CSUSOP - Plain Language
USA Deaflympian Carli Elizabeth Cronk Won the British Award
The Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and Paralympics (CSUSOP) public hearing occurred on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023.
After “listening” to U.S. Center for SafeSport CEO Ju'Riese Colón’s testimony, I decided to tell her about my experience with SafeSport when the Commission called for a lunch break.
Read the Associated Press article to learn more about the SafeSport in this hearing.
After introducing myself to Colon, I told her I had to take at least one SafeSport abuse awareness and prevention courses because I was Team Leader of the USA Deaf Tennis Team in the 2022 Deaflympics in Brazel.
Despite my intelligence, I skipped three courses before finding the more accessible course. At that time, I took a few paragraphs from one course and put them in Grammarly’s readability score on the Flesch reading ease test. The result was likely to be understood by a reader with at least some college education. Still, it may not be easy to read.
Suddenly, Colon interrupted my explanation and agreed entirely with me that these courses should follow the federal Plain Writing Act of 2010, which requires federal agencies to write “clear government communication that the public can understand and use.”
Since the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act requires the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to contribute $20 million yearly to SafeSport, Colon explained that the legal team reviewed the original courses. Still, she demands that these courses be revised to enable thousands of sports volunteers who need a college education to understand.
I thanked her and realized I delivered my request to her in person instead of emailing or mailing it.
Watch the video "A Conversation on Amplifying Athlete Voices for a Safer Sport Culture."
How did I know about the Plain Writing Act of 2010?
Question 5 on the 2012 Maryland statewide election ballot read, “Establishes the boundaries for the State’s eight United States Congressional Districts based on recent census figures, as required by the United States Constitution.”
Surprisingly, the controversy over ballot Question 5 was heard during the 2018 hearing on the Maryland redistricting case, Benisek v. Lamone, before the United States Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Glover Roberts Jr. questioned whether the wording of the ballot question was “opaque.”
Justice Stephen Breyer quoted the actual question:
“Are you for or are you against the following text: Establishes the boundaries for the State’s eight United States congressional districts based on recent Census figures, as required by the United States Constitution?”
He argued, “It doesn’t even tell you there what establishes it.”
Two years later, in 2020, I wrote a commentary, “Supporting Plain Language Requirement for Petitions and Ballot Questions.”
Last year, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed the bill “requiring State and local agencies to use plain language in public communications about health, safety, and social services benefits.”
Another News from USA Deaf Swimming
Deaf Sports Personality of the Year (DSPY) of Great Britain awarded USA's Carli Cronk the 2022 Overseas Sports Personality of the Year two months ago. Three days ago, she showed off this award.
The Notre Dame commit Cronk, a Churchill High School of Hill Country Village, TX senior, won 12 gold medals in the swimming events in the 2022 Summer Deaflympics in Caxias do Sul, Brazil, last May — the most gold medals that anyone has won in a single Deaflympics.
"It gets hard. I mean, I'm not able to hear four hours a day because I'm in the water, and I'm not able to wear my hearing aids," Cronk said. "And it gets hard sometimes because you want to be able to hear your teammates. You want to be able to talk to them."