A deaf scientist named Robert Weitbrecht developed the teletypewriter or TTY in the 1960s (NAD). Teletypewriters along with acoustic coupler, which holds the telephone handset receiver, allowed the Deaf and hard-of-hearing people to be able to call one another. TTY relay services first began with volunteers being connected to TTY users with people who use telephones. “The TTY relay service communication assistant (CA) connects TTY relay calls with people who communicate by telephone (NAD).” The CA would convert text-to-voice and vice versa, with the text being displayed on the user’s TTY. Before the invention of the teletypewriter relay services, Deaf people depended on their friends or family members to call and order a pizza or make a doctor’s
