Transcript/Summary:
Alex: Of course, Deaf Bing is when I can see deaf people signing from far away.
(Camera zooms into four people signing from 20 stories high).
I know they’re Deaf!
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Today is Wednesday. I will give a recap of what went on this morning at the NAD Conference in Chicago. I went to two different workshops. There are various workshops with various presenters and I picked two. The first has to do with older Americans and senior citizens. There is a federal law to support their needs. There is concern about Deaf senior citizens and their unique needs. As Deaf people get older, they can become isolated. Are states and federal agencies that specialize on aging prepared to meet the needs of Deaf senior citizens? They have unique needs.
(Video clips of workshop presenters)
There will be new language in federal laws coming soon so they talked about that and there is one person who is very active in wanting to see more Americans become involved in giving feedback to federal agencies so they can have a better understanding of Deaf senior citizens’ needs.
Sheri Collins: Hello! I’m the executive director of the Arizona Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. I also represent the National State Associations and Services of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. I represent all the various state commissions. I’m here to talk about the Older Americans Act reauthorization. It’s now up for discussion in Congress to update the law and what it means. It will impact services and access for senior citizens or older Americans. We really need to push for an addition in it with some kind of definition to clarify - because just the word “disabled” is not enough to meet the needs of our communication access. We want to see this implemented in different areas. We want to make recommendations from the national level. We are collaborating with the NAD, the Deaf Seniors of America (DSA), the TDI, and the NASADHH. We are collaborating. We need your stories, your concerns, from your states. Come and be involved to push Congress to improve and provide better services to our older Deaf and Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind and DeafPlus and all in the senior citizen community