Advocacy – Page 9 – Delaware Association of the Deaf (DAD)

December 24, 2023

Supported Decision-Making Summit (Newark, March 7, 2024)

Join My Life, My Decisions: A Supported Decision-Making Summit to learn more about supported decision-making and the resources that are available in Delaware. The summit will start with a panel discussion of people with disabilities and their supporters. It will be led by supported decision-making expert Jonathan Martinis. Next, you will have the opportunity to get advice from panelists and other mentors about living a self-determined life.

Please contact Ashley Steinbrecher at ashstein at udel.edu or 302-831-4793 if you need accommodations.

More info at https://www.cds.udel.edu/mylife.

Supported Decision Making Summit flyer March 2024 (PDF Flyer)

December 21, 2023

Deaf Kansans struggle getting legal help. The state is trying to change that

Takeaways:

Deaf and hard of hearing Kansans may not meet with lawyers because of the communication barrier
There is a fund to fix this problem, but it isn’t being used enough
Not enough lawyers know how to request an interpreter

A deaf Kansas woman going through a divorce signed a separation agreement thinking she would receive $500 a month in alimony.

But that alimony had never been agreed to.

“By the time (an attorney) reviewed the matter, it was well past the time to file an appeal,” said Leonard Hall, a lawyer at Hall Law Office in Olathe, Kansas.

The woman had not been provided with an interpreter, so she struggled to talk to attorneys directly. Hall said that’s why she didn’t understand the agreement.

She is far from alone.

Kansans who are deaf and hard of hearing don’t have enough access to legal services, advocates say. Interpreters or communication assistance are often not provided and some attorneys decline initial appointments when a person requests that help, said Robert Cooper, executive director of the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

“It’s not allowed. It’s illegal,” Cooper said through his interpreter. “It’s surprising it happens. (But) it’s reality.”

Read on at https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/deaf-kansans-struggle-getting-legal-help-the-state-is-trying-to-change-that/ar-AA1lnLE2?fbclid=IwAR2rExAbirRLms-mFAVa1PhWb1D-J3OiMxKh5jLWR1AcNBuPERU3htGH6Ds

December 21, 2023

Retired faculty members establish scholarship fund for MSW students

Dr. Barbara J. White, ’76, and Dr. Bruce A. White have endowed a scholarship fund in their names to support students in the Gallaudet University Social Work program. This scholarship will be offered for the first time during the 2024-2025 academic year.

In announcing the fund, Dr. Barbara White wrote, “My husband Bruce and I are pleased to establish this endowed scholarship fund for MSW students. As an undergraduate student when the social work program was first established in the 1970s, and later as a faculty member in the Social Work department when the MSW program was established in the late 1980s, it has been gratifying to witness the tremendous growth of the field of social work with deaf and hard of hearing people. We hope the fund will help increase the number of professional MSW level social workers who are deaf, deafblind, or hard of hearing to meet the growing demand for social workers with the knowledge and skills in working with the Deaf population at all system levels.”

Read the rest at https://gallaudet.edu/social-work/master-of-social-work-msw/retired-faculty-members-establish-scholarship-fund-for-msw-students/?utm_campaign=Hi5&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=286685694&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_bqZwQTGI4sYeH-bdvsZ6UqpEwqccuKo-7Ne0uMavmQkZe2q2sAw-gBpM2WjrOX4AjLb_fzrM_QLoCdZA_WsbigP9Jdg&utm_content=286685694&utm_source=hs_email

* DAD Note: Barbara and Bruce live in Delaware, so if you see them – thank them!