September is National Deaf Awareness Month

September is National Deaf Awareness Month!  It's a time to recognize and raise awareness of the communication needs and unique identity of deaf and hard of hearing people.

Learn more about the culturally deaf community, their rich language and powerful history by clicking here.

Interested in learning American Sign Language (ASL)? Check out these free online ASL classes at the Oklahoma School for the Deaf by clicking here or to download the ASL Bloom app, click here.

Learn more about SPAN's Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EDHI) Mentoring and Family engagement Project, which supports Deaf/Hart of Hearing children and their families, by clicking here.

Resources

Think Babies in the 2024 Elections

Babies can't vote, but you can. Check your voter registration at vote.gov and #VoteBabies

The Think Babies™ Election Toolkit will help you prepare to vote and raise awareness about the issues that impact infants, toddlers, families, and early childhood professionals. Be a Big Voice for Little Kids™ this election season!

In this election cycle, the toolkit will help you educate your community and vote for candidates who you know will make the needs of families with young children a priority once elected.

To access the toolkit and find out more, click here.

U.S. Surgeon General Issues Advisory on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Parents

On August 28, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released a Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Parents, highlighting the urgent need to better support parents, caregivers, and families to help our communities thrive.

“Parents have a profound impact on the health of our children and the health of society. Yet parents and caregivers today face tremendous pressures, from familiar stressors such as worrying about their kids’ health and safety and financial concerns, to new challenges like navigating technology and social media, a youth mental health crisis, an epidemic of loneliness that has hit young people the hardest. As a father of two kids, I feel these pressures too,” said U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. “With this Advisory, I am calling for a fundamental shift in how we value and prioritize the mental health and well-being of parents. I am also outlining policies, programs, and individual actions we can all take to support parents and caregivers.”

To read and download the advisory, click here.