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Deaf Awareness Month | Commission Appointments | DeafBlind Services
COEHDI | Grant Awards | Communications Corner
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Celebrate Deaf Awareness Month! | |
Image text: The Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind. We are celebrating Deaf Awareness Month! (Deaf is spelled out in American Sign Language) a group of diverse adults stands together looking up at the words. | |
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International Week of the Deaf is celebrated the last week of September each year. For 2022, this celebration falls on September 18-24. Don’t confuse it with Deaf History Month in April, though. We enjoy promoting awareness of the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind communities year round!
Because this newsletter comes out mid-month, we are reminding you of the events that will take place after the publication of the Navigator.
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New Commissioners for the CCDHHDB | |
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Governor Polis announced appointments to the Commission, an advisory board to the Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind, on July 8, 2022.
The commission serves as a liaison between the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind communities and the general assembly, Governor, and Colorado departments and agencies. The commission also assesses the needs of the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind communities, and recommends to the general assembly any legislation that may facilitate and streamline the provision of general governmental services to the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind communities.
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For a term expiring July 1, 2026:
- Julie Basler of Highlands Ranch, to serve as a member who is hard of hearing, appointed;
- Katherine Wagner of Littleton, to serve as a member who is deaf, appointed;
- Jordan Hoelzel of Broomfield, to serve as a member who is a provider of auxiliary services, appointed; and
- Victoria Keatting of Arvada, to serve as a member who is deafblind, appointed.
Current commissioner contact information is listed on our website, including the three current commissioners whose terms expire on July 1, 2024.
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Annual Report to the Legislature | |
The Commission’s Annual Report to the Legislature is now available. The report goes to the Governor and the General Assembly. This report includes information regarding the commission's proposed legislative action to create a new program called State Auxiliary Services, which enables the state agencies within the Executive Branch to accommodate the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind communities, including state employees, with auxiliary services. The Executive Branch involves 23 state agencies and the Governor’s Office in its entirety, including the Lieutenant Governor’s Office. | |
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August DeafBlind Citizens Council Meeting Recap | |
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The DeafBlind Citizens Council (DBCC) met on August 11, 2022 and was attended by three DBCC members, four CCDHHDB staff, and six deafblind community members and stakeholders. The main topic of discussion was led by Trish Leakey, CCDHHDB Auxiliary Services Manager about protactile interpreters.
Mainly, she was interested in soliciting feedback regarding how to incorporate the growing protactile interpreter community in Colorado in light of state interpreter certification requirements.
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Training and a Protactile Interpreter certification is available from out of state but does not require RID or BEI certification at this time as we understand. No decisions were made and it was agreed to continue discussion on the topic. It was also mentioned that clarity was needed on the role of support service providers (SSPs) and deafblind interpreters/protactile interpreters. DBCC members also felt the SSP issue was more pressing at this time. It was also suggested that an introductory workshop be offered for Colorado’s deafblind community to become more familiar with protactile.
All DBCC committees continue to be on hold until the new DeafBlind Outreach position is hired. It will soon go into its fourth round of being posted after the third round was accidentally posted without our knowledge. The next meeting will be Thursday, October 13, 2022, from 4-5:30 p.m.. This meeting will be virtual, and online Zoom registration is required.
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Seeking Support Services Providers | |
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Deafblind Services, including the Support Service Provider Program, is intended to support the self-determination of deafblind people. It contracts with qualified vendors to provide sighted guidance and environmental information. It also facilitates communication between deafblind people and their communities.
We are seeking people who have a passion for working with deafblind people. Knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL) is preferred but not required.
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The term “deafblind” or “deafblind community” includes people whose varying degrees of hearing and visual acuity, limiting their total aural and visual comprehension. Deafblind individuals use different ways to communicate effectively that differ from both deaf and blind people. For example, people who are blind may give and receive information audibly rather than in writing, and people who are deaf may give and receive information through sign language rather than through speech. For the most part, deafblind people cannot readily access the accommodations that are traditionally available for deaf people and blind people.
Many deafblind individuals use support service providers (SSPs) to assist them in accessing the world around them. SSPs are the eyes and ears of deafblind people. They act as sighted guides, relay visual and environmental information, and facilitate communication using the deafblind person’s preferred language and/or communication mode.
If interested or for other deafblind services, please contact Deafblind Services Coordinator, Ryan Hawkins, at ryan.hawkins@state.co.us or 720-399-4227.
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COLORADO EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION | |
August Meeting Recap
There were some announcements from the CCDHHDB (job openings), Rocky Mountain Deaf School (return of toddler program), Colorado Hands & Voices [Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH) Guide job opening], and the Colorado Academy of Audiology (call for presentations).
Following guidance from the Colorado EHDI Alliance, the subgrant program has been discontinued. COEHDI is working with Hands and Voices to fulfill subgrant goals. There are several funded initiatives for the current grant year: 1. Virtual Site Visits, 2. Spanish-Speaking Parent Guide, 3. Hands & Voices Roadmaps, 4. Screening equipment (OAE) distribution to midwives, and 5. Hands & Voices’ initiative to support families during their children’s transition from Part C to Part B.
Profiles of nine other states were collected and shared among Alliance members. Key differences between Colorado’s newborn hearing screening system and other states’ systems include: communicating with families; inter-system collaborations; how the health department and birthing facilities track and follow up on screening results; involvement of PCPs in screening; parent education; interpretation of privacy laws; and access to data.
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Alliance Meeting This Friday
Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.
Zoom meeting 10-11:30 a.m.
- ASL interpreters and live captioning are provided.
- Public comments are welcome at the end of each meeting.
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Previous meeting minutes are available on the Alliance webpage.
At info@coehdi.org for the Zoom meeting link, to request additional accommodations, or with any questions.
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2022 Awarded Grantees
CCDHHDB is pleased to announce that four of five grant applications were selected for fiscal year 2022-23 (July 1 – June 30).
These applications (summarized below) were selected for funding, totaling $39,620. Click on the names to visit each website.
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Amount: $10,000 Project: American Sign Language Stories for Families
This fund will ensure Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind produce American Sign Language (ASL) books with captions and audio description. These YouTube books will be disseminated to its already established Early Literacy Program, Shared Reading Program, and a newly established toddler program called Little Language Learners, as well as other media outlets. The intent of this project is to promote literacy in the home where parents will bond with their children through reading.
Amount: $10,000 Project: Distribution of the alerting technology
Personal signaling and alerting systems will be made available to individuals living below the poverty line. This project will enable nearly 100 consumers in the Larimer and Jackson counties to obtain and use doorbell signalers, smoke alarm signalers, wireless TV speakers, and other notification systems inside their living quarters.
Amount: $9,624 Project: Resiliency and Community Education
This project will support Deaf Overcoming Violence through Empowerment’s Resiliency and Community Education programs by providing educational resources and healing tools to deaf, deafblind, deaf disabled, and hard of hearing (DDBDDHH) community members and survivors in American Sign Language. These opportunities include Herbalism and Queer, Trans, Biracial, Indigenous, People of Color (QTBIPOC) workshops, and a DDBHH Pride event.
Amount: $10,000 Project: The Community Intervener Pilot
Family Voices Colorado’s community intervener pilot will continue for the second year allowing 16 to 18 deafblind (DB) children, ages 0-21, to utilize an intervener for up to 12 hours per month. An intervener is typically a person who works one-to-one with an individual who is DB in educational settings outside of school. It will be supported with community and family diagnoses, marketing, and data gathering by a deafblind navigator.
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Stakeholder Feedback - Website Update | |
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Along with our recent newsletter update, we are also looking forward to providing a new website experience.
We are working on a website migration to a new platform. While the new site will look different, the same great information and resources will be available and easier to find. The new site will feature increased accessibility and an improved user experience.
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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.
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SUBSCRIBE
This is The Navigator newsletter, a monthly report of news and updates from the Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind. You can subscribe to related topics and other newsletters using our sign-up form. Contact us via email at
outreach.ccdhhdb@state.co.us
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