A federally subsidized housing complex designed by a deaf architect, with such features as video phones, lights that flash when the phone or doorbell rings, and wiring that sends announcements to residents’ hearing aids, is being accused by the federal government of discrimination against those who are not deaf, according to a New York Times report. Those with hearing impairments occupy more than 90% of the housing units in the Arizona complex.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said in a statement that “federal law prohibits facilities that receive HUD funds from providing separate or different housing for one group of individuals with disabilities because this practice denies or limits access to housing for other individuals based on the types of disabilities they have,” according to the Times report.