http://www.nad.org/news/2010/2/nad-advocate-asl-ehdi-conference
Representatives from the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) will attend
the 9th annual Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI) Conference
March 1-2, 2010 in Chicago, IL. NAD participation in this year’s EHDI
Conference is a part of an ongoing effort to educate EHDI professionals on
the importance of American Sign Language (ASL) in the language acquisition
of deaf and hard of hearing babies.
EHDI programs have a critical responsibility to ensure that deaf and hard of
hearing babies get the equal access to language that they deserve. The NAD
will stress the importance of involving deaf and hard of hearing people in
all aspects of EHDI programs and services. Such participation is essential
to ensure that every family gets the appropriate care, balanced
information/resources, and support services that they need.
Conference attendees will learn about the NAD position on EHDI programs,
ASL, our organization, and other relevant issues at the NAD exhibit booth.
NAD Chief Executive Officer Nancy J. Bloch will participate on a panel
titled, “Connecting the Dots: Deaf Community Participation in EHDI
Programs.”
The NAD is strongly committed to ensuring that parents of newly identified
deaf or hard of hearing infants receive accurate information about the
benefits of acquiring and developing proficiency in both ASL and English.
Deaf and hard of hearing infants must be given the opportunity to acquire
ASL, a fully accessible visual language, as early as possible, including the
opportunity to access and acquire the spoken language(s) used by their
families through the use of assistive technologies and other strategies.
The NAD urges EHDI programs and professionals to adopt the following
initiatives:
* Invite deaf and hard of hearing community members to every EHDI
meeting
* Appoint deaf and hard of hearing community representatives to the
state EHDI advisory panel
* Highlight deaf and hard of hearing community members in state and
national EHDI conferences
* Identify, develop, and advertise ASL resources for families
* Establish and operate deaf and hard of hearing mentorship programs
* Adopt a family support system for families that use ASL
* Encourage active deaf and hard of hearing community roles in parent
and professional organizations
* Encourage informal networking
Click here to view “EHDI Programs and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community: Working Together” which includes descriptions of each initiative listed above. Early language advocates should share this document with EHDI professionals in their states.
Michael K. Berger
Region II Representative
National Association of the Deaf
Invest in Our Future!
www.nad.org
50th Biennial NAD Conference
Celebrate Our Heritage. Invest in Our Future.
July 7-11, 2010
Philadelphia Marriott-Downtown
Philadelphia, PA
