Breaking the silence.

For many seniors, the challenge of keeping up with a rapidly hanging world is too much to handle. Those challenges multiply exponentially for handicapped and disabled seniors, and none more so than those who are deaf or severely hearing impaired. The transition into the later stages of life is difficult enough for those with hearing; being deaf merely increases the odds of feeling isolated, frustrated, and lonely. Deaf elderly have a particularly difficult time in traditional long-term care facilities, as most staff members don't know sign language, leaving deaf residents unable to communicate effectively.

Deaf elderly living in the Northwestern United States now have another, better option: Chestnut Lane, a 70-apartment assisted living facility in Gresham, Oregon, a facility exclusively for the deaf and deaf-blind. Such a facility was apparently ill great demand-Chestnut Lane opened its doors on August 11, 2003, and welcomed its first resident that same day. (In fact, it is only the second such facility in tile United States.)

Chestnut Lane founder Mae Johnson, RN, had been working toward the goal of opening a deaf-only facility for years before it finally came to fruition. After opening a foster care home for deaf elderly, the first in her home state of Oregon, Johnson soon had a long waiting list. The Chestnut Lane project grew from there, but Johnson has been thinking about it even longer than that: Her parents are both deaf (and currently reside at Chestnut Lane).

The city of Gresham has also been very receptive to Chestnut Lane. "Gresham has just welcomed us with open arms," says Johnson. "They are just so happy to have us here. Gresham is a unique community in that they train guide dogs for the blind here, so they really bend over backwards to work with disabilities. This has been a wonderful choice for us."

There have been some environmental modifications made specifically to accommodate deaf residents. For instance, the fire alarm system uses flashing lights along with an audible alarm; deaf blind resident rooms are equipped with beds that vibrate to wake residents in case of an emergency. Each room is equipped for a TTY, a text telephone used by deaf people. Other changes are more subtle: Gathering spaces were kept on the small side because the deaf prefer to talk in smaller groups (sign language can get confusing in larger settings).

Staffing is another area in which Chestnut Lane provides much-needed custom care. "A good percentage of the staff are deaf themselves or have deaf parents, and so they sign very well," Johnson explains. "The percentage of people in the building who are hearing is very small. In fact, it's really just the director, Darla Thompson, and myself, and one other staff member; everyone else is deaf."

One might naturally assume that given the staffing problems running rampant throughout long-term care, finding specialized caregivers, such as those needed at Chestnut Lane, might be especially difficult. Johnson says, though, that was simply not the case: "Actually, the only position we're having difficulty filling is Registered Nurse" (a position Johnson has been filling herself in the interim). Johnson says that she had a great response from members of the deaf community who, she acknowledges, usually have trouble finding work because of their handicaps. The opportunity to work in such a supportive community among other deaf people was a natural draw.

Other than these differences, however, life at Chestnut Lane is much the same as at any other assisted living facility. "Just like a regular assisted living facility," explains Johnson, "some people need assistance with dressing and other ADLs, but there's a lot of independence. Right now, for example, the residents have decided that they are going to have a card gain e at 1:30 every day, and they are setting it up themselves. In the evening, they'll have a movie--we have a large-screen TV in a common area--and they'll pick the movie that they'd like to show. They have a little more independence than average, I think, because they're used to doing things for themselves."

Of course, just as traditional facilities may encounter bumps in the road in the first few months after opening, Chestnut Lane has had its share of challenges, but nothing that has dampened enthusiasm or defied solving. "There are always bugs and things we need to learn to cope with them, but we're learning them all the time. We're doing particularly well," says Johnson, with a hint of a smile in her voice, "because we have a management company called Concepts In Community Living that's helping us manage and figure out paperwork and policy and procedures. Hiring them was probably one of the smarter things we did."

One particular group of residents does present more challenges than the other, she says--"the deaf-blind residents, because they have so few senses to work with and they take a lot of staff time. Right now, we're working on a grant for the deaf-blind residents, so we can hire a full-time coordinator to help them exclusively." Chestnut Lane is currently home to four deaf-blind residents, with two more preparing to move in as of press time.

Although getting such a specialized facility up and running smoothly hasn't been easy, Johnson and Company aren't resting on their laurels. Plans are already afoot to expand the facility to an adjacent piece of property owned by Chestnut Lane. "We designed our current building so that the planned center of the building is at the end, and will be the center of the total complex when we are done," says Johnson. "We will be able to put 54 units on the new site. We would like to have a nursing home right here in case someone falls and breaks a hip or something of that nature, so we can have appropriate staffing for them to avoid their having to leave the facility and have communications difficulties all over again. We would like to look at the whole continuum--from independent all the way through. In about two years, we would like to be at the design stage."

Despite all of these achievements and future plans and dreams, Johnson insists that its greatest triumph of Chestnut Lane has been the sense of community. "It is so special. It feels like you're walking into your home," she says. "It's pretty incredible. We had a gentleman move in Friday from California, and already today, on Tuesday, he's made new friends. It just doesn't take any time at all. But he didn't have any communication and language down there because he didn't have anyone he could talk with. It's really pretty neat to see that bonding and friendliness occur for them. They' re excited to be here!"

For further information, phone Chestnut Lane at [phone], fax [phone], or TTY [phone], or visit the Deaf Northwest Web site at www.deafnw.com. Deaf Northwest is a 501(c)3 organization and accepts tax-deductable donations. To comment on this article, please send e-mail to [e-mail].