Maryland Association of the Deaf

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 !