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A deaf and autistic woman who was incarcerated for 5 years with no translation services is working to change the way that prisons treat those with disabilities Devin KP met with Michelle Ricks who is featured in the documentary being Michelle which was screened here in Colorado Springs this week and Devon brings us this report 32% of all people in federal prisons have at least one disability of those 153,000 are deaf according to the nonprofit respectability Michelle Ricks wants to make sure they have a way to communicate so no one else has to feel like she did it was incredibly frustrating and it's showing the world what my experience was with help from an interpreter I was able to speak with Michelle a deaf and autistic woman who tells me she's overcome trauma by helping animals getting access to resources and painting it takes away my stress I feel no stress while I'm painting and and all my thoughts are focused on that Michelle had a difficult childhood which led to a troubled early adulthood ultimately she ended up in prison locked up for 5 years unable to communicate because she was not given access to a translator all prisons must have accessibility communication access some way for us to understand what's going on I didn't understand what was happening to me following her release a film crew was able to record the issues she faced in a documentary called being Michelle and her experience it's so unfortunate and but it's not unique it happens to a lot of people that are deaf and people with disabilities there's communication uh barriers within the criminal justice system Roundup Fellowship a nonprofit in Colorado Springs providing services for kids and adults with disabilities invited their clients and the community to a private screening of the film it's important for the people we serve and honestly for the entire Greater Community to see someone like Michelle who's had every single barrier stacked against her and she is still thriving she is still pushing forward she is spreading a message of healing while advocating for Change and accessibility in a system left some without a way to communicate or listen that's key that there's true access and that the person can understand what's happening to them in the system because a lot of times they have no idea because there's so such a lack of communication I want to show my experience because I don't want that to happen to other people Michelle and the team behind her film say they planned to continue traveling around the country to spread awareness of accessibility issues and to provide a role model for people who are disabled in Colorado Springs I'm Devin karp News5