DAD Bylaw amendments due April 1, 2023

Who: Everyone including you (everyone is automatically a member)
What: If you have any changes or additions for our bylaws, now is the time to do so
When (deadline): April 1, 2023 or so
Where: our bylaws can be found at https://www.delawaredeaf.org/about-us/bylaws
Why: Statewide elections/conference is coming up soon which is the only time Bylaws are updated under Article 9.01

How (Submissions): Use https://www.delawaredeaf.org/contact-us or give it to Keith Robertson who is collecting bylaw changes

* One other note: We are also accepting nominations/applications for board officers.  You can throw names in up to the time of elections. We are not all about work so think about it and come on over!

 

Urgent Notice about DSD school (March 14, 2023)

Delaware School for the Deaf Logo  Christina School District logo
Edited – An earlier announcement about tonight’s meeting had to be edited for brevity. 
 
Christiana School District (CSD) will have their regular meeting tonight.  DSD (Delaware School for the Deaf) is governed by the CSD district.  ASL interpreters will be present.  It will be live streamed and public comments are allowed online up to 6pm tonight or show up at the meeting to do so.  See https://www.christinak12.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=258&DomainID=139#calendar497/20230314/event/2959.  Now is the time to speak up about DSD’s needs.

 

 

Communication Card Video Release – Press Event

Library metal signage in front of the new Appoquinimink Library in Middletown, DE

In September 2022, the revised Visor and Wallet Communication Cards for interactions between members of Law enforcement and Delaware residents who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing were released to the public and Police Officers throughout the state. 
 
At that time, a training video was under production with students at the Delaware School for the Deaf. We are now ready to release that video to the public and to Law Enforcement. 
 
This event will be held on Tuesday, April 18th at 1:00 pm at the Appoquinimink Library in Middletown, DE.  
 
We are looking for help in spreading the news about the event, as well as contacting potential dignitaries to speak at the event.
 
 
 
DAD Note: Appoquinimink (aka: Appo) recently moved to a brand new location on East Main Street and is no longer at the old location  on North Broad Street (Rt. 71).
 
– Thanks to Deaf Outreach for sharing the announcement.
 

Parents of deaf child win human rights case against N.L. school district (Canada)

Kimberly and Todd Churchill have won a human rights case against the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District. They filed a human rights complaint against the district after learning their son, Carter, wasn't learning American Sign Language in his school. (Gary Locke/CBC)

Parents fighting for the education of their deaf son have won a human rights case against the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District.

The commission ruled that the district failed to provide reasonable accommodation for Carter Churchill and discriminated against him during the 2016 to 2020 school years, from kindergarten to Grade 3.

It has ordered the board to support Carter with education in American Sign Language and evaluate him in that language. The district will also have to pay Todd and Kimberly Churchill close to $150,000, according to the human rights commission’s decision, released Wednesday.

“It’s not shock, but it’s just this disbelief [that] finally, this is finally over,” said Kimberly Churchill. “There was so much evidence there to show that there was discrimination.”

Read on at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nlesd-parents-deaf-child-win-human-rights-case-1.6766067.

DAD Note: Similar cases like this has happened in the United States and are not always publicly released/announced. 

 

Complaint from deaf traveler at Austin airport sparks changes to TSA policy

Airport lounge.  Photo by Altairkh, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

A recent complaint concerning the Transportation Security Administration’s treatment of a deaf passenger at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport prompted changes in the ways the agency treats travelers with accessibility needs.

Topher Avila, who is deaf, told the Airport Advisory Commission at its Feb. 8 meeting that he was stopped by a TSA official during a recent visit to the airport.

Avila recently completed a legal name change and arrived at the airport with a government ID, a stamped copy of the name change paperwork, his old ID, and his Social Security card. When he reached security, he was pulled aside by a TSA agent but no interpreter was made available for assistance.

After about 20 minutes, Avila was allowed to clear the checkpoint. However, just after crossing he was detained again. This time, TSA took his backpack and cell phone, leaving him unable to communicate or understand why he was being detained. When he asked for his phone back, Avila said an agent “put their finger in my face.”

“There was no attempt to communicate or explain what was going on,” Avila said.

Read on at https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2023/02/complaint-from-deaf-traveler-at-austin-airport-sparks-changes-to-tsa-policy.

 

HHS Mourns the Loss of Disability Rights Leader Judy Heumann

Judy Heumann in 1982, with Ed Roberts, director of the California State Department of Rehabilitation. They called attention to the Reagan administration’s cutbacks in funds for programs for the disabled.Credit...John Duricka/Associated Press

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) joins the disability community in mourning the loss of Judy Heumann, who passed away over the weekend. Judy was one of our nation’s greatest advocates and was a driving force behind key disability rights accomplishments. 

One of the founders of the independent living movement, she was instrumental to the passage of the Rehabilitation Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Her advocacy led to the first federal regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, and to the U.N.’s adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 

Read on at https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/03/06/hhs-mourns-loss-disability-rights-leader-judy-heumann.html.

Another article of interest – https://www.npr.org/2023/03/04/1161169017/disability-activist-judy-heumann-dead-75.

Deaf protesters worked with Judy Heumann to pass the 1973 Rehab law and helped spear improvements that created the ADA in 1990.  See https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/05/obituaries/judy-heumann-dead.html or https://dredf.org/504-sit-in-20th-anniversary/short-history-of-the-504-sit-in.

DAD Note: Without her early advocacy, disability [aka: civil] rights would have been delayed.  Meaning equal access to doctors, education or places may not have happened without her determination to remain in a federal building for nearly a month.  A group of deaf protesters were involved also and have shared their stories to show how they supported her work (i.e. ASL communication through windows to take food orders and give news updates, Judy waited for ASL interpreters before beginning meetings).  It brought light to an overlooked community in need of support so we thank her for her work to give us all a better life.  More work is still needed so please consider supporting a disability/civil rights group like DAD.

 

Company fired deaf employee after she requested an interpreter for meetings, feds say

Gravel in front of a justice statue by a blurry brown chair.

A Colorado company discriminated against a deaf employee when it fired her after she requested an American Sign Language interpreter for meetings, according to federal officials.

The employee sued the company, Pneuline Supply, a parts manufacturer based in Greeley — about 55 miles north of Denver — after it fired her in May 2018, according to court documents.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on Nov. 10 that Pneuline Supply would be required to pay the woman $44,250 and “provide other relief” to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit, according to a news release from the agency.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article268629592.html#storylink=cpy