That is why a request for an interpreter cannot be answered with a notepad. Lipreading is unreliable even for skilled lipreaders; most English sounds look alike or are invisible on the lips, and masks, accents and side conversations make it worse.
Not everyone who cannot hear well uses ASL. Hard-of-hearing people, people who lost hearing later in life and many older adults rely on residual hearing, hearing aids, a clear view of your face and captions. For them the useful adjustments are a quiet room, facing them with the light on your face, normal volume, rephrasing rather than repeating, and key facts, names, numbers and dates, in writing. DeafBlind people may use tactile sign, close-vision sign, large print or braille; ask, and book the support they name.
Under the ADA, public programs must communicate with people with disabilities as effectively as with anyone else, and must give primary consideration to the aid or service the person asks for. In practice: ask what works for the person, book it through the responsible office, and if the schedule and the access conflict, move the schedule. In Minnesota, DHS has a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Division that can be a resource for staff who are unsure what an arrangement should look like.
