Important Notice – Bylaws Suspension

Requesting our current Delaware Association of the Deaf Bylaws to be suspended due to covid and low recent turn out.  The reason for this is to resolve our election obligations and Bylaws will be restored once elections end.  This also applies to a motion made in June to have an in person election which we tried to do on September 9, 2021 but only 2 outside people (non-board members) came.  The deadline to object is Tuesday, September 28, 2021.  Contact delawaredeaf at gmail com or use the contact us link (at top of page in menu). 

Once we resolve this emergency issue, we will schedule a zoom meeting for our election instead. 

 

New Visor Card rolled out (Sept. 14, 2021)

front side of new visor card titled 'I am Deaf or Hard of Hearing' along with some communication tips below it for the police and icons to indicate communication preferences. back side of visor card with various icons for common automobile issues including violations, help issues, type of ticket, etc.

DOVER — It’s less wordy and communicates through more images.

Best of all, the redesigned visor communication card just might save a life.

A host of project partners attended a rollout ceremony in front of the Dover Police Department early Tuesday afternoon to extol the benefits of holding the card.

The automobile visor cards are designed to allow better communication between law enforcement officers and those who are deaf or hard of hearing during a vehicle stop.

Through an interpreter, Delaware Association of the Deaf President Feta Fernsler signed that, “I noticed that the old visor card used a lot of English.

“It was very wordy, so in the event of a traffic stop, law enforcement doesn’t really have time to sit and read a novel.

“Also, the driver may not be fully fluent in English, which is very common given that (American Sign Language) is their primary language.

“I wanted to make sure that the communication between law enforcement and deaf and hard of hearing drivers was as efficient and safe as possible.”

As to the redesign, Mr. Fernsler explained that, “We switched to the icons to represent what they would need to communicate most often to help reduce the stress level on both parts.

Read the rest of the article at (from Delaware State News) – https://baytobaynews.com/stories/updated-visor-card-facilitates-communication-between-delaware-police-and-deaf-or-hard-of-hearing,58454.

Pictures of the event can be found at https://www.delawaredeaf.org/about-us/pics/nggallery/dad-pics/visor-card-sept-14-2021.

News announcement prior to event – https://www.coastalpoint.com/news/state/new-communication-cards-designed-to-help-law-enforcement-deaf-hard-of-hearing/article_6a9ec894-14f1-11ec-b2bd-f3bc2af270d4.html.

 

** To request the new visor cards, contact Loretta Sarro at Delaware Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing or file an application which is listed at https://labor.delaware.gov/divisions/dvr/dodhh.  Deaf Outreach and DAD may have some in stock for use at events. **