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IN THIS ISSUE

Deaf Awareness Month | Colorado Early Hearing Detection and Intervention | 

Communications Technology Program | Communications Corner

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF CLIFF!

DEAF AWARENESS MONTH EVENTS

Typically, schools and organizations host events during these months to celebrate and raise awareness.

Below are events that we are involved in this year that may interest you.

Quarterly CCDHHDB Meeting

Thursday, September 1, 4-6 p.m.

The commission’s first quarterly meeting of this fiscal year will be held via Zoom. We will be introducing our new commission members in celebration of Deaf Awareness Month! Everyone is welcome. ASL interpreters and CART are provided. Please register using the link below. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Email office.ccdhhdb@state.co.us if you need additional accommodations.

Deaf Awareness Night at the Colorado Rapids

Saturday, September 10, kickoff at 7:30 p.m.

This event is a fundraiser for Rocky Mountain Deaf School and DOVE (Deaf Overcoming Violence through Empowerment). Ticket price includes a fundraising donation, $15 concessions, and deaf awareness swag. The game will be interpreted, and there will be a link provided for captioning on your smartphone. Students from Rocky Mountain Deaf School will perform the National Anthem in American Sign Language. This event also includes information booths to raise awareness of local groups that provide resources and services to the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind communities.

Deaf/Hard of Hearing Resources Fair

Sunday, September 11, 2022, 2-5 p.m. 

Merlot Meeting Room

Courtyards by Marriott

765 Horizon Drive

Grand Junction, CO 81506

Contact

Staci Nichols 

970-819-7027 (TEXT ONLY)

staci@nwcci.org

Hosted by: Western Slope Deaf Initiatives

Sponsored by:

• Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind
• Rocky Mountain Health Plans
• Colorado Daylight Partnership 
• DOVE
• Cassidy Walter, MPH
• Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition
• Center for Independence
• Rocky Mountain ADA Center
• NorthWest Colorado Center for Independence

ASL Night - Deaf Heritage Month

Friday, September 23, 7-10 p.m.

An event hosted by the Denver Office of Sign Language Services at McNichols Civic Center Building.

If you are interested in sharing an ASL story, poem, music translation, and more - email the Denver office of Sign Language Services at SignLanguageServices@denvergov.org to sign up.

Pueblo Chile & Frijoles Festival

September 23-25, 2022

This event will be in historic Downtown Pueblo/Union Avenue. Visit pueblochilefestival.com for more information. There will be a booth there staffed by various resource centers serving the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind communities.

COLORADO EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION

Previous meeting minutes are available on the Alliance webpage. 

Email us

At info@coehdi.org for the Zoom meeting link, to request additional accommodations, or with any questions. 

COEHDI Task Forces

COEHDI has five task forces working on different aspects of the EHDI system. The task forces are as follows:

1. DHHDB Adults
2. Families of DHHDB Children
3. Screening
4. Diagnostics/Identification and Transition to Early Intervention
5. Early Intervention

Task Forces are open to anyone interested in participating with the exception of the DHHDB Adults and Families of DHHDB Children. The two named task forces are limited to members of those populations only. Past meeting minutes and more information is available on the Task Force webpage. Please email us if you are interested in joining a task force, or need accommodations.

Contact

Heather Abraham 

habraham@coehdi.org

COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

In Colorado, the grant award goes to the Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind. The commission has administered this grant in Colorado since the program began.

10th Birthday Milestones:

• Serving close to 300 deafblind Coloradans.
• Providing a variety of telecommunications devices (such as smartphones, tablets, computers, and software). 
• Providing local, state, and national training.

The commission looks forward to continuing this permanent program well into the future.

Contact us to participate

JoAnne Hirsch, Communications Technology Program Manager

Email: joanne.hirsch@state.co.us

Video Phone: 720-949-7457

Voice: 720-315-9493

Application: iCanConnect-Colorado-Application-1.pdf

The conference featured:

• Shared experiences.
• Policy discussions.
• Industry change updates.
• New technologies for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind.

Hirsch served on the panel, “Adding Wireless Devices to Your Equipment Distribution Program." The panel included information, resources, and data about state programs. The focus was to encourage others to increase their distribution. Colorado's program distributes smartphones and tablets at no charge to qualified residents.

Other conference topics:

• Presentation - MITRE, a not-for-profit organization. Working with the government to research and test new technologies. Goal: change universal access for the public.
• Discussion - Program changes since COVID-19.
• Discussion - Broadband growth impact.
• Discussion - Outreach to marginalized populations.
• Other topics.

The conference was the first in-person gathering in two years. Visit the program webpage for more information. 

COMMUNICATIONS CORNER

Stakeholder Feedback - Website Update

We value your feedback and would love to hear what you want to see on our new site, and what kind of changes you are hoping for. Here is a link to our current website. If you have comments or suggestions you would like to share, please complete our feedback form. We look forward to hearing from you.

If you would like to submit your feedback in ASL include a link to a video of your comments in the form. You can also email the video to outreach.ccdhhdb@state.co.us.