In addition to sending letters, please make calls to all the offices! Additionally, if any of the Senators on the Committee are your personal Senators, make sure to call them and let them know you are a constituent.
I am writing to express my support for AB 2004. We see every day what resources are needed and obstacles parents face. One of such barriers is the inability to afford devices such as hearing aids because insurance does not provide coverage. The average cost for new hearing aids is usually in the ballpark of $3,000 to $5,000 per hearing aid. If a child needs more than one, the costs double, and it comes from parents and or guardians pockets. This barrier needs to be removed.
It is important for parents to have this affordable option to get hearing aids, vs. the riskier option.
Please remove this barrier for parents with Deaf children and vote in support of AB2004.
Nyle DiMarco’s recent victories with America's Next Top Model and Dancing With the Stars ignited an important dialogue about the importance of Deaf schools, language acquisition with ASL and English, and the legislative movement with LEAD-K. A Deaf blogger, Mark Drolsbaugh, calls this phenomenon, "The Nyle DiMarco Effect." Those important dialogues have brought forth today's shortfalls of Deaf Education policies on language acquisition.
The Nyle DiMarco Effect is also fueling a new level of debate among Deaf people and the parents of Deaf children: What is language acquisition? What is language deprivation? Should all Deaf children learn both ASL and English to avoid the pitfalls of language deprivation? If the families choose ASL and English, where are the resources? Why are the medical and oral only organizations investing so much time and money in listening and speaking ONLY methods and withholding ASL resources?
New topics also arose about whether we want our Deaf children to overcome their deafness or to embrace their Deaf Identity: "overcoming" vs "being." Those questions and discussions became more heated as the Deaf community's researchers and allies have developed sound scientific findings that all Deaf children greatly benefit from signed languages boosting their cognitive skill, critical thinking skills, self-esteem, and core identity.
"Delicate balance between respecting parents' choice vs. Deaf baby's human right to language. Choice is an illusion." -- Amy Cohen Efron (Image description: a makeshift seesaw supported by a stone. The left side is one large stone and the right side is a stack of three stones.)
During the past ten years, after experiencing trials under fire by fighting against surprise legislative pulls such as AB 2072 (California) and HB 1367 (Indiana) sponsored by AGBell's affiliations, Deaf community had become more savvy with educational issues, political and legislative strategies, and media. The more savvy the Deaf community becomes, the greater the backlash by AGBell Association and its affiliates.
(image description: At the right is a photo of a yellow t-shirt with the iconic red circle with slash over AB2072 on a t-shirt. At the left is a graphic design of HB1367 with the same red circle with slash over the bill number).
The Deaf community mobilizes with "Nothing About Us Without Us" while the AGBell Association mobilizes with "Parents' Choices" along with the (hearing) medical community. Who is right about language acquisition, the Deaf community or the medical people of AGBell Association working with the families? The underlying heated discussion between both entities is actually about language rights of Deaf children vs. Parents choice.
Those questions become more urgent as everyday we are witnessing Deaf children growing up without adequate language skills. Who is responsible for the epidemic of language-deprived Deaf children growing up with dismal academic achievement? There is only one answer: AGBell Association needs to be held responsible for causing this epidemic of language deprivation.
And the Deaf community -- especially the survivors of language deprivation-- wants accountability to prevent more Deaf children from the atrocity of language deprivation syndrome, which has been happening for over 136 years now. The Deaf community is also pushing for government accountability for our nation's crisis of language deprived Deaf children.
Someone has to hold Alexander Graham Bell Association accountable. Many of the Deaf people involved in Deaf education are byproducts of AGBell, and they now are speaking out against Oral-only education. The backlash they get from AGBell is "Those people are militants and extremists." The irony of this is that they taught us to speak by withholding ASL, then they try to silence us when we discover and embrace ASL. What is wrong with this picture?
The ironies of Oralism is hurting the Deaf children. (Image description: Moe Klusza iconic satire cartoon art titled The Greatest Irony: At the left is a Deaf baby handcuffed. At the right is a hearing baby signing ILY.)
Our state governments have both moral obligations and legal responsibilities to provide resources and tools for language development and acquisition to ensure that each Deaf child, from birth until the age of five, is acquiring a language ready for Kindergarten. This is what language acquisition accountability is all about. Is this asking for too much?
There’s no doubt that, yes, this is a basic human right issue, which has been overlooked for too many years. As Dr. Roz Rosen would say, "Time for ignorance is OVER.”
Matthew Moore, the founder and editor of DeafLife magazine, has proclaimed, “2016 is the year of Deaf people", and it is only the beginning.” Thanks to Nyle DiMarco, the person born to debunk the myths about Deaf people and signed languages. Nyle cannot possibly have gained this platform without the support from the entire Deaf community and our allies. This historical collectivistic media movement with Nyle, which had created the paradigm shift. This is something we all can celebrate. Once again, it is only the beginning.
"I CANT BELIEVE IT! WE WON! WE WON THE MIRROR BALL!!! This is for 70 million Deaf people in the world! Thank you all for your CONTINUING SUPPORT," said Nyle DiMarco. (Image description: At Dancing with the Stars, Nyle and Peta are holding the mirror ball and they are surrounded by their fans giving them a standing ovation).
And one more thing ... always remember that we have many Oral education failures and ZERO ASL and English education failures. What I am asking for... is for all of us to have the audacity to create the path where all Deaf children can succeed and not a single Deaf child is left behind. This path is ASL AND English (bilingualism/multilingualism/tactile signed languages), not ASL OR English.There is unity in this beautiful word, "and".
"Friends" LEAD-K photo taken by Clare Cassidy (image description: photo of three preschool and kindergarten-aged boys huddled together at a table. The boy in the middle has his arm wrapped around the boy at the right while signing "friends" and smiling at the camera. The smiling boy at the left is leaning on the table-he seems connected with both boys by looking at them.)
Let's embrace the "and" and remove the usage of "or". Why? Because all Deaf children deserve to be Kindergarten-ready.
Last Tuesday the world witnessed a phenomenal moment with Nyle DiMarco, winner of America Next Top Model Season 22, seizing the Mirror Ball after several weeks of competition with 11 other stars on Dancing With the Stars Season 22. We are so proud Nyle DiMarco, especially with the fact that his historical dancing moment took place in our own beloved state, California!!
One year ago, only his family and friends knew who he was.Today the world has seen and heard his victorious dancing accomplishments. His professional dancing partner has shown what a healthy Deaf and hearing partnership and allyship can do! Thank you Peta for becoming our incredible ally!
Furthermore, Nyle also used his platform to educate millions of viewers about the importance of language acquisition for Deaf babies, supported LEAD-K, and established Nyle DiMarco Foundation.He has unselfishly used his fame and resources to support the Deaf community, especially the Deaf children.
Nyle is an incredible source of inspiration for millions of Deaf children as well as hearing children about what Deaf people can do... there is nothing they cannot do!
Thank you Nyle for this historical paradigm shift and for allowing the Deaf community to create this change with you! Never underestimate the power of the Deaf people's voting along with their allies!
As the George Washington University (GWU) President, Stephen Knapp, told the 2015 graduating class,
“We depend on you to repair what earlier generations have broken, to build what we have left unbuilt, to learn what we have not yet learned, to heal what we have so far left unhealed” (Irwin and Ingeno, 2015).
As you may already know, Nyle DiMarco is currently in California to compete in Dancing With the Stars (DWTS). We are extremely proud of his great success on the show. Recently Nyle experienced a backlash, a letter to the Washington Post from Meredith Sugar, President of Alexander Graham Bell Organization (AG Bell). CAD commends the Deaf community for taking a united position against Sugar's audistic letter, which is filled with misleading information about American Sign Language and Deaf children:
While we are in the midst of this uproar with #AGBellLies, let’s not forget to give your utmost support for Nyle DiMarco to keep on doing his incredible work on DWTS and support his cause, Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K), so the volunteers can continue with their legislative push for language equality, ASL and English. Also, please take the time to to read LEAD-K’s recent open letter to The Washington Post.
Don’t forget to watch Nyle on DWST tomorrow night!
Defund AGBell and Its Partners
It is important to support Nyle DiMarco and LEAD-K. At the same time, we need to vigilantly follow the money and educate AGBell's funders about the harm they are causing with the six points listed below with discussion topics that you can share with the funders and the lawmakers about why AGBell Association and their partners need to be defunded.
NAD and CAD
AG Bell has a long history of destroying Deaf lives. This was why the National Association of the Deaf was founded in 1880 and California Association of the Deaf in 1906. This battle has gone for too long. Now it is our time fight back effectively for once and for all. Yes, our time is now.
AGBell’s History of Atrocities
Deaf people became alarmed with the atrocities caused by Alexander Graham Bell, the person. Dr. Bell attempted to ban Deaf people from marrying other Deaf people by proposing a law. The AG Bell association that was set up in his honor has continued with perpetuating Dr. Bell’s harmful actions against Deaf citizens. They attempted to make Deaf people forget that they are Deaf by denying us signed languages and access to the Deaf community (Paddy, 129). They also pushed to sterilize us and euthanize us. Dr. Bell’s ideologies were the foundation of the Holocaust movement (Black, 2003).
AGBell’s Ideologies Still Harming Deaf Children Today
AGBell Association’s “oral only” and “no ASL at all cost” ideology is dangerous and harmful to the Deaf children who take the most burden of AGBell’s atrocities when they grow up with delayed or deprived language, cognitive, and literacy skills. Their actions likewise are affecting Deaf adults’ mental health.
Dr. Julia Hecht, a pediatrician who promised to do no harm to Deaf children, wrote in two of her blogs:
“Language deprivation and consequently brain damage is the single greatest risk to deaf babies and children. I agree with this assertion by Sanjay Gulati, M.D., (Professor at Harvard Medical School)…In my experience, their level of hearing and their ability to speak has nothing to do with what they achieve or how they feel about themselves…What compels families to ignore the facts…and choose the other, risky, disruptive, and even detrimental methods for their (deaf) child? This is where we must shine a light”(Hecht, 2016).
Researchers such as Dr. Tom Humphries have concluded that ASL and other signed languages do not intervene with speech, so CAD concludes that there is no need for AG Bell organization to continue its existence.
AGBell and NCHAM (Karl White)
AGBell’s partnership with Karl White’s National Center on Hearing Assessment and
Management (NCHAM) alarms us, because they are aggressively influencing the medical field without the leadership of the bilingual and multilingual (signed languages, including ASL, and English) Deaf professionals and community.
CAD’s 7 Talking and Signing Points
CAD wishes to share our adapted 7 effective talking points for the Deaf community members to use in our fight against AGBell’s atrocities. We used those talking points with one of NCHAM's funders, Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), to share our concerns about NCHAM's partnership with AGBell:
Point #1: Doing Harm to Deaf Children who become our Deaf Adults
A. Focus on oral only language has robbed many Deaf children of fully accessible language and healthy social emotional development.
B. Lack of language development could cause academic difficulties and delays.
C. Those children are generally not assessed for their language development till second grade. We passed SB210 to require language testing of all Deaf babies and toddlers, age 0-5.
D. Major consequence: Deaf children arrive at Kindergarten without much or no language. Those children are thus NOT ready to learn at age 5.
E. Petersen & Rems-Smario (2013) asked if Maslow took language for granted and suggested that, to accomplish each of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, one needs language to accomplish all of the steps to self-actualization at the top.
Point #2: AGBell and NCHAM are harmful for Deaf children and their families.
A. The goal of AGBell and the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM) is to ensure that all infants and toddlers with hearing loss are identified as early as possible and provided with timely and appropriate audiological, educational, and medical intervention.
B. Language intervention is not listed as one of services provided by AGBell NCHAM.
Consequently, NCHAM’s focus on audiological, educational, and medical intervention has adverse effects on Deaf babies and toddlers’ language development.
C. Many families never learn about the extreme benefits of ASL till too late. “Parents
misinformed about ‘potential and probable implications’ of not giving fully accessible language exposure early (Hall & Henner, 2015).
D. High unrealistic expectations for CIs: “it’s the only option”.
Point #3: AGBell and NCHAM would not include or involve Deaf adults in management of their audiological, educational, and medical interventions.
A. National Association of Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has ten program standards.
Below is the description for #8 is Community Relationships:
The program establishes relationships with and uses the resources of the children’s
communities to support the achievement of program goals. Relationships with agencies and institutions in the community can help a program achieve its goals and connect families with resources that support children’s healthy development and learning. What to look for in a program:
The program connects with and uses museums, parks, libraries, zoos, and other resources in the community. Representatives from community programs, such as musical performers and local artists, are invited to share their interests and talents with the children. The staff develops professional relationships with community agencies and organizations that further the program’s capacity to meet the needs and interestsof children and families.
B. NCHAM is developing ASL classes for families but has not contracted with appropriate ASL entities to develop those online ASL classes.
Point # 4: Research that does not include Deaf People and misinterprets of brain imaging research (language cortex, not auditory cortex).
A. Amateur and ideological biases in hypothesis, design, outcomes, and conclusions.
“…danger of this approach is that we can become inappropriately confident about our amateur research outcomes, reaching hasty and premature conjectures dressed up as quasi-scientific conclusions. Sometimes we rely on the opinions or knowledge of others. This is also problematic as opinions may be based on stereotypes passed down through the generations” (McNaughton et al, 2010).
B. Must include ASL (Bilingual and Multilingual) Deaf people: “Research is a process legitimated in our society as producing knowledge and therefore ought to be in the hands of those who want to use and benefit from it—particularly when it is information about our own lives” (McNaughton et al, 2010).
C. Inadequate and inappropriate research conclusion: there is a paucity of research about outcomes of their service provisions to deaf children and their families. If there is research, they usually do not include ASL Deaf children (ASL and any signed languages).
D. CI Research has been highly variable and is not focused on first language acquisition. Getting an implant does NOT equate to language access (Hall & Henner, 2015).
Point #5: Language Deprivation & Brain Damage cause lifelong difficulties, starting with their K12 education because of “ableism” and “audism.”
A. Hehir (2005) said, “…ableist assumptions become dysfunctional when the educational and developmental services provided to disabled children focus inordinately on the characteristics of their disability to the exclusion of all else.”
B. He also wrote, “…I began to see more clearly how deeply some educational practices reflect this prejudice. Requiring deaf students to lip-read rather than sign…”
C. Instead of changing shifts at Kindergarten when their language is delayed or deprived, many school programs continue on same damaging teaching patterns where their education is more focused on speech development more than on academics.
D. Their lack of academic achievement is blamed on two things: their hearing status and on their lack of language that NCHAM promotes through their mission focus of “audiological, educational, and medical interventions.” But we now know it is lack of language, and not their hearing status per se.
E. If they are concerned about the education of Deaf infants and toddlers, how do they expect the Deaf children to be able to achieve academically without language development?
Point #6: Social/Emotional Development & Mental Health as a result of Language
Deprivation
A. Deaf youth has a vicious cycle where they engage in drugs and alcohol use earlier because of language deprivation. Language Deprivation > Difficulty Expressing Self > Increase in Distress > Difficulty with Coping Skills > Drugs and Alcohol Use.
B. We are now suggesting the possibility of Language Deprivation Disorder (Hall & Henner, 2015).
Point #7: AGBell and NCHAM discriminate against Deaf people
A. Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against deaf people.
B. There are inappropriate descriptions of our needs throughout the AGBell and NCHAM websites; this is not the scope of our discussion. However, to illuminate an example, from a search of NCHAM’s Resource Guide of 526 pages and 39 chapters, we can see only 43 instances of the term, “ASL” whereas the term “hearing” showed up 2939 times. The 33 times “ASL” showed up in the Resource Guide were in three chapters written by Deaf authors. Out of 39 chapters, only three were written with Deaf authors.
Keep the great momentum of resistance going, Deaf Community. You are building a new future. Together we can end #AGBellLies.
CAD Board of Directors
Julie Rems-Smario, President
Marla Hatrak, Vice President
Deanne Bray, Secretary
Dodi Ellis, Treasurer
Matthew Sampson, Director of Membership
Shelley Stout, Director-at-Large, Northern California
Kavita Pipalia, Director-at-Large, Southern California
CAD is in Solidarity with Audism Free America (AFA)
CAD is appreciative of Ruthie Jordan's leadership with Audism Free America (ADA). AFA has paved the way to prepare the Deaf Californians for the pending EHDI conference in San Diego, California. United we stand for all Deaf children to have language acquisition, ASL and English.
CAD is in solidarity with ADA's following demands:
AFA DEMANDS:
1. Equitable funding. AFA calls upon EHDI, CDC, NIH, and US Dept of Education to address the historical and contemporary inequality of funding by increasing funds for bilingual (ASL and English) materials, early educational programs, Deaf mentoring programs, and services to parents. Equitable funding should be transparent.
2. Early Healthy Deaf Identification. AFA calls upon EHDI to shift its approach to Deaf infants and their families from a pathological/medical bias to a positive/culturally-additive model in identification. To ensure this, parents need to be informed at the time of identification that American Sign Language is a linguistic human right for a Deaf child and Deaf/ASL early service providers are trained to work with them. In addition, EHDI should implement the labeling/way of thinking that was published in EHD's 2011 Resource book in the chapter on Partnerships with the Deaf Community.
3. Stake Holders in Leadership positions. AFA calls upon EHDI to hire Deaf people who use and support ASL/Deaf Culture in leadership roles at national and state levels.
4. Full Disclosure. Audiologists should be required to explain the four international documents and their positions on the language and cultural rights of Deaf people. Also, they need to explain the recalls (both voluntary and involuntary) and risks associated with cochlear implants and Audio-verbal Therapy (AVT) programs.
5. Confidential Information and Genetic research. AFA calls upon EHDI to guarantee that information about Deaf children and their families will not be used for collecting genetic information beyond consults with the families. EHDI will not support financially nor in terms of information sharing any research related to genetic engineering.
About Audism Free America:
It is an organized movement to promote and protect the civil liberties of Deaf people and their linguistic birthrights. http://audismfreeamerica.blogspot.com/
Under the leadership of Executive Director Patricia Seiglen-Perry, Deaf Community Services of San Diego garnered support from California Coalition of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Agencies (CCDHHA) to join CAD, LEAD-K, and DawnSignPress to promote the #whyIsign trending campaign during March 13th-15th.
"#Why I sign? I stumbled on a sign language class while waiting to begin the Master’s program in Rehabilitation Counseling at SDSU. I had a deaf instructor and I fell in love with the language. I immersed myself in the community and continued my passion for the language, the people and the community! It is who I am," signed Sieglan-Perry.
This trending campaign, #whyIsign, takes place at the same time as Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) conference. The goal of the campaign is to promote the importance of early language acquisition with American Sign Language (ASL). The conference starts this Sunday in San Diego at the Town and Country Hotel.
DCS has organized support to cover the promotional materials for #whyIsign at the EHDI conferences, which includes pins with #whyIsign logo for the people at the conference to wear!
A Deaf resident of San Diego who is also an employee at DCS expressed why the #whyIsign campaign is important to her,
"Why I Sign? I was born hard of hearing and I speak very well for a Deaf person. Growing up, I struggled with English. When my parents decided to increase my fluency in sign language, it gave me a strong foundation in my natural language. With fluency in sign language, I was then able to gain fluency in writing and reading English. Thanks Mom and Dad!"
Everyone at the EDHI conference is invited to visit DCS and CAD booths to share their #whyIsign stories and get a free #whyIsign pin. Our mantra is "Wear your #whyIsign story with pride!"
About DCSSD
DCSSD promotes the full participation of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in all aspects of society. The agency's vision is to offer a full spectrum of services, resources, and information that are designed to maximize full access and opportunities for members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. For more information about this San Diego based agency, visit www.deafcommunityservices.org .
Sesame Street's Linda Bove Shares her #whyIsign story!!
Thank you, Linda for sharing your #whyIsign story! You inspired many children by being your beautiful self as a Deaf woman sharing the power of American Sign Language with all children, Deaf and hearing, during your days with Sesame Street.
Image description: A video of a white female presenting woman with short black hair and blue blouse. She presents her #whyIsign story facing the camera.
Transcript:
Hello. My name is Linda Bove. If one asks me #whyisign- Signing is my birthright. I grew up using ASL. Being able to express myself fully was one way how I developed my identity as a deaf person. I grew up being proud of who I am as a deaf person. When I entered the working world, there were hearing people everywhere. I worked at Sesame Street. The character I was given was Linda the Librarian. In my mind, I thought, how perfect. I am in a library, surrounded by books, and I am given the opportunity to tell stories using ASL. The children were mesmerized by my storytelling. They saw how I proudly expressed myself in my language, ASL. With that, being on TV everywhere in the world, I realize that I was able to spread ASL to deaf children all over. Deaf children watched me, and was able to bring in their families to watch me on TV signing. They learned how to communicate, and see that ASL is a language. The deaf children and their families were able to use ASL when conversing. I thank ASL for making me who I am, and giving my “stand” in spreading awareness all over. I encourage children, deaf children, parents, families, relatives, and community to sign and to give deaf children the language that is their birthright, ASL, period.
CAD's letter of commendation to Disney for a for a job well done with the McFeely-Johnson family is acknowledged:
An Unforgettable Project for The Hall
March 2, 2016
Yellow Shoes and The Hall’s Unforgettable spot for Disney featuring the Mansfield family finally hit the internet on Monday after spending some time being featured as an in-theater promo before Star Wars: The Force Awakens and as a broadcast spot on the Disney Channel. In less than 72 hours online, it’s racked up over 4.3 million views onFacebook — and judging by the comments, has touched almost as many hearts.
The Hall’s “Unforgettable” spot for Disney featuring the Mansfield family
Manny, Sheena, Shaylee, and Ivy were a dream to work with, and have kept us in the loop on how the piece is being received by the Deaf community which has been very important to us. So far, we’re incredibly proud of the feedback, including this open letter from the California Association for the Deaf.
Here are links for Picrow’s Facebook page, more work from the guys down The Hall, and some stuff from the rest of Picrow, here.
The background is white. White graphics : #whyIsign A white female presenting person with long hair. She is wearing a black t-shirt with #whyIsign logo print.
She signs: #whyIsign.
Graphics (black background with white fonts, which is consistent throughout the video):
Meet Stacey Abrams about #whyIsign
Stacey: How did #whyIsign start? I thought of it to inspire families everywhere to share their personal stories about why they elect to sign with their Deaf children.
Now it is your opportunity to share YOUR story!
There are countless reasons why we care so much about signing ASL.
Graphics: Top reasons why Stacey supports #whyIsign
Stacey:
#1 To sign is human
#2 Researches have proven that learning ASL first can help improve speaking skills
#3 It is important that the baby is exposed to ASL because language acquisition is important to take place during first five years of the child's life
#4 The point of the #whyIsign message is that Deaf children who have ASL have greater academic success
Graphics: Who Can Join #whyIsign?
Stacey: All kinds of companies, businesses, Deaf owned- businesses, and organizations are all welcomed to join!
Graphics: You can help make #whyIsign go VIRAL! Share your story with the media!
Stacey: Share your story with the news. Write letters to the media. Write articles and blogs. Also do vlogs.
Graphics: Share your story with #whyIsign March 13-15th
Stacey: Sign ASL! That's the point!
Graphics: #whyIsign with Stacey
Graphics: Logos of CAD, LEAD-K, DawnSignPress and Lenois Productions surrounding #whyIsign logo. Attachments area
We are still waiting for your response to have a healthy dialogue about what happened at the Starkey Hearing Foundation Super Bowl 50 event in San Francisco Bay Area.
For clarification, CAD's position with Starkey is not anti-hearing aids. It is about utilizing #responsiblemarketing without resorting to #inspirationporn. The current misuse of irresponsible marketing strategies and slogans about how hearing aids are panacea for Deaf people is causing an epidemic of language deprivation among many of our Deaf children. We realize that many people are not fully aware of the critical needs of our Deaf community.
CAD seeks a partnership from Starkey Hearing Foundation where we make the hearing aids available for the Deaf children along with resources about language acquisition of both ASL and English so all Deaf babies can be Kindergarten ready. Families with Deaf children deserve no less.
We are opening the door for Starkey to meet with the Deaf stakeholders and create partnerships for healthy marketing with an approach to meeting the needs of the whole Deaf child.
You have the power to be the agent of change. It can be the beginning of a new win-win marketing strategy. Our door is open. The ball is in your court.
We hope to "see" your response.
Sincerely
California Association of the Deaf (CAD) Board of Directors
Julie Rems-Smario, President
Marla Hatrak, Vice-President
Deanne Bray, Secretary
Dodi Ellis, Treasurer
Matthew Sampson, Director of Membership
Shelley Stout, Northern California Director at Large
Kavita Pipalia, Southern California Director at Large
Male presenting white person with dark blond curly hair and beard. He is wearing a blue shirt. The background is white. The graphics are white, too.
(black background with white fonts, which is consistent throughout the video)
Opening graphics: #whyIsign Goes GLOBAL -- Adam Jarashow
Adam: #whyIsign
Graphics: Three reasons Adam supports #whyIsign
Adam:
#1 Research has proven that signed languages are acquired before spoken languages.
#2 I have traveled globally including Europe and Asia and easily met many people with international signed languages. It's awesome.
#3 Signed language is like building the foundation of the house. Without the foundation, the house collapses. So, without foundation of a signed language, it becomes a life-long struggle.
Graphics: Join #whyIsignBecause you CARE
Adam: There are many reasons why you all care about signed languages
Graphics: GO GLOBAL! GO INTERNATIONAL!
Adam: #whyIsign is not only for the United States. It is for the whole world to come together and end the oppression of signed languages.
Graphics: Who can join #whyIsign and how???
Adam: Families and individuals can join to share stories. You can share with a video, newspaper article, blogs, and vlogs! Share your story with everyone in the world
Graphics: Why is #whyIsign so IMPORTANT?
Adam: The point of #whyIsign is to inform the world that signed languages are beneficial for a Deaf child to be ready for education.
Graphics: Join #whyIsign 48-hour campaign March 13-15th
The background is white graphics: #whyIsign A Black female presenting person iconically known as Rosa Lee. She has light brown curly hair and a blue blouse.
Rosa Lee: #whyIsign
Rosa Lee: What is #whyIsign? Stacey Abrams created the idea when she became curious about hearing families who learned ASL and signed with their Deaf children. So she videotaped those families' stories. Those videos of families' stories became VIRAL, touching many hearts. So, now, guess what? This campaign is reaching out to the WORLD. We are curious why you value signing ASL.
Graphics: (black background with white fonts, which is consistent throughout the video)
Rosa Lee's three reasons for supporting #whyIsign
Rosa Lee:
#1 I sign with my children. Their imagination has unlimited creativity.
#2 Did you know that babies at birth are ready to acquire languages right away? If the baby is Deaf, grab the opportunity to sign, exposing the baby to ASL. The baby will quickly acquire the signed language.
#3 Studies have shown that a Deaf child growing up with two or more languages, including ASL, is more ready to learn academically than those with only one language.
Graphics: What is your #whyIsign story?
Rosa Lee: Now it's time for us to work together and let everyone know to share stories.
Graphics: Remember to hashtag your story!
Rosa Lee: Grab this opportunity to SHARE your story. Go ahead to share, share, share your story. MAKE YOUR STORY GO VIRAL!
Graphics: I don't have Deaf children. Can I join #whyIsign? YES!!!
Rosa Lee: Different schools can join. It can be your class project. Allies such as CODAs, interpreters, or anyone who supports signing ASL.
Graphics: What do I share for #whyIsign?
Rosa Lee: You share how signing ASL made an impact on you and how it changed your life. Go ahead and share your story with others. If you read a good article that supports signing ASL, share about it. Or if you've found statistics supporting ASL, tell us about it. Share! Share! Share!
Graphics: Visit #whyIsign for ideas!
Rosa Lee: If you are not sure about what to share, don't worry. Go and search for #whyIsign. You will find many stories with #whyIsign hashtags which had gone viral in social media. You can become part of this trending.
Graphics: When does this exciting #whyIsign trending start?
Rosa Lee: It starts on March 13th for 48 hours. You simply hashtag your stories #whyIsign. Get as many stories as possible out there in social media. Go trending!
Graphics: You can make #whyIsign 48 hour campaign go TRENDING!
Rosa Lee: The goal of #whyIsign is to make it go TRENDING in social media.
Graphics: Come and join #whyIsign!
Rosa Lee: Now I am curious why you value signing ASL
Graphics: SHARE YOUR #whyIsign stories MARCH 13th - 15th
Rosa Lee: #whyIsign (graphics of #whyIsign)
Graphics: Logos of DawnSignPress, CAD, LEAD-K and Lenois Productions surrounding #whyIsign logo.
Thank you so much for the time your team and you took to meet with the representatives of California Association of the Deaf and Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K). It was a very productive discussion.
Sheri Farinha and I are looking forward to collaborative efforts with you to bring more Deaf stakeholders onboard to work within the EHDI system. I appreciate that we have shared the following two points during our meeting:
The single greatest risk faced by deaf people is inadequate exposure to a usable first language” (Sanjay Gulati, a Deaf psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School).
NCHAM must refrain from doing further harm by disengaging with entities that have ideological bent.
Our CAD team has gathered information to share with you, which we can discuss about during our upcoming meetings. Those are the current issues which needs to be changed or improved. The information with our concerns outlined is attached below the letter.
I look forward to our next meeting to make EHDI more inclusive of Deaf professionals. Meanwhile, I look forward to meeting some of you at the EHDI conference.
Once again, thank you for the meeting. Thank you for your interest in learning more about our concerns regarding the current conditions of the EHDI system.
Point #1: Doing Harm to Deaf Children who become our Deaf Adults
A. Focus on oral-only language has robbed many Deaf children of fully accessible language and healthy social-emotional development.
B. Lack of language development could cause academic difficulties and delays.
C. Those children are generally not assessed for their language development till second- grade. We passed SB210 to require language testing of all Deaf babies and toddlers 0-5.
D. Major consequence: Deaf children arrive at Kindergarten without much or no language. Those children are thus NOT ready to learn at age 5.
E. Petersen & Rems Smario (2013) asked if Maslow took language for granted and suggested that, to accomplish each of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, one needs language to accomplish all of the steps to self-actualization at the top.
Point #2: Goals of NCHAM are harmful for Deaf children and their families
A. The goal of the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM) is to ensure that all infants and toddlers with hearing loss are identified as early as possible and provided with timely and appropriate audiological, educational, and medical intervention.
B. Language intervention is not listed as one of services provided by NCHAM.
Consequently, NCHAM’s focus on audiological, educational, and medical intervention has adverse effects on Deaf babies and toddlers’ language development.
C. Many families never learn about the extreme benefits of ASL till too late. “Parents misinformed about ‘potential and probable implications’ of not giving fully accessible language exposure early (Hall & Henner, 2015).
D. High unrealistic expectations for CIs: “it’s the only option”
Point #3: NCHAM would not include or involve Deaf adults in management of their audiological, educational, and medical interventions.
A. National Association of Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has ten program standards. Below is the description for #8 is Community Relationships:
The program establishes relationships with and uses the resources of the children’s communities to support the achievement of program goals. Relationships with agencies and institutions in the community can help a program achieve its goals and connect families with resources that support children’s healthy development and learning. What to look for in a program:
The program connects with and uses museums, parks, libraries, zoos, and other resources in the community. Representatives from community programs, such as musical performers and local artists, are invited to share their interests and talents with the children. The staff develops professional relationships with community agencies and organizations that further the program’s capacity to meet the needs and interestsof children and families. (http://families.naeyc.org/accredited-article/10-naeyc-program-standards#8)
B. NCHAM is developing ASL classes for families but has not contracted with appropriate ASL entities to develop those online ASL classes.
Point # 4: Research that does not include Deaf People and misinterprets of brain imaging research (language cortex, not auditory cortex).
A. Amateur and ideological biases in hypothesis, design, outcomes, and conclusions.
“…danger of this approach is that we can become inappropriately confident about our amateur research outcomes, reaching hasty and premature conjectures dressed up as quasi-scientific conclusions. Sometimes we rely on the opinions or knowledge of others. This is also problematic as opinions may be based on stereotypes passed down through the generations” (McNaughton et al, 2010).
B. Must include ASL-Deaf people: “Research is a process legitimated in our society as producing knowledge and therefore ought to be in the hands of those who want to use and benefit from it—particularly when it is information about our own lives.”
C. Inadequate and inappropriate research conclusion: there is a paucity of research about outcomes of their service provisions to deaf children and their families. If there is research, they usually do not include ASL-Deaf children.
D. CI Research has been highly variable and is not focused on first-language acquisition. Getting an implant does NOT equate to language access (Hall & Henner, 2015).
Point #5: Language Deprivation & Brain Damage cause lifelong difficulties, starting with their K-12 education because of “ableism.”
A. Hehir (2005) said, “…ableist assumptions become dysfunctional when the educational and developmentl services provided to disabled children focus inordinately on the characteristics of their disability to the exclusion of all else.”
B. He also wrote, “…I began to see more clearly how deeply some educational practices reflect this prejudice. Requiring deaf students to lipread rather than sign…”
C. Instead of changing shifts at Kindergarten when their language is delayed or deprived, many school programs continue on same damaging teaching patterns where their education is more focused on speech development more than on academics.
D. Their lack of academic achievement is blamed on two things: their hearing status and on their lack of language that NCHAM promotes through their mission focus of “audiological, educational, and medical interventions.” But we now know it is lack of language
E. If they are concerned about the education of Deaf infants and toddlers, how do they expect the Deaf children to be able to achieve academically without language development?
Point #6: Social/Emotional Development & Mental Health as a result of Language Deprivation
A. Deaf youth has a vicious cycle where they engage in drugs and alcohol use earlier because of language deprivation. Language Deprivation -> Difficulty Expressing Self -> Increase in Distress -> Difficulty with Coping Skills -> Drugs and Alcohol Use.
B. We are now suggesting the possibility of Language Deprivation Disorder (Hall & Henner, 2015).
Point #7: NCHAM discriminates against Deaf people.
A. Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against deaf people.
B. There is inappropriate descriptions of our needs throughout the NCHAm website; this is not the scope of our discussion. However, to illuminate an example, from a search of NCHAM’s Resource Guide of 526 pages and 39 chapters, we can see only 43 instances of he term, “ASL” whereas the term “hearing” showed up 2939 times. The 33 times “ASL” showed up in the Resource Guide were in three chapters written by Deaf authors. Out of 39 chapters, only three were written with Deaf authors.
C. Hall, W.C. and Henner, J. (2015) Is it deafness or language deprivation? Presentation at National Leadership & Training Conference. Retrieved from:
Thank you, Jenny Witteborg for offering your ASL services to present CAD's open letter urging the Senate to amend EHDI Act Reauthorization. To read the open letter, click here
(EDHI ACT) PROPOSED AMENDMENTS to S. 2424 FROM THE DEAF COMMUNITY
CAD is so appreciative of the the leadership by Deaf people, especially Sheri Ann Farinha, from both the Coalition for Agencies Serving the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the California Association of the Deaf for their hard work to create this list of recommended Amendments, which was orginated as a letter sent to Representative Lois Capps for the H.R. 1344 on April 13th, 2015 (this is noted on proposal page 7). To see CAD's open letter to the Senate about S. 2424, click here.
Posted below is the list of amendments (with minor changes except for the title) for S. 2424:
Stacy Abrams started #whyIsign trending to celebrate Deaf children’s families
Stacy Abrams, a mentor for families of Deaf babies and children in Arizona, had started a phenomenal campaign by encouraging families with Deaf children to share their stories about why they chose to use American Sign Language (ASL). Those stories are hashtagged #whyIsign. Many viewers have been moved by families’ stories shared straight from their hearts. Even nonfamilial individuals such as friends, classmates, and doctors have chimed in with their own stories.
PEDIATRICS, a professional journal for pediatricians, has announced that there are well-defined benefits to learning American Sign Language and that Deaf children need to learn languages from parents, teachers, and the community (Mellon, et al, 2015). However, our American society has not yet embraced the notion of raising Deaf children with American Sign Language and English.
This #whyIsign campaign is to help promote awareness about the powerful benefits of learning American Sign Language and English, so the world can be a better place for Deaf children and their families.
Rosa Lee Timm, actor and educator, explains how YOU can join the campaign
California Association of the Deaf (CAD), Language Equity and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K), and DawnSignPress (DSP) have partnered with Stacy Abrams to start trending #whyIsign as a 48-hour campaign on March 13th-15th.
“The foundation of LEAD-K’s national campaign is based on the very premise of #whyIsign as a crucial part of language development for all Deaf children ages 0-5. We are proud to partner with CAD and DawnSignPress to bring about awareness,” said Sheri Ann Farinha, Director of LEAD-K.
The purpose of this trending partnership is to trend the awareness about how American Sign Language help Deaf children and their families connect and thrive, which is a choice not encouraged by the medical system. The trending campaign will take place during the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) conference in San Diego, California.
“CAD is proud to be offering resources and support to help make this wonderful concept go viral so the families of Deaf children can connect with each other and create their own support system through social media,” said Julie Rems-Smario, President of California Association of the Deaf.
Stacy Abrams shares words of encouragement for all families of Deaf children to join the 48-hour #whyISign campaign, “It’s your time to shine! Your story will inspire many families, near and far. So, please share from your heart!!”
During those 48 hours, anyone can join the campaign to show support for the ASL-speaking families and bring awareness to the world about how signed languages are a healthy language of choice for the Deaf children and their families. If a family has already shared their story, they can share again during the 48-hour campaign. The social media avenues include Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The families’ stories will be posted on #whyIsign Facebook page.
Tina Jo Breindel, Community Relations Manager of DawnSignPress, a publishing company for American Sign Language literature, said, “We all know how bilingualism, ASL and English, boosts brain power. Researches continue to show with every passing day bilingualism boosts brain cognition, connections and academic achievement as well as social skills.”
,
With universal sign language, Adam Jarashow invites the world to the campaign
About #whyIsign-
A social media networking created by Stacy Abrams to celebrate people who learn to SIGN with their Deaf family members. It is a place where the family members can lovingly share their stories in American Sign Language.
California Association of the Deaf is a nonprofit agency established in 1906 to promote, protect and preserve linguistic, human, and civil rights for all Deaf Californians. www.CAD1906.org
About DawnSignPress
DawnSignPress creates, develops, and publishes quality children’s American Sign Language (ASL) videos and books. After 35 years of pioneering ASL products, DawnSignPress is still on the cutting edge of the educational and social media trends relating to ASL. Now, with ASL’s popularity in the mainstream on a steady rise, DawnSignPress looks to offer quality ASL to a wider audience. www.DawnSignPress.com
Stacy Abram's #whyIsign campaign is partnering with California Association of the Deaf,
LEAD-K, and DawnSignPress for a 48-hour campaign during March 13-15th. Be on the lookout for more information about this exciting campaign partnership. Thank you Rosa Lee Timm, Adam Jarashaw, and Jon Ziev for your awesome volunteer work!
Dear Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Members:
California Association of the Deaf would like to let you know that we support National Association of the Deaf’s (NAD) letter from June 22, 2015 urging the House of Representatives to make amendments to SB 2424, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Act of 2015. There are good reasons why the ten-page list of proposed amendments should be accepted into the proposed H.R. 1344. The NAD letter outlined some of them such as the need to shift the focus from a medical perspective to an educational perspective to provide all Deaf children with language intervention services.
The current EHDI Act has negative ramifications on the Deaf children and their families that it proposed to serve. It likewise has caused generations of language–deprived Deaf children. The issues related to the EHDI Act and the grantee, National Center on Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM) are multi-faceted that it is not possible to cover all of the essential issues in this letter. We shall briefly emphasize on the need to provide all of the Deaf children and their families with all language services, more specifically American Sign Language and English. Sometimes the family speaks a different home language, and it is possible to provide the family with a signed version of their home language!
The one and only purpose of EHDI is to “intervene” so that the Deaf children receive services to become Kindergarten-ready. The Act has been focused mostly on providing hearing interventional services which are not the major need of Deaf children. Those services could theoretically help some Deaf children, but not all. Thus it becomes an exclusionary policy in which it benefits only those children who can acquire a spoken language.
There’s one area that really needs attention, and that’s the name of the Act. If you will look up the definitions of “detection” and “intervention,” you will see that both names have negative definitions. Detection = discovery, as of error or crime Intervention (interventing) = to come between disputing people, groups, etc; to occur or be between two things; to interfere with force or a threat of force (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/detection?s=t)
Then, there’s the “Early” part of the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention. It is as if the professionals are focused only on the “early” part of a Deaf child’s life, never mind how their interventions are doing harm to them in their later ages. The ASL Deaf community proposed: “Early Detection, Confirmation, and Language Acquisition for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children Act of 2015.” We are okay with that except for Early Detection. We would like to see “Family Support” in the name of the Act,
From just looking at the list of proposed amendments, you can see where the shifts need to happen.
If you need additional information, please let us know.
Thank you for your response. We appreciate the Starkey Hearing Foundation’s effort of keeping communication accessible by having "licensed" ASL interpreters who were volunteers at the event. We also do understand the mission in providing hearing aids for those who have various hearing levels. Please know that the Deaf community does not use the term “hearing loss”.
It appears that you have not entirely read our letter, and have overlooked the important points including our invitation for us to meet and explore how we can establish a marketing strategy promoting the healthy whole Deaf child without resorting to inspiration porn. CAD wishes to pursue a discussion with Starkey Foundation about the issues listed in our letter, so we can have a win-win situation for everyone involved.
We received your letter before The Daily Moth released their interview with our CAD officers. The youtube link below is for you to view. Please click on the bottom right corner to click “CC” to read captions. This is to ensure that everyone at Starkey has access to the interview.Perhaps the interview will give you an insight of what issues we have.
“California Association of the Deaf’s concerns with Starkey Hearing Foundation”
We believe that Starkey is capable of providing positive experiences during media events such as the most recent Super Bowl 50 where free hearing aids were given out. Starkey can also expound Deaf people's human rights to language acquisition and quality of life. That is our aim.
Please contact us to make an appointment for an in-person meeting to start exploring creative ways to establish the right messaging for the families of Deaf children.
(note-CAD Board is currently working on a letter to respond to Starkey's letter)
February 17, 2016
Dear Julie,
Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in responding. And thank you for your letter and recommendations. We will also thank Stefanie Ellis. The missions of Starkey Hearing Foundation help people who have hearing loss through access to free hearing devices. Please know we did have licensed ASL interpreters at the event, and we absolutely want everyone to have a positive experience during our mission. We will always try to improve to ensure that goal. Our team works tirelessly to improve and advance our operations to achieve all-around success in the United States and around the world.
Thank you again,
Marti Jones Communications Starkey Hearing Foundation
California Association of the Deaf (CAD) wants to take the moment to thank you for producing the magical video about one of the awesome families – the McFeely-Johnson family from ASL Nook -- whose children, Shaylee and Ivy, realized that the Disney characters were able to sign with them.
We applaud you for the accurate positive portrayal of a Deaf family empowered with American Sign Language. This is a small example of what we consider universal design where not only Deaf people but everyone else sign.
We look forward to your producing more videos with this universal design concept. CAD wants to let you know that it is a special video for those of us who love Disney and American Sign Language (ASL). We look forward to more videos like this one.
Once again, we commend you for capturing the beautiful magical spirit of the McFeely-Johnson family, which brought so much happiness to the viewers.
Thank you again.
California Association of the Deaf Board of Directors
CAD Board of Directors Julie Rems-Smario, President Marla Hatrak, Vice President Deanne Bray, Secretary Dodi Ellis, Treasurer Matthew Sampson, Director of Membership Shelley Stout, Director-at-Large, Northern California Kavita Pipalia, Director-at-Large, Southern California
Two of the parents from California, Clare Cassidy and Stefanie Ellis, had vividly described their painful experiences at Starkey Hearing Foundation Super Bowl Hearing Mission on February 6th at your Pre-Super Bowl event with Marlee Matlin. California Association of the Deaf (CAD) stands in solidarity with the families of Deaf children in the San Francisco Bay Area. We will allow their words below to state our concerns.
Along with the families of Deaf children in the San Francisco Bay Area, CAD would like to invite Starkey and their spokesperson, Marlee Matlin, to come to the Bay Area for a safe and open dialogue to explore ways on how to make Starkey's future events a more positive experience for families of Deaf children. We believe we can create a win-win solution together.
Excerpt of Clare Cassidy's FB posting:
“I've had few days to digest an unfortunate experience from last Saturday's event… Starkey is an organization that gives out free hearing aids. Awesome, right? Pretty cool to get free aids, as they have this motto, "So that the world may hear." In order to get those free aids…
"It was an experience I wish I never put my boys through, it was quite appalling. When we arrived, (removal of specific individuals out of respect) were their interpreters. When entering, we had to sign a media release form. At first, my husband and I declined and we were informed that we couldn't participate unless signing the release. So, we went ahead (again, not even knowing what was expected).
As soon as we went into the building, we were shocked. There was a stage and on that stage, 3 stools for each person to sit on. On each stool, there was a team of cameras (video and photography)- I'm not kidding, like 8 cameramen per stool. A person who was to receive the hearing aid would sit there and be filmed on their getting the aids. There were celebrities for each, who would "speak" into their ears and cheer whenever the person acknowledged hearing the sound. After that, tons of photos and cameras being few inches away from their faces with a kid (A KID) putting a gold medal necklace around the person.
We were told that we couldn't get hearing aids for our boys unless they went on stage and were filmed. There was no way we were going to allow our boys to be subjected to such exploitation. So, we left."
After Cassidy's experience, there was an outpour of what is called "inspiration porn" media, with degrading language, which derailed from the Whole Deaf Child concept like the following article with 50 cents:
"50 Cent led the charge on Saturday, February 6 for the 2016 Starkey Hearing Foundation Super Bowl Hearing Mission where he and several other famous faces gifted kids inflicted with hearing impairments with state-of-the-art hearing aids."
FYI, Deaf children are not inflicted with hearing impairments. However, some of them are severely language deprived because the system would not allow or delayed in giving them access to a language, namely, American Sign Language (ASL). Language deprivation is an infliction.
CAD recommends a better way to frame this. Let’s start saying, "Deaf children were given hearing aids. We were amazed to see their level of intelligence and critical thinking skills made possible by giving them bilingualism, ASL and English during the first five years of their lives."
This article is another form of inspiration porn by calling the children "Hearables." Even with the hearing aids, they are still Deaf. They are perfect as they are. Just call them Deaf children.
Please do not call those Deaf children "patients." They are not ill, nor do they need fixing in any form.
The two articles above are just examples of how the stigma of Deaf children continues to have a stronghold with the culture of patriarchy and inspiration porn. There was no mention about the importance of ending language deprivation by giving the children both ASL and English.
This website www.ASL4DeafKids.org can give you some insights of how Starkey can become partners with the Deaf community through California Association of the Deaf to end the national epidemic of language deprivation among many Deaf children in America.
Hearing aids will not end language deprivation. American Sign Language can. We cannot afford to have the recent media spotlight on hearing aids become a "red herring" for the true tragedy that's happening in our own nation.
Another parent of the bay area, Stefanie Ellis released an open letter to Starkey to share her concerns regarding the February 6th situation.
Stephanie Ellis' open letter to the Starkey Foundation
February 10, 2016
I am the mother of two boys who received free hearing aids from the Starkey Foundation at San Francisco State University last aturday. While we are appreciative of the opportunity to obtain the latest high-tech devices that were distributed to all who attended, I feel compelled to write about what we experienced that day and to share my insight. Truth be told, we were taken aback by the overall frenzy and atmosphere of the event. The absence of cultural awareness and sensitivity toward the Deaf community was disgraceful given that we comprise your customer base. The focus was exclusively on whether the deaf or hard-of-hearing child could pick up sound; what was most appalling is the clear lack of regard for early language development for those children.
Please let us know when would be a good time for us to meet to explore ways to create empowering and healthy framings of the whole Deaf child to introduce to the media. We can be reached through our President Julie Rems-Smario, JulieSmario@gmail.com and our Secretary, Deanne Bray, dbkotsur@gmail.com to schedule a day and time for this meeting. Thank you.
Sincerely,
CAD Board of Directors
Julie Rems-Smario, President Marla Hatrak, Vice President Deanne Bray, Secretary Dodi Ellis, Treasurer Matthew Sampson, Director of Membership Shelley Stout, Director-at-Large, Northern California Kavita Pipalia, Director-at-Large, Southern California
DEAF COMMUNITY CENTER - 1550 SAN LEANDRO BLVD. ACROSS FROM SAN LEANDRO BART STATION
CAD, DCARA & NorCRID invite the ASL Community to a town hall meeting to discuss the current state of RID and NAD and the moratorium on the performance test for NIC Certification.
Our goals are to:
* Inform the community about the issue * Understand community concerns * Share collected comments with RID and NAD
FLYER: [picture of Deaf Community Center building from the parking lot. Tree in left foreground - no leaves, thin branches poking into the sky. Big blue sky.] “TOWN HALL MEETING” “Join us to discuss current state of RID and NAD” . Logos from CAD, DCARA and NorCRID. Fade Out
Fade to CAD Logo Fade Out
[Fade to White woman sitting in a homey setting. Warm walls hung with art. Woman has light colored skin, short dark hair with silver near the roots and framing her face. She is wearing a brown jacket, black shirt. Silver hoops dangle from her ears. A large silver flower necklace decorates below the neckline of her shirt.]
“Hello! I am Julie Rems Smario, the current President of the California Association- C.A.D. We will have a town hall meeting hosted by CAD, DCARA and NorCRID. We will share the facts of what is happening with RID. Additionally, we want to listen to your concerns, your perspectives and your ideas. We will collect them and share them with RID and NAD. Please join us! Thumbs up.”
Fade to DCARA Logo Fade Out
[Fade to white man sitting in an office with window and office furniture in background. White man is bald, light skin, blue eyes. He is wearing a short sleeved button down shirt.]
“Hi all, my name is Robin from DCARA in the Bay Area. You may have learned about the RID moratorium on the performance test. You may be wondering about the impact it may have? In the short term, will it impact the pool of hearing interpreters? What about Certified Deaf Interpreters? The pool of CDIs is already very small. How will this pool of CDIs grow? What are our options? How will we push for what we want? You may be asking - what happened?! Join us!”
Fade to NORCRID Logo Fade Out
[Fade to white woman sitting on a stool with a blue back drop behind her. She has short brown hair, oval glasses and a billowy black blouse with a black filagree necklace.]
I would like to welcome the ASL Community to join us.
Where? Deaf Communiy Center - 1550 San Leandro Blvd.
CAD BOARD RETREAT 2016 San Diego, CA January 22-24
(CAD blue logo -- a circle with CAD inserted in the middle. It is spelled out at the outer part of the circle California Association of the Deaf 1906.)
Caterer is shown prepping food. A blue bag with CAD logo is on the kitchen counter. CAD logo with "CAD BOARD RETREAT 2016 - San Diego, CA. January 22-24, 2016.
The kitchen scene fades out to a female presenting white person with short brown hair, black top and silver hoop earrings and necklace set. She is standing outside facing the camera. Graphics in the upper left corner read, "President, Julie Rems-Smario."
Julie: "California Association of the Deaf (CAD) board members came together here in San Diego to create a new vision for next two years until 2017. The vision is the Californian dream for all Deaf Californians from womb to tomb, the full life span. This vision, which we will share with you, WILL happen!"
The scene fades back to the kitchen showing a bouquet of flowers and bananas. In the background, the CAD Board of Directors is seated around the kitchen table. They are eating while discussing variety of issues.
The dining room scene fades back to the outdoor where Julie stood. This time, it is a female presenting white person with long blonde hair, black and white dress with gray cardigan sweater. The graphics in upper left corner says "Secretary, Deanne Bray."
"During Fall 2015, CAD hosted its conference. Deaf people who are CAD members throughout the state of California came to the conference. They shared ideas through their motions. There were a total of 25 motions. The members voted and passed eleven motions. During this past weekend, January 23rd, 2016, CAD Board members, both old board members (2013-15) and new board members (2015-17) met and discussed the eleven motions. Those motions were consolidated. At the end, we will focus on the top five motions, starting now until 2017. The first motion is a new and improved website which will be developed and run by Deaf professionals.
The scene fades back to the dining table with the board members deep in discussion. Then the dining room scene fades back to Deanne Bray:
"The second motion is for CAD Endowment. As you may recall, CAD property was sold. The Board members decided (by voting) to establish an Endowment."
The scene fades back to the dining table with CAD board members in the midst of their discussion. Then it fades back to Deanne Bray:
"The third priority is to establish a think tank (task force) focused on programs and services provided for Deaf children from birth until the age of five (0-5)."
The scene of Deane fades back to the board members discussing at the dining table. Then it fades back to Deanne Bray:
"The fourth priority is to establish the employment task force to gather information about Deaf people's experience with employment in California."
The scene of Deanne fades back to the kitchen where the board members are lined up for brunch served by a Deaf caterer, David Prince. He is a bald white man with glasses. He is wearing a baseball shirt with pink trunk and gray sleeves. The brunch scene fades back to Deanne:
"The fifth priority is to establish a committee to push for standards for the hiring of ASL teachers in California."
Again, the scene of Deanne fades back to the kitchen table where the board members are discussing about the endowment. This scene fades back to Deanne:
"With those five priorities I just presented to you, we are READY to proceed and work on them. If you want to be involved, come and make it happen!" Deanne smiles at the end. The scene of Deanne fades back to Julie. Julie is standing in front of Claire Bergman's painting of a woman wearing an orange dress with her chin resting on her left arm and her right hand resting on a table on her right. Julie is standing at the right of the painting. Graphics in the lower right corner says "President, Julie Rems Smario." Julie signs:
"CHERISHED"
Julie fades to another female presenting person, a white woman with white shirt covered with beige cardigan sweater. She is also wearing glasses and a necklace with a cross pendant. Behind her is another Claire Bergman's art, a watercolor painting of two women standing by an umbrella. The woman is standing at the left of the framed art. In the lower left corner, the graphics say "Vice President, Marla Hatrak.” Marla signs:
"INSPIRED"
Marla fades into a scene of Deanne Bray standing by the kitchen counter. On the counter is a bouquet of flowers. Leaning on the vase is artwork by Connie Murdock Clanton. The art has fallen out of its frame. Deanne is standing at the right of the flowers and the art piece. Deanne signs:
"CENTERED"
Deanne fades into a scene of another person, a white female presenting person with long brown hair pushed back with her glasses. She is wearing a long sleeved purple top. At her right is Chuck Baird's painting of a coral reef fish. In the background is a wall of lime green tiles. The graphics at the lower left corner says "Treasurer, Dodi Ellis." Dodi signs:
"COLORFUL"
Dodi fades into another scene of a male presenting white person who is very tall. He has dark blond hair and he is wearing a long sleeved denim shirt and black-rimmed glasses. At his right is Nancy Rourke's art, a painting of queen of hearts card. The queen at the top is signing capital "D." The graphics at the lower left corner says "Membership Director, Matthew Sampson." Matthew signs:
"ENTHUSIASTIC"
Matthew fades into the scene of a petite female presenting Asian individual with dark brown skin and short brown hair. She is wearing earrings and necklace from India along with a deep wine colored blouse. In her background is Chuck Baird's painting of a cat with hands at both sides of the cat signing "cat." At the right of the painting is a tall thick candle that matches this board member's blouse. At the lower left corner, the graphics say, "Southern California Representative, Kavita Pipalia." Kavita signs:
"FIRED-UP"
Kavita fades into a scene of another female presenting Asian individual with light brown skin and shoulder length brown hair. She is wearing glasses and deep purple blouse. Behind her is Morris Brodersen's watercolor painting in a thick black frame. Underneath the painting is a lamp. At the lower left corner, the graphics say, "Central California Representative, Julie Glenn." Julie signs:
"ENERGETIC"
Julie Glenn fades into a scene of another female presenting white individual with dark blonde shoulder length hair and long sleeved purple blouse. She is standing in front of a painting of a willow tree blown by the wind by Ian Guzman. At the lower left corner, the graphics say, "Northern California Representative, Shelley Stout." Shelley signs:
"VISIONARY"
Shelley fades into a scene of a young female presenting white person standing in front of paintings of iris flowers by R. F. Walker. She is sporting shoulder length brown hair with bangs and a dark gray sweatshirt. At the lower left corner, the graphics say "Co-chair of youth program, Stephanie Johnston." Stephanie signs:
"READY"
Stephanie fades into a scene of the nine individuals lined up facing the camera. Julie Rems-Smario, who is in the center, signs, "With team, we will make IT happen!" The entire team signs "happen" in sync with Julie. Then they all end with hand waves. This scene fades into CAD logo "www.cad1906.org"
CAD's ASL Celebration 2016!!! Thursday, September 22nd, 2016. #ASLNOW2016
[video description: the video pans from the sidewalk to California State Capitol with white font text on lower bottom that read: “ASL Celebration 2016. Sacramento, CA.”
the video transition, using outer to inner circle effect, to where two people are standing on the stairs in front of the building from the back with the umbrella hiding them. on the left, identified Latinx womxn is in black with flower pattern skirt who is holding flower patterned umbella and black purse. on the right, identified white male in dark grey pants and black blazer with light grey hat.
the video transition, close up, to identified Latinx womxn swirling the umbrella. then both of them turn around.
identified Latinx womxn is wearing black sweater, sunglasses with black and white grey curly hair. identified white male is wearing grey vest and red tie underneath the black suit with long brown beard.
identified Latinx womxn puts the umbrella down and touched a white male’s shoulder as he looks at her, and she gestured for him to introduce himself.
identified white male nods and starts to sign, “Hi, My name is Collin,” and gestures to identified Latinx womxn. (the video has white font captioning their signing)
“I’m Kristeena. I’m excited! Because…” she signs.
Collin: “ASL Celebration 2016!”
Kristeena: “WAHOO!”
Collin: “Why?”
Kristeena: “Event is for celebrating and cherishing the language of ASL.”
Collin: “The event takes place where?”
Kristeena: “In the Capitol of California.”
Collin: “SACRAMENTO!”
video transition; video panning from top of Capitol to down. white presenting person with brown shoulder length hair in brown long sleeve sweater signs. Kelly: “Hello, My name is Kelly. I just moved in Sacramento area. Looking forward for this celebration! The location is on the 10th st and L st. Will walk to the area to show where it is.
video fast forward of Kristeena, Collin and Kelly walking.
video transition to up close of Collin, Kelly and Kristeena.
Kristeena: “This is where the location will be at the booths,” and points to the background of grass and sidewalks.
As Collin is holding the camera, three of them are panning from the left to the right to show the location where the booths would be at.
As they reach to the stairs with stage, Kristeena: “This is where the stage will be at. Will have announcements with details later on.
video transition to up close of Kelly in front of building. Kelly: “SAVE THE DATE. Thursday, September 22nd at 9am to 3pm. Meet here and all day long!
video transition to up close of Kristeena and Collin in front of building.
Kristeena: “I am really excited and we both will be posting more VLOGS. Further details will be coming up soon.”
Collin: “LOOKING FORWARD!”
Kristeena and Collin are waving goodbyes.
video transition to black background with white font text that read: “#ASLNOW2016”
CAD LOGO: white circle with blue outline. inside of the circle, there is a second smaller circle in light blue with darker blue font that read: CAD. between the outside blue outline and smaller circle, on top black font text read: “CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF THE DEAF” with black font text on bottom that read: “1906”]
Credits to Kristeena, Collin, Leang, Angela, and my mom April.
May we ask you – as a physician to remember your Hippocratic oath while reading this letter, more specifically, the oath where you promised to do no harm? California Association of the Deaf (CAD) wishes to file a complaint against one of your grantees, National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM).
NCHAM receives federal funds and is now partners with Hearing First, sponsored by Oberkotter Foundation and Alexander Graham Bell. These are two organizations that would not promote American Sign Language and its people. The web link to Hearing First can be found here:
Dr. Julia Hecht, a pediatrician who promised to do no harm, said in two of her blogs:
“Language deprivation and consequently brain damage is the single greatest risk to deaf babies and children. I agree with this assertion by Sanjay Gulati, M.D., (Professor at Harvard Medical School)…In my experience, their level of hearing and their ability to speak has nothing to do with what they achieve or how they feel about themselves…What compels families to ignore the facts…and choose the other, risky, disruptive, and even detrimental methods for their (deaf) child? This is where we must shine a light” (Hecht, 2016).
Will you direct NCHAM to refrain from any partnerships with organizations and entities that do harm to Deaf children?
Please direct NCHAM to develop a partnership with a couple of reputable organizations, Language Equity and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEADK) (http://www.asl4deafkids.org/) or the American Society for Deaf Children (http://deafchildren.org/).
Please direct NCHAM to refocus its intervention services MAINLY to the provision of language services, usually American Sign Language, English, and the home language to the Deaf child and the family. We do not object to provision of audiological services. However, as a physician who is not supposed to do any harm, you should determine that we cannot wait another four years for NCHAM to revise its goal of ensuring “that all infants and toddlers with hearing loss are identified as early as possible and provided with timely and appropriate audiological, educational, and medical intervention.”
Those kinds of interventions have done nothing to improve the language deprivation syndrome that is common among deaf adults. The syndrome is a byproduct of NCHAM’s ideological bent on audiological interventions.
In an “Ethics Rounds” feature in Pediatrics, Dr. Lantos, another pediatrician, summed up an answer to the question: “Should All Deaf Children Learn Sign Language?”
There are no risks to learning sign language along with spoken language, but there are welldefined benefits (emphasis ours)…this approach seems to be clearly preferable to an approach that focuses solely on oral communication…Children need to learn language. They must learn it from parents, teachers, and their community (emphasis ours). The more languages they learn, the better these children will be able to communicate. (Mellon, et al, 2015)
Your Maternal and Child Health Bureau should take a closer look at the educational outcomes of NCHAM’s disastrous interventional services. Did you know that the academic statistics of deaf students are not widely available – thus we are not able to track the academic and social/emotional outcomes of Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI), the law that funds NCHAM. That is because most deaf students’ scores are a part of Special Education.
We the Deaf people are the ones who see firsthand the astronomically high cost of language deprivation among our students and within our community. Those people have not received full nor adequate access to either spoken English or a signed language. Neither have they been properly educated, and who thus struggle with socialemotional issues and cultural & identity development.
Humphries et al (2012) emphasized the importance of raising Deaf children with American Sign Language:
The medical profession must protect the health of deaf children by setting a foundational goal of prevention of linguistic deprivation, which can be achieved via sign language. Deaf children need to be given an opportunity to interact with other Deaf peers (i.e. signing children) during their childhood. This ensures that they develop social and communicative abilities. Additionally, for expanded professional and social opportunities, the medical profession can and should also recommend training in spoken language skills. However, such recommendations should never exclude sign language because sign language prevents linguistic deprivation. This is a reliable and implementable remedy to reduce the risk and the harm of linguistic deprivation.
We shall look forward to hearing back from you with an invitation to discuss our concerns with you.
Sincerely,
California Association of the Deaf (CAD) Board of Directors
Julie Rems-Smario, President
Marla Hatrak, Vice-President
Deanne Bray, Secretary
Dodi Ellis, Treasurer
Matthew Sampson, Director of Membership
Shelley Stout, Northern California Director at Large
Kavita Pipalia, Southern California Director at Large
Humphries, T., Kushalnagar, P. Mathur, G., Napoli, D. J. Padden, C. Rathmann, C., and Smith, S.R. (2012). Language acquisition for deaf children: Reducing the harms of zero tolerance to the use of alternative approaches.
Furthermore, the article contained in the link from that tweet was professionally irresponsible, especially for professionals and families that are seeking information to work with their Deaf children.
Can AG Bell as an organization abandon its ideological bent and start telling the truth? We also ask you to let 2016 be the year AG Bell recognizes American Sign Language as a basic human right for Deaf babies and toddlers in the United States.
As you quoted in your tweet, "We need to keep in mind that bilingualism is not an option for many children; it’s a simple fact of life." We could not agree with you more, and this does include American Sign Language as a language for Deaf children. Bilingualism for Deaf children from English monolingual families means both ASL and English. However, if the families speak a different language at home, the Deaf child has trilingual benefits – the home language, English, and ASL. It is even possible that the Deaf child can learn the signed language of the home language. This is mind boggling, right?
In an “Ethics Rounds” feature in Pediatrics, Dr. Lantos, a pediatrician, summed up an answer to the question: “Should All Deaf Children Learn Sign Language?”
There are no risks to learning sign language along with spoken language, but there are well-defined benefits…this approach seems to be clearly preferable to an approach that focuses solely on oral communication…Children need to learn language. They must learn it from parents, teachers, and their community. The more languages they learn, the better these children will be able to communicate.
(Mellon, et al, 2015)
We know ALL children have the capabilities to be bilinguals. Yet, through your guidance of those families, many are told not to speak American Sign Language with their Deaf child at home, thus depriving the Deaf children of that bilingual or trilingual opportunity.
We cannot permit any more inaccurate marketing that have created generations of severely language-deprived and language-delayed Deaf children. Our real issue is keeping the focus on the Deaf child's right to FULL access to a language during their early years of life.
Language is more than speaking, and it is more than listening. Your Listening and Speaking Language (LSL) is merely a deception for what people call English. This is often where many new parents are misled or confused.
Humphries et al (2012) emphasized the importance of raising Deaf children with American Sign Language:
All children need and deserve an accessible language. This is a biological need. The medical profession must protect the health of deaf children by setting a foundational goal of prevention of linguistic deprivation, which can be achieved via sign language. Deaf children need to be given an opportunity to interact with other Deaf peers (i.e. signing children) during their childhood. This ensures that they develop social and communicative abilities. Additionally, for expanded professional and social opportunities, the medical profession can and should also recommend training in spoken language skills. However, such recommendations should never exclude sign language because sign language prevents linguistic deprivation. This is a reliable and implementable remedy to reduce the risk and the harm of linguistic deprivation.
Can you stop duping professionals who work with the families and their Deaf children?
Among many other critical topics, Alfano (2015) wrote about three issues: culturally sensitive and appropriate services, ethical responsibility, and engaging others. It was incredulous to us how he can write about the importance of these three issues without including Deaf people in the process. He needs to be more culturally sensitive not just to foreign-speaking families but to Deaf people as well. He had ethical responsibility – as does AGB – to share accurate information about ASL as a language. Finally, he discussed the concept of engaging others; how is it possible he did not once mention Deaf adults?
Dr. Julia Hecht, a retired pediatrician, has challenged us to rethink how the medical system has historically advised families to withhold American Sign Language from their Deaf children:
As human beings, we have to have a positive relationship with self and our own community as a necessity. We need the stimulation of accessible language to develop healthy brains. So can we say for deaf babies, ASL is superior to English? Please can we just say the truth?
On the behalf of Deaf Californians, please send out another tweet and announce the following:
“Bilingualism -- ASL and English -- IS the best option for Deaf babies.” AGB and CAD can share credit for the quote.
Like Alfano said in his article, we can “no longer settle for one language.” Maybe you can also tweet one of our popular chants:
Yes to ASL. Yes to English. Yes to Success.
Sincerely,
Board of Directors California Association of the Deaf (CAD) Julie Rems-Smario, President Marla Hatrak, Vice President Deanne Bray, Secretary Dodi Ellis, Treasurer Matthew Sampson, Director of Membership Shelley Ann Stout, Director at Large, Northern California Kavita Pipalia, Director at Large, Southern California
Humphries, T., Kushalnagar, P. Mathur, G., Napoli, D. J. Padden, C. Rathmann, C., and Smith, S.R. (2012). Language acquisition for deaf children: Reducing the harms of zero tolerance to the use of alternative approaches. Harm Reduction Journal http://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1477-7517-9-16
This includes the following: 1) party information 2) image description 3) video transcript
COME TO CHAD'S ANNUAL HOLIDAY TEA PARTY TO SAY FAREWELL TO THE OLD PROPERTY BEFORE THEY MOVE TO RIVERSIDE AFTER CHRISTMAS DAY.
ADDRESS:
California Home for the Adult Deaf (CHAD) 529 Las Tunas Drive Arcadia California 91007 www.CHADhome.org President@chadhome.org
Image description: I'm white female presenting individual with short brown hair, silver earrings, silver cuff bracelet on right wrist. I am wearing a green top.. Background shows a wooden armoire with carved flower designs. I'm seated in a small red chair.
This video is about Dec. 20th -CHAD's Holiday Party--On December 20th, California Home for Adult Deaf (CHAD) will be hosting a holiday party at their current building in Arcadia. CHAD will be moving to Riverside next month. Now it is your opportunity to to visit CHAD to celebrate their incredible services in Arcadia since the '60s and show our gratitude to CHAD for their hard work, before the services move to Riverside next month. I hope you all will come and support CHAD on December 20th. More information about the even can be found below. Happy Holidays!
1. Treshelle Edmond, a Deaf actress from California who signed the national anthem, Star Spangled Banner, in American Sign Language (ASL) at the Super Bowll!
TRESHELLE EDMOND STANDS PROUDLY AT THE SUPER BOWL XLIX STADIUM
2. SB210 passed! Thanks, Senator Galgiani, for sponsoring the bill and Governor Brown for signing SB210 into law.
STATE SENATOR GALGIANI LEARNS HOW TO SIGN "GOOD LUCK" FROM NYLE DIMARCO
3. Assembly Member James Gallagher who signed on the Assembly floor in support of SB 210 which brought unanimously bipartisan support. He revealed that he has two Deaf brothers!
ASSEMBLY MEMBER GALLAGHER STUNNED EVERYONE WHEN HE SIGNED ASL
4. Spring Awakening from California's Deaf West Theater goes Broadway in New York!
SPRING AWAKENING DEAF CAST INCLUDES TRESHELLE EDMOND!
5. Once Upon A Sign classic stories told in ASL won the Series of 2015 award from the Family Review! They were produced by a Deaf-owned California based publisher, DawnSignPress (DSP).
ONCE UPON A SIGN DVDS WON SEVERAL AWARDS
6. ESPN did a year-long coverage about California School for the Deaf's winning football team in Fremont.
THOMAS VANDERSCHOOT, A CSD FOOTBALL PLAYER, DOES A VICTORIOUS SHOUT-OUT
7. Language Equity and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K) goes viral. Nyle Dimarco and Deanne Bray are the campaign's spokespersons to spread awareness about importance of language acquisition for all Deaf kids.
DEANNE BRAY AND NYLE DIMARCO WORK TOGETHER FOR LANGUAGE EQUALITY
8. CNN Films did a story about a four-generation Deaf Family, the Pedersens, from the Bay Area!
CSD FOOTBALL TEAM CAPTAIN ZANE PEDERSON'S FAMILY WAS FEATURED IN CNN BY ANDREW JENKS
9. Switched at Birth will continue for another season on ABC Family!
SWITCHED AT BIRTH FANS ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER SEASON!
10. Nyle DiMarco wins the America's Next Top Model title in Los Angeles on December 4, 2015.
THE LAST ANTM WINNER AND THE FIRST DEAF ANTM WINNER!
It is a wonderful way for us Deaf Californians to close the year of 2015! We look forward to many more exciting break-throughs in 2016!
Happy Holidays!!
California Association of the Deaf Board of Directors
Julie Rems-Smario, President Marla Hatrak, Vice President Deanne Bray, Secretary Dodi Ellis, Treasurer Matthew Sampson, Director of Membership Kavita Pipalia, Director at Large, Southern California Shelley Stout, Director at Large, Northern California
Image description and transcript below. Due to limited resources for this long video, we are not able to caption it. The transcript is for DeafBlind and non-signers
CAD Logo- Light blue Circle with dark blue letters CAD inside. Outside of the letter is black letters: "California Association of the Deaf 1906"
Julie Rems-Smario appears with title below " CAD President's Update about CHAD" (she is a white female presenting person with short light brown hair and brown eyes. She is wearing a cheetah patterned blouse, with the front collar adorned with gold metal, with a black blazer. She also has long gold and silver hoop earrings, silver cuff on her right hand and a brown bracelet on her left hand. In the background is a white wall with mirror with gold frame.
Transcript:
Hello! CAD recently went through major changes. During the 1960’s, CAD purchased property in Arcadia, which is near Pasadena in Southern California. The purpose of the purchase was for the inception of California Home for the Aged Deaf (CHAD) which is an assisted living services. The building can serve up to 22 residents who need additional support such as cooking and taking their medications. It is valuable resource of services.
During the 2000s, not exactly sure when, CHAD changed its name to California Home for Adult Deaf, to broaden its scope of services to more people; and to change their status when it had spun off as an independent nonprofit organization with their own 501(c)3. CAD became the landlord, renting out the building to CHAD for only $1.00 per year which is very cheap.
In exchange for the practically free rent, CHAD maintained our property to keep the building in a good condition. This was a good arrangement created through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by both organizations; In the MOU both organizations agreed that if it comes to selling the CAD property, CAD will receive 70 percent of the proceeds after the property is sold, while CHAD will receive 30 percent.
The MOU was signed by CAD president at that time, which I believe was in 2009- I don't have the exact year- the CAD president at the time was Ralph Singleton. The president of CHAD who signed the MOU was Scott Hostetler, who remains as the president of CHAD’s today.
When I became CAD President in 2013, we (CAD Board) discovered that CAD’s nonprofit status 501c3 had been revoked for three years prior, so our number one priority was to focus on restoring the nonprofit status. Thus, many other issues that needed CAD's attention were put on a hold. The focus was to save CAD.
During November 2014, Scott Hostetler, CHAD President, met with CAD Board of Directors during our statewide meeting in Los Angeles. That was when Dr. Roz Rosen had her retirement and farewell party before she move to Arizona.
Anyhow, we had a closed meeting. He (Scott) expressed his concerns about the CHAD building--which is CAD’s property rented out to CHAD. This building is not in a good condition. There are so issues requiring attention. It is falling apart. For instance, the water heater had broken down. It is costing CHAD a lot of money to fix several things at the building. This frustration is understood by the Board. It is a serious issue. Additionally, the building is currently not in compliance with the city’s building codes. The city codes had change, but the building is not in compliance.
After a good amount of time of listening to Scott Hostetler’s concerns about the building issues, the Board asked him what he wanted to do. His response was, “I suggest that CAD sell the property”. Although we were surprised with his response, we were fine with his suggestion. There was one issue with Scott's suggestion — CAD did not have its 501(c)3 restored yet. So, we asked Scott to wait until CAD's 501(c)3 issue is resolved. Once it’s resolve, we can focus on selling the property. Remember, this was discussed back in November 2014.
Now let’s fast forward to May 2015—CAD received good news! CAD was notified that its 501(c)3 nonprofit status is restored! We are back in business! At this time, we informed Scott that CAD is able to move forward and sell CAD property.
CAD property was sold for 1.8 million dollars to the highest bidder. Keep two things in mind: 1) The building was not in a good condition 2) the building is not in compliance with the city’s codes. So, we were not able to get a bid higher than 1.8 million dollars. It was the best deal after approximately two months of being on market. With that said, KUDOS to great work between CHAD and CAD to make this happen.
Now, what is happening with the CAD’s 70% and CHAD’s 30% of the proceeds from the property sale? This is important information—
Last September (2015), at CAD statewide conference in San Diego, a motion was passed for the 70% to be established as CAD endowment with three trustees. I have already appointed one trustee to lead the trustees. His name is Clark Brooke. I am excited to be working with him. That’s the plan for the 70%.
Next January, CAD Board will get together for a retreat to create a new vision, including an outline of funding priorities for the endowment’s yearly interest -generated profit to support Deaf California’s needs such as advocacy, especially when we are in a state of emergency or meet the children’s needs regarding their education, or whatever is the need. The CAD Board has to decide what are the priorities. This will give CAD more clout for our state advocacy and legislative efforts. It is a very exciting time. This what what we will do with the 70%
Now let’s go to the 30%—Currently, the fund is parked with CAD’s lawyer. Although it belongs to CHAD, as our effort to protect it. $60,000 has recently been allocated to CHAD for the following needs: 1) pay for the moving expenses to move to Riverside 2) purchase new furniture at the new place and 3) and the first year of rent which is $3,500 per month.
The remaining (CHAD) fund, which is about $400,000, has been parked to give CHAD the time they need to organize and buy more time to get the stakeholders in Riverside Deaf community, especially the Deaf Senior Citizens, to become involved with CHAD, so they can influence decisions about what to do with the 30%. Then CAD will release the funds to CHAD. In a few months, the 30% will be released to CHAD after they have “their ducks in a row”— Once the Riverside stakeholders are organized by working with CHAD, the 30% will be released to them.
CAD wants to protect the 30% by empowering CHAD to work the Deaf Senior Citizens and Deaf community of Riverside.
This is where we are with both funds. Recently, I have been asked about the amount CAD received as part of the 70%. It is under 1.2 million dollars, which is currently parked at Merrill to protect it, so CAD Board of Directors can meet and make the decisions. We will keep you notified about the next steps.
Once again, it is an exciting time for both CHAD and CAD. Thank you, CAD community, for your support. I strongly encourage Riverside community to INVEST in CHAD by getting involved. If you want to know how you can get involved, contact Scott Hostetler, or contact me and I will guide you to the people with the information you need.
Thank you. Happy Holidays! We have so much to be thankful for. I look forward to 2016!
CAD Logo- Light blue Circle with dark blue letters CAD inside. Outside of the letter is black letters: "California Association of the Deaf 1906"
Julie Rems-Smario appears with title below " CAD President 0SB 210 Update- (she is a white female presenting person with short light brown hair and brown eyes. She is wearing a dark gray blouse with silver earrings and a thin turquoise necklace with shell pendant. She has a silver cuff on her right hand and a turquoise bracelet on her left hand. In the background is a white wall with mirror with gold frame. they CARE about LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
I’ve begun my hunger strike supporting the brave & courageous ones who started the multiple weeks of hunger strike
they CARE about our DEAF CHILDREN (caps in teal)
they CARE about the FUTURE
they CARE about DEAF EDUCATION with BILINGUAL programs
This situation’s NOT about one school (NOT in red and school in teal)
The concerns apply to many schools (schools in teal)
I thank the STRIKERS for the gift of a very CRUCIAL discourse (caps in gray and STRIKERS & discourse in teal)
of a very important discourse (discourse in teal)
Let’s step back to look at the BIG picture (BIG in teal)
We need to STOP saying we are (STOP in red) “fine”
by moving forward & claiming it’s all THUMBS UP
Always CHECK-IN with the schools (CHECK-IN and schools in teal)
LISTEN actively (LISTEN in teal)
show GRATITUDE (GRATITUDE in teal)
EMBRACE all views (EMBRACE in teal)
RESISTING these dialogues is (RESISTING in red and dialogues in teal)
teaching the children not to be (children in teal and not in red)
receptive to community’s ideas (community in teal)
this refusal to engage is teaching (refusal in red and engage in teal)
children to DISMISS (children in teal and DISMISS in red)
the community … OUCH (community in teal and OUCH in red)
It’s DANGEROUS to keep (DANGEROUS in red)
our community and schools APART (community & schools in teal and APART in red)
Deaf children can’t live without (Deaf children in teal)
the COMMUNITY -- we bear (COMMUNITY in teal)
the responsibility to cherish (cherish in teal)
our community: Deaf community (Deaf in teal)
which includes Deaf individuals (Deaf in teal)
the recurring dismissive behavior (dismissive in red)
is ALARMING (ALARMING in red)
This means missed opportunities
for dialogues, learning & growth (dialogues, learning, growth in teal)
A good community dialogue (community dialogue in teal)
welcomes all stakeholders (welcomes in teal)
can hire consultants (hire in teal)
with expertise in (expertise in teal)
Deaf schools with Bilingual Education (all in teal except with)
and Deaf children’s need for language (child’s and language in teal)
acquisition, both tactile & visual (acquisition in teal)
we have the resources (resources in teal)
we have research-based findings (research-based findings in teal)
about ASL & English (ASL & English in teal)
we all know about VL2 (VL2 in teal)
which has scientifically shown
that Deaf babies and kids acquire (all teal except for that & and)
language through their EYES (language an EYES in teal)
HANDS (Tactile Sign Language) (all in teal)
It’s a very exciting time
with the abundance of research (abundance of research in teal)
I see this stubborn hold on
antiquated educational concepts
Let it go! (all teal)
Let it go!! (all teal and bigger fonts)
Let it go!!! (all teal and LARGE fonts)
Stop the community shaming (community in teal and shaming in red)
for sharing their concerns (sharing and concerns in teal)
like the hunger strike (hunger strike in teal)
It’s now OUR opportunity (OUR in teal)
especially the school administrators
to MEET face to face (MEET in teal)
LISTEN actively (LISTEN in teal)
ASK how to create changes (ASK, we, change in teal)
TOGETHER (teal)
TOGETHER (teal)
TOGETHER (teal)
END hunger strike shaming (hunger strike in teal and shaming in red)
HONOR THEM (teal)
by utilizing this opportunity (teal)
to CHECK-IN with our schools (CHECK-IN and schools in teal)
and develop HEALTHY (HEALTHY in teal)
SCHOOLS all over the U.S (SCHOOLS in teal)
starting with WPSD (WPSD in teal)
and its national ripple effect
School administrators and boards (all teal except for and)
SEIZE this moment (Seize in teal)
It’s a beautiful opportunity (beautiful in teal)
Thank you (teal)
black and yellow logo for hunger strike chain… Starving for ASL with several hands signing starving
0:01 CAD flyer with the organization’s logo and blue borders. The background is beige:
Post-Conference- Language Equality & Equity: From Womb to the World
THE 2015 CAD CONFERENCE
September 25-27, 2015
San Diego, California
0:06Narrator—(Jesse Jones) A tall slender attractive Black man with short black hair with lovely white lining of hair on the forehead hairline and trimmed beard. He is wearing a white sweater and is standing in front of of a breath-taking beach view.
He signs in ASL: Recently during the last weekend of September, the CAD conference was hosted in San Diego. Wow! It was a great conference. Let me summarize what happened during that weekend.
0:16 A corporate building with a California flag in front- Friday, September 25 8:00 am to 5:00 PM CAD Conference Workshops Location: Corporate Alliance of San Diego
0:21 A picture of CAD members seated to watch a powerpoint presentation in a corporate room.
0:24 A picture of CAD members doing the hand waving in the corporate room.
0:27 A picture of DawnSignPress building with its number, 613- with trees lining around the structure - “Friday, September 25th 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Wine & Cheese Social Location: DawnSignPress
0:33 A picture of DawnSignPress outdoor patio with columns. People are socializing as the evening begins.
0:36 A picture of CAD members gathered together at DawnSignPress to look at the camera upwards (photographer took the picture from the second floor) Everyone is smiling.
0:36 Back to Jesse Jones in front of the beach view: Last Friday, all day on September 25th, there was a series of excellent workshops. It started with Dr. Flavia Flesicher who shared with us the concept of Deaf Culture Community Wealth (DCCW). It was a very good presentation. The next workshop was given by Marla Hatrak about Language Is Not Equal to Communication. I learned a lot from her. The next one was presented by Laura Petersen and Julie Rems-Smario about What Is EHDI? It helped me to be prepared for upcoming EHDI conference. The next presentation was given by Dr. Tom Humphries who shared about his research group’s Harm Reduction article which emphasized that giving (sign) Language reduces harm. This presentation really impacted me. WOW! Then there was a panel with parents sharing their perspectives of EDHI. Terrylene and Tony Ronco were on the panel. It was very good. The parents were asked a lot of questions and we received a lot of responses which I learned about how to be ready for the future. The next presenter is Sheri Ann Farinha who shared with us about the history of Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD_K). I learned a lot from her. Then to help us plan for the pending EHDI conference, it was let by Julie Rems-Smario and Alan Amann. It was a day of ongoing stimulating workshops Then during the evening we all went to DawnSignPress for a wine and cheese social party. I really thank DSP for their great support. Food was given out by Feast On This. Thank you! (Thumbs up gesture).
2:54 Picture of a high school building with a stoplight post in front.
Saturday, September 26th
9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Unity Day 2015: A Deaf Awareness Day Event
Location: Lincoln High School
3:00 A picture of CAD booth with Marla (a female-presenting person with blonde hair pulled back, black rimmed glasses, white sleeveless top and black pants)Hatrak talking to a group of people under a canopy.
3:03 Marla Hatrak is presenting to a full audience of participants.
3:07 A picture of a building with a sign “Welcome” with an image of winged demon carrying three glasses of drinks.
Saturday, September 26th
7:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Deaf Club!
Location: Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens- Liberty Station
3:12 Jesse is standing in front of a white building with blue trimmings. He signs: All day (at Unity Day) we had a CAD booth there with many people coming up to us with questions about CAD. Marly Hatrak gave a workshop to teach that Language is not equal to Communication. It was a good workshop. I also so many Deaf children interacting and playing. It was nice. Afterwards we all went to the Deaf Club! All the Deaf people gathered along with the hearing. The community came together for good social time chatting and enjoying ourselves. There were lots of laughters. We had an open stage event! Several people came forward to the stage to share ASL stories and jokes all night until the restaurant closed. I really had a good time.
3:55 A picture of another corporate building with bricks surrounded with greeneries with a green and white signage (could be a lease sign- can’t decode it clearly)
Sunday, September 27th
9:00 am to 3:00 pm
CAD Business Meeting
Location: Deaf Community Services of San Diego, Inc (DCS)
4:01 A picture of DCS meeting room full of CAD members with CAD ppt being prepared. Jesse Jones is standing as the CDI with blue shirt and khaki shorts.
4:03 A picture of seven newly elected board members swearing in for their new term. (left to right: Julie Rems-Smario, Marla Hatrak, Deanne Bray, Dodi Ellis, Matthew Sampson, Shelley Stout, Kavita Pipalia.
Image description of the new Board members: Seven new CAD board members standing together with arms around one another, smiling towards the camera. Left to right: Julie Rems-Smario, female presenting white person while short brown hair; wearing black outfit and black and white striped light blazer. Marla Hatrak, female presenting white person with blonde hair pulled back, glasses, denim top and black pants. Deanne Bray, female presenting white person with blonde hair pulled back, glasses, blacktop with white letters "I Love School" and white pants. Dodi Ellis, female presenting white person with long brown braid resting on her left shoulder and glasses pulled back on her head, white peasant top and white pants. Matthew Sampson, a tall male presenting white person with dirty blond hair, glasses, white shirt with buttons, and khaki shorts. Shelley Stout, female presenting white person with short light brown hair, blue t-shirt with CAD logo on her left shoulder, and finally Kavita Pipalia, a female presenting person with short black hair and brown ski. While flashing an ILY sign, she is wearing a white blouse with a necklace and a gold sweater with fringes-
4:07 Back to Jesse Jones with a beach view in the backyard a a blue patio umbrella at the left.
Jess signs: All day on Sunday the CAD members had a business meeting with different motions and ideas including issues about Deaf education, employment, Senior Citizens, Deaf children, SB 210, plus, we elected new board officers! I am excited to announce who are the new officers:
President: Julie Rems-Smario
Vice President: Marla Hatrak
Secretary: Deanne Bray
Treasurer: Dodi Ellis
Membership Director: Matthew Sampson
Southern California Representative: Kavita Pipalia (from Los Angeles)
Northern California Representative: Shelley Stout (from Fresno)
All of the new board officers are excited to work on the new motions passed to serve you for the next two years 2015-2017.
During past three days, the CAD conference has been successful because of the help from you Deaf Californians who participated I want to thank you for what you do. For those of you who could not join the conference, it is okay because we have more events coming up soon. When you become a member, you can participate, get involved and contribute your time.Deaf Californians need you!
5:47 THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: Logos of the following sponsors
Sorenson VRS (Yellow S with black letters SVRS)
DawnSign Press Yellow sun logo with www.dawnsign.com underneath and then American Sign Language Publisher at the bottom)
Purple Purple background with white letters spelling out Purple
DCS (two different shades of blue letters) DCS Deaf Community Services of San Diego.Inc
Unity Leads to Success a tree with twisted trunk and different shades of leaves. UNITY (each letter has different shade of the rainbow) is underneath the tree
Clip (tree design inserted here) Interpreting Professional Certified Interpreters
Lenois Productions. Green letter L in cursive and white letter p in print format. both letters are fitted in a black circle
1721 Studios a logo which can be partially seen
5:51 Beige background with blue borders CAD logo and www.cad1906.org inserted within the blue borders.
Design and Photo by 1721 Studios Video by Lenois Productions
CAD’s Nonprofit Status Restored During past two years, CAD Board of Directors have worked hard to restore CAD’s nonprofit status. For a while there was a discussion about whether CAD should be saved We opted to save it because of its rich history- nearly 110 years of promoting, protecting and preserving Deaf Californians' signed language rights as well as human and civil rights. Under the leadership of CEO Sheri Ann Farinha, NorCal Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing played an instrumental role in helping us to restore CAD with incredible resources, including their CPA, Dale Sloss. While reviving CAD, there was never a moment of rest for this team of Board officers. We reached out to six different parts of California by paying out of our own pockets. The Deaf communities in California have been so supportive such as offering us meeting rooms and places to stay.
CAD’s Outreach Effort CAD Board held their board meetings at the following areas: Sacramento at Sheri Farinha’s home for the Board retreat, Irvine at University High School with help from their Junior NAD officers, San Diego at UCSD, Sacramento at CAD’s ASL Festival, Los Angeles at NCOD-CSUN right before attending the NCOD Gala, and Oakland at DeafHope’s office. Our Directors of Northern California and Southern California, Alyce Reynolds and Erika Thompson visited several organizations and groups of people to create community connections. I recently went to Riverside to support the Deaf Senior Citizens by presenting at the Mayor’s office about the importance of “Nothing About Us Without Us” and attending the town-hall meeting hosted by CAD’s Southern California Chapter, which took place at C.O.D.I.E.
LEAD-K and SB 210 The Board is also directly involved with Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K), a national campaign to end the epidemic of language deprived Deaf children. CAD is proud to have the honor as the first state to start this campaign, which includes California’s Senate Bill 210 (SB 210). SB 210 received unanimous and bipartisan support throughout the entire legislative process. Currently, the bill is about to be signed by Governor Brown. When SB 210 is signed, all Deaf babies will finally be monitored to make sure that they are acquiring language at age-appropriate milestones between the ages of 0-5. At the same time, the parents will be consistently informed about where their Deaf child is at with language acquisition, so they can make sure that their Deaf child is Kindergarten-ready at the age of five. This will end the generations of epidemic language deprivation.
California Home for Deaf Adults CHAD which has been a crucial part of our Deaf community services for Deaf adults requiring assistive care. With the current condition of CAD's building in Arcadia, it's no longer feasible to keep renting it out to CHAD. The building is currently on market with the plan to honor the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which was signed by the past CAD President, Ralph Singleton, and CHAD President, Scott Hostetler. The CAD Board continue to receive feedbacks and suggestions from the Deaf community, especially in southern California, about the future plans for services like CHAD.
First All Deaf Women CAD Board One of CAD’s past President, Marcella Meyer, taught me to always toot my horn because no one else will. Thus, I need to say this—the current CAD Board of Directors is the first all-Deaf women board in CAD’s history. Additionally, I am the first Deaf woman president in 24 years. The last woman President is Sheri Farinha, who won in 1989; she also became our Past President consultant for 2013-15. Our Board retreat was facilitated by a past NAD President, Dr. Roz Rosen. It is a rare coincidence to have this level of Deaf women leadership and it should not go unnoticed, because of the incredible level of work this team has invested to rebuild CAD and to pull together the Deaf People of California. This group has restored CAD and there is no other way to state this fact. This group also has a pivotal role in developing LEAD-K and lobbying for SB 210. With this said, our goals for CAD are ambitious.
CAD’s Work Is Not Done Two years of volunteer work is not enough. We still have to push for more effective early intervention services for Deaf babies, better communication access at the hospitals, more job opportunities, accessible and safe meetings for parents concerned about Deaf education, and opportunities for Deaf Senior Citizens seeking assistive care services. We also must seek sustainable financial means to mobilize our activism, so we can preserve, promote, and protect our linguistic, civil, and human rights for all Deaf Californians. Our work is not done.
California Association of the Deaf Board members 2015-17
Let’s welcome the new CAD Board members 2015-2017!
President- Julie Rems-Smario Vice President- Marla Hatrak Secretary- Deanne Bray-Kotsur Treasurer- Dodi Ellis Director of Membership- Matthew Sampson Director at Large, Northern California- Shelley Ann Stout Director at Large, Southern California- Kavita Pipalia
The outgoing Board members are Nancy Hlibok, Secretary, Alyce Reynolds, Director at Large, Northern California, Erika Thompson, Director at Large, and Southern California, Patricia Branz, Director of Membership. All four women have been incredible with their vision, relation-building skills, and COMMITMENT to CAD! They all plan to stay committed to CAD as community members to serve in new capacities. CAD is so apprecative of their contributions to the Deaf Californians. We look forward to continue the work together collaboratively! Below is the picture of CAD Board of Directors 2013-2015.
Announcement from CAD Conference Chair, Matt Ellis:
Language Equality & Equity: From the Womb to the World, the 2015 CAD Conference is coming! September 25-27 in San Diego!
Register here www.cad1906.org/register $100 for members, $115 for non-members (one year membership included). $25 for the Saturday night Deaf Club! event.
Hotel Information: DoubleTree by Hilton San Diego – Hotel Circle 1515 Hotel Circle South, San Diego, CA 92108
Friday keynote speakers are Dr. Flavia Fleischer and Dr. Thomas Humphries!
Latest about SB 210 from CAD Board President- SB 210 is now at Governor Jerry Brown's desk! Let's contact him and encourage him to SIGN the bill! https://youtu.be/Qgy53DrvqS8
