50th Biennial Conference
National Association of the Deaf (NAD)
July 6-10, 2010
Philadelphia, PA

The Council of Representatives met again this morning. Now we have the list of priority proposals set for NAD advocacy and action for the next two years. They include: protection of residential schools; promotion of ASL-English bilingualism; pursuing communication technology accessibility; a commitment to work on EHDI; and Deaf inclusive library efforts.

Margie English was elected new Region 1 Board Member.

Michelle Lapides is the new Vice President of MDAD.

There were a few workshops going on but activity is winding down. Topics included “Navigating Social Media;” “Museum Accessibility;” “Pink Deafies: A Support Group for Deaf Breast Cancer Survivors;” “Applying On-line for Disability/ Retirement Benefits;” “Deafhood: The Cure for Deafness” and “Self-Advocacy: Encouraging doctors to be Deaf-Friendly. There was also a consciousness-raising workshop about Deaf GLBTI 101 (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex) people.

People enjoyed the low-key day to meet friends and just enjoy being here. There was a great unscheduled entertainment by Dragonsani Renteria who has a very smart dog !!!!! This dog can retrieve the things it is told to find, learn signs for new items and find them, and locate people by their sign names. It was a really fun break! Thanks, Drago!

The most exciting part of the conference is the announcement of a new NAD CEO. After 18 years of service, Nancy Bloch is stepping down. She was presented with a portrait of herself and also a stained glass NAD theme art work. A scholarship established in her name generated over $34,000 during the meeting. This will support Deaf and Hard of Hearing students and internships at NAD to foster future leaders and advocates. The Banquet was a moving celebration of Nancy’s contributions and her great spirit. After the dinner, the Auction generated over $15,000: most of the items auctioned were trips and art work, some of D’Via genre.

With the announcement of Howard Rosenblum as the next CEO of NAD, the conference officially came to a close.

Today was such a great day! Gallaudet sponsored the breakfast and it was a warm gathering with lots of spirit. Then started the fabulous workshops….

It was really impressive to see all the Deaf lawyers at the workshop “Civil Rights for the Deaf: Are we there Yet?” Greg Hlibok and a panel of Deaf lawyers discussed the state of our rights, responded to audience questions and complaints, and gave advice. The panel included Bob Mather, Claudia Gordon, Jeff Rosen, Howard Rosenblum, Josh Mendelsohn, Michael Stein, Sheila Mentkowski and Suzy Rosen Singleton. Many questions and discussions; often about issues of captioning.

Next, another workshop focused on “Captioning for Access: Here, There and Everywhere.” This was an interactive forum with questions from the audience about current status of captioning technology and advocacy. The presenters were Rosaline Crawford, Claude Stout, and Cheryl Heppner.

In the workshop “Successfully Navigating your Employment Options with the Federal Government,” Jennifer Croft provided all the insider information you need. They made the government process sound so sensible and reasonable. Then they advised how to get the reasonable accommodations you need to do the best job you can.

A DYNAMITE workshop was “Our Interpreters Become Too Hearing, not Ally with Deaf Consumers, Whose Fault?” given by CDI Jimmy Beldon. He explained every problem we have with interpreters and how we can improve it, making us equal partners in the process, not just passive recipients. His analysis of problem areas really helped the audience feel more empathy toward interpreters. For example, ASL doesn’t specify pronouns, so the interpreter doesn’t know the gender of the person being referred to—how do they know what to say??? Think how difficult it is to interpret the idiom “easy as pie.” And the meanings conveyed in ASL by use of the body are very difficult to produce in English. The audience really enjoyed the new perspectives in this workshop!!!

Another great workshop: “Backstory of Biographies: Rediscovering the People who Made the World Federation of the Deaf,” was given by Jack Gannon and Jean Bergey. They dug up information on all the early actors in international Deaf history, and traced the change over time in leadership from hearing-controlled to Deaf-centered. It was so interesting….imagine, they found that one WFD leader, Otto Schmahl (hearing), was a Nazi who supported sterilization of Deaf people. We thank these historians for uncovering and illuminating the past.

It rained in Philly today but that didn’t dampen the spirits at the Miss Deaf America Finals. The six finalists were: Miss Deaf California, Kayla Thomas; Miss Deaf Illinois, Rachel Mazique; Miss Deaf Maryland, Celine Diaz; Miss Deaf Minnesota, Kaitlyn Mielke; Miss Deaf Missouri, Jessica Willoughby; and Miss Deaf Pennsylvania, Victoria Fils. There were wonderful performances and competition in poise and presence, interspersed with great entertainment by emcees Evon Black and Frank Dattolo. The suspense built up until the long awaited announcement: ……… the new Miss Deaf America is…. Miss Deaf Illinois, Rachel Mazique!!! First runner up is Miss Deaf Pennsylvania, Victoria Fils, and second runner up is Miss Deaf Maryland, Celine Daze. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL !

The day opened with the NTID Breakfast, with lots of friendly people, discussion and networking. The workshops today were fantastic and very stimulating. They really are historic documentation of the Deaf issues of our day.

Beth Benedict presented her paper on the Early Hearing, Detection and Intervention (EHDI) system, the purpose of which is to identify deaf and hard of hearing babies, and to provide families with support. But the way it has been implemented is framed in a deficit model: it’s all about hearing LOSS and how to fix it. Parents are given information on hearing technology but never on visual technology or the importance of visual communication. Beth is countering that pathological model with a new frame and new vocabulary that gives hearing parents a lot more hope about the future of their deaf baby. Deaf people now are involved in the consultations that shape a deaf baby’s future. To get involved, see www.infanthearing.org One hearing mother of a deaf child came to the stage and told how everything would have been different for her family had this information been available when she needed it. She urged this presentation to be videotaped and disseminated everywhere. Beth is changing the world for these families!

Joe Murray presented on the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD). WFD represents 70 million Deaf people in countries around the world. WFD is our advocate on the international level. Thanks to the WFD, the CRPD covers our issues very well, in fact better than the ADA. WFD’s goal is the realization of Deaf people’s human rights through sign language. Because of lobbying by WFD, CRPD also focuses on the right of Deaf people to their natural sign language. In the U.N. process, a Convention is legally binding after a country signs then ratifies it. The U.S. has signed it but it must be ratified in Congress. We need to be on top of this issue to make sure that the CRPD is correctly interpreted in U.S. law so that our rights are not eroded through a weak grasp of the CRPD. NAD needs a committee to lobby this issue. To learn more, see www.wfdeaf.org Also see U.N. Enable.

These are only two of the many workshops offered today; there were many, many more.

Region 1 caucus meeting continued discussion and processing of priority proposals and also election of new delegates.

The exciting finale of Day 3 was the College Bowl. NTID, Gallaudet and CSUN competed in a thrilling match. Gallaudet took an early lead but NTID successfully challenged a question and surged ahead. It was neck and neck for a while but Gallaudet WON !!! Final scores were Gallaudet 93; NTID 91; CSUN 44.

The day opened with a rousing Welcome Ceremony with a historical theme. Betsy Ross (Emcee Melissa Draganac-Hawk) appeared with the Miss Deaf America contestants and gave a rousing encapsulation of NAD and Deaf history, followed by a beautiful signed rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

The Keynote speeches were truly inspirational. Prof. MJ Bienvenu presented a new paradigm in conceptualizing being Deaf. She said in the past we have always been on the defensive, trying to fight back against the concept of “hearing loss” which is deficit thinking. Instead, we need to focus on “Deaf Gain” and all the wonderful diversity we bring to humanity. Our special qualities are more and more being seen as relevant to the larger society. So positive !!!

Claudia Gordon, Esq. gave the next Keynote speech. She really brought home how important NAD is to our lives, and how NAD has been there for 130 years advocating for us. Where would we be without NAD??? Our organization now celebrating its 50th biennial conference is a real milestone in our history.

Bobbie Beth Scoggins, NAD President, presented a special Advocacy award to Marlee Maitlin for all her work on lobbying for the The 21st Century Communication and Video Access Act, now in Congress as House of Representatives Bill 3101 and Senate Bill 3304. This will require all media on the internet to be captioned. If you want further information on this issue, see http://www.causes.com/captionaction2

There was an outstanding video thank you and informational message from Marlee herself. She is gorgeous and truly a star with celebrity power that she uses for the good of the Deaf community.

In the afternoon, there was more discussion on the priority issues. Charm Smith presented her proposal that NAD should re-define the language around “least restrictive environment” in the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) to make it appropriate for deaf children. What deaf children need is language accessibility, not being placed among hearing children—the present implication of the term “least restrictive environment.” It is so important to get this clarified !!!!

Next the three finalists for the position of NAD CEO presented their platforms. They are Shane Feldman; Darlene Zangara; and Howard Rosenblum. They presented their visions for NAD and their backgrounds qualifying them for the position. The NAD Board will choose from among them the next CEO on Friday.

The regional caucus meeting was held after dinner. A request was presented for more support and information dissemination for Deaf gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders (GLBT). Because of their sexuality/gender, they may be left out of services for Deaf people. A group was formed to address these concerns. The caucus had further discussion on the priorities proposals as well as the selection of the new CEO. Meeting ended promptly at 8 pm.

Set in historic Philadelphia at the Marriott Downtown hotel, MDAD delegate Sheena McFeeley describes the activities of the coming week. Inside the hotel, Beth Benedict has just arrived, bags in hand, can’t really talk yet but greets us all. Nearby, MJ Bienvenu jokes and looks forward to a wonderful week.

Next Jim Pederson describes the process of the Council of Representatives. “All the delegates sit there and make amendments, vote, adjust, disagree, apply, refer, review…the by-laws.” In the huge meeting room, we see everyone gathered for the day. We see President Bobbie Beth Scoggins and NAD Region 1 Board Member Julie Bourne. Next MDAD delegate Al Sonnenstrahl points out Region 1 seating area (Region 1 is the east, including Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and west Virginia). People are busy discussing issues.

Next, Miss Deaf Maryland Celine Daze describes the long process of competing for Miss Deaf America. More information will be coming on MDAD vlog. Former MDAD President Alicia Epstein stands at the door of the regional meeting where we gathered to discuss what happened during the day.

Last, Charm L. Smith, current MDAD President, closes Day 1 of the NAD conference in Philly by describing the caucus meeting where we discussed the various issues of the day. See Facebook for all the details. MDAD is here working for you!!!

1. Work on captioning. Captions are now seen on World cup ads—yea!!!

2. National coverage of hearing aids in health care reform was a hot topic
that failed—boo….. However, on a positive note: 12 states require
coverage of hearing aids.

3. The education sub-committee reported their hard work to support Deaf
schools, to support bilingual education, and to support early intervention,
i.e. early exposure of deaf babies to ASL.

4. Health professionals have been targeted to work more closely with
parents of deaf children.

5. On the mental health front, we now have a bill of rights for Deaf and hard
of hearing people.

All of the committee reports are available on-line http://www.nad.org/issues/
issues-resources

Session 2 in the afternoon discussed “staggering” the election of Regional Board members. Board members are elected every two years. It became confusing and the discussion was put off til later this week.

Then discussion began on 36 proposals that have been submitted from all over the country, making suggestions about priority activities to do over the next two years. This list will be pared down to twenty proposals– priorities for action– over the next two years. There was discussion about limiting the list to fewer than twenty.

After dinner, we had a regional meeting to get together and discuss the priorities proposals. We picked one person to become a communicator between our region and the NAD board. There will be a lot more discussion on the priorities proposals over the next days !!! Stay tuned !!!

You can find NAD Blog at: http://blogs.nad.org/delegates/

Priority Proposal: NAD shall lobby to redefine how deaf/hard of hearing students are placed according to priorities set forth in the current Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA is being reauthorized and NAD shall advocate to ensure that the reauthorized act of IDEA includes a new set of priorities allowing for a child’s language needs before considering whether the placement is in the least restrictive environment (LRE).

Rationale: When IDEA was first authorized in 2004, the primary consideration for placing a deaf/hard of hearing student relied on whether the environment was least restrictive and recent years have shown that many school agencies have considered least restrictive environment in lieu of child’s language needs and for that reason, many deaf/hard of hearing children have been denied their foremost civil right – to gain access to a language that is most readily available to them (which in most cases would be American Sign Language).

May 22nd is the date of an exciting event: the MDAD Symposium! Symposiums occur every other year, alternating with MDAD Conferences. The Symposium is an event for everyone from all over the state of Maryland, members and non-members alike – all are welcome to attend!

Throughout the day we will be discussing a wide variety of topics in sessions including forums, workshops, and a town hall meeting. This is our opportunity to discuss any and all important issues of impact at the state level here in Maryland, so that our issues can be brought to the NAD national conference. MDAD will also select delegates who will be responsible for gathering all the information about our state needs to share with the national NAD at the conference in July.

Click the workshop schedule: MDAD Symposium 2010

On the day of the Symposium, lunch will be provided. The Symposium will be held at the Maryland School for the Deaf in Frederick in the new elementary school building. Symposium events continue until 5pm, followed by a Mystery Dinner at Dutch Daughter restaurant, which is a fundraiser in support of our Miss Deaf Maryland, Celine Daze, so that she can compete in the Miss Deaf America pageant at the NAD conference.

Click the Mystery Dinner Fundraiser: MDAD Mystery Dinner 2010

For more information or question, please contact: symposium@mdad.tv

Hope to see you at the Symposium, May 22nd!