NAD to Advocate for Deaf Babies’ Right to ASL at EHDI Conference

NAD to Advocate for Deaf Babies’ Right to ASL at EHDI Conference

03/02/2012

On March 5-6, 2012, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) will
attend the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Conference
in St. Louis, Missouri. At the conference, we will continue to advocate
for the rights of deaf and hard of hearing children to have full access
to an education that ensures optimal acquisition of and fluency in
American Sign Language and English. We expect to share our message with
various stakeholders of early invention programs from all over the
country, including local and federal EHDI professionals, deaf
educators, advocates, audiologists, and parents.

The NAD will be involved in four presentations. The first presentation
will explore the legal rights parents have regarding the education of
and full range of services available to their deaf children. The NAD
will then follow with a presentation discussing the rights of deaf and
hard of hearing individuals and their parents for situations occurring
outside the school – such as access to medical services, movie
theaters, after school activities and clubs, museums, and other areas.

In its third presentation, the NAD will encourage parents with tips
that will effectively stimulate their children’s language acquisition.
In its fourth workshop, the NAD will promote deaf mentor programs
within the EHDI system so that parents can be introduced to the deaf
experience and to cultivate the bond between parents and their deaf
children.

The NAD maintains that EHDI programs must ensure that parents of newly
identified deaf or hard of hearing infants receive accurate information
about the benefits of acquiring and developing proficiency in both ASL
and English.

Click here to view “EHDI Programs and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Community: Working Together” which includes descriptions of each
initiative listed above.

http://www.nad.org/sites/default/files/2010/February/EHDIProgramsandtheDHHCommunityWorkingTogether.pdf

Early language advocates should share this document with EHDI professionals in their states.

Source:

http://www.nad.org/news/2012/3/nad-advocate-deaf-babies%E2%80%99-right-asl-ehdi-conference

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