Tuesday, March 21, 2006

OCDAC Newsletter March 21, 2006

Dear Friends,

Last week at the California State University, Northridge's 21'st
Annual Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference at the Los
Angeles Airport Marriott and Hilton hotels was a huge success for both
the editor and Beth who directs our deaf blind service programs.
There in the 4 day conference we picked up new tools and took
workshops on captioning web videos, learning about the new NexTalk TTY
program, teaching people how to use the mouse, and non-visual access
to computers for the blind. Beth was in high heaven when she had the
opportunity to try out Pacmates and many other assistive technology
for the blind. The 4 day conference capped up with Beth getting her
picture taken with Steve Wonder the famous blind pianist. With the
workshops, the food, and the education being rich for us we were
overwhelmed with new knowledge and tools that we will be using to be
able to serve our stakeholders. And pictures of all these are in the
newsletter's photo album.

This weekly newsletter will soon be available in print form to be
mailed out each week. The price is going to be $90 per year for the
print version and the price is highly reasonable due to it's very rich
deaf and disability advocacy content and very little advertising. Last
week we announced the incorrect price for it and our apologies for the
inconvenience. This still beats out the Deafweekly.com print news.
They will also be available in other alternative formats like in
braille, floppies, and in large print for people with vision impairments.

We seriously need help on the fundraising side. It seems we have some
big holes in our pocketbook that we are having enormous difficulties
shrinking or plugging up. We have to tap into our reserves this
month in order to meet the additional expenditures we are facing in
the near future. Not to mention that one of our revenue lines, the
IHSS contract from the county to a deaf-blind client that would bring
us at least 1/3 of our monthly revenues, had been completely
contracted out than letting our volunteers handle this. If you can
give us a hand on the fundraising side, we will be very grateful.
Please reply by email if you're interested in helping us out.

OCDAC Communications
[email protected]

-------------< INSIDE NEWS >

With our subscribership from the international communities increasing
at a steady pace, we wish to make this newsletter accessible to them
and the easiest way to accomplish this is by directing them to
http://www.babelfish.altavista.com/ and entering
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocdacnewsletter/ in the website
translation box and the babelfish will help our international
subscribers become strong advocates for the deaf and disability
communities.

Macy's Community Shopping Day 2006, an in-store shopping event and
fundraiser for charities in the Orange County community, will be held
on May 12, 2006 at Macy's South Coast Plaza. We have 200 tickets to
sell. We need to sell at least 100 of the tickets at $10 each. And
we'll need at least 5 or more volunteers on hand as well. Besides a
good operation at Macy's Community Shopping Day would be as good as a
decent birthday gift to the editor from our communities. The money
will be used for operating expenses and the fee for our Orange County
fair fundraiser stand which is expected to be around $900 plus the
cost of insurance.

We are putting together a fantastic golf tournament at a golf course
near our office and the date would be for this fantastic event is
Friday September 22, 2006 and we will have a fantastic game, food, and
prizes for all players. We are also putting together a walk-a-thon
fundraiser event to take place on May 20, 2006 at the Mile Square Park.

We have began on our giant Orange County Fair educational booth
planning for this upcoming summer. This year's theme is 'Flower
Power' and its a retro theme. We have submitted the application for
our fundraiser booth. Your prayers are needed to help the fair
management be considerate and allow us conduct fundraising as they
know that the good results will be put into good use to advance
positive relationships between the deaf and the hearing communities.

We have started a Campbell's product label collection campaign to help
us raise the means to get supplies for our office Start saving your
campbells product labels today and mail them to us on the first week
of each month. We have aproximately 1050 subscribers and if each one
of them accumulates and sends us 900-1000 labels a month, we'd be able
to get lots of new equipment for our office and internal and external
education programs! Lets get those labels coming, the program ends in
June. Our big thanks to those who sent in their labels.

Drastic Social Security rule changes for Title II Old Age, Survivors,
and Disability Insurance and SSI programs such as outlined in
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20051800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/200\
5/pdf/05-14845.pdf

renews our calls for self-reliance ideas for organizations who serve
the deaf and disabled and our very own idea, our California Disability
Gaming Initiative idea and that can be found at
http://www.deafadvocacy.com/cdgicinfo.pdf is an idea that works for
Native Americans. Why shouldn't it work for the Disability
communities? The proposed Social Security rules will limit appeals
and create a new process that is less about truth-seeking and more
hostile to applicants.

-------------< ANNOUNCEMENT >

Take a look at our new magazine fundraiser and this is one of the ways
you can help us do the good work for the deaf and disabled communities.

The URL is http://www.magfundraising.com/GroupPage.aspx?e=788159

-------------< OUTSIDE NEWS PART 1/3 >

Officials treating deaf woman's death as homicide
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/81795.asp

Program will help Danville, KSD, Boyle seniors prepare
http://www.amnews.com/public_html/?module=displaystory&story_id=20463&format=htm\
l


Parrot saves deaf man from fire
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1658228,00050003.htm

Police identify suspect in deaf woman's death
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/81903.asp

Court moved against delay in exams for deaf
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C03%5C25%5Cstory_25-3-2006_p\
g11_8


Hearing-impaired kids get help
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=02SOC250306

Sign language won't be foreign very long
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=811&NewsID=705413\
&CategoryID=9045&on=1


BT launches sign language broadband campaign
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/03/22/1481504.htm

$10K Scholarships For Future Science or Math Teacher
http://www.ntid.rit.edu/media/full_text.php?article_id=491

Deaf Students Use Language Skills to Perform
http://wfmz.com/cgi-bin/tt.cgi?action=viewstory&storyid=14223

-------------< CALIFORNIA DEAFIE HAPPENINGS >

COME TO OUR MEETUPS!

The Orange County American Sign Language Meetup Group -
http://asl.meetup.com/37/ - and the he Orange County Deaf & Hearing
Impaired Meetup Group http://deaf.meetup.com/38/ meets each 3rd
Fridays of the month.

Dont be a fool on April 1, come to our meetup on Friday April 21, 2006.

The Orange County American Sign Language & Orange County Deaf &
Hearing Impaired December Green Meetup

When:
Friday, March 21, 7:00 PM

Where:
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
17595 Harvard Ave #B
Irvine, CA
(949) 660-1332

What:
Meet the 2 meetups!
===================================

ASL BINGO!

Come learn ASL while playing bingo!

AT THE OCDAC CLASSROOM

May 27, 2006
4pm to 7pm
$1 per card per game – 7 cards for $5
Great Prizes! Players must be at least 18 years of age.

PROCEEDS BENEFIT ORANGE COUNTY DEAF ADVOCACY CENTER

For more info contact [email protected]
===================================

Our SSP classes are less taxing to the community.

Our next SSP training class is on April 15, 2006 from 12 noon to 5 pm.

This is for people interested in working with the Deaf-Blind. The
class will take place in our classroom at 2960 Main Street A102 ,
Irvine, CA 92614

There is a fee of $20 for this 5 hour workshop as we have to pay for
the room use and printing of the handbook and other materials.

This class is required to work with our Deaf-Blind clients. Please
contact me with any questions.

Beth Koenig
[email protected]
(714) 414-7982

===================================

DEAF SEMINAR SATURDAYS

We are having two 2 hour FREE educational seminars to our community
members.

Disaster preparedness
May 27, 2006, 10 am – 12 Noon and 1pm – 3pm

Getting the most from your Sidekick
June 24, 2006, 10 am – 12 Noon and 1pm – 3pm

Healthy Hands and Eyes workshop
August 26, 2006, 10 am – 12 Noon and 1pm – 3pm

Dealing with creditors
September 30, 2006, 10 am – 12 Noon and 1pm – 3pm

Deaf motorist safety
October 28, 2006, 10 am – 12 Noon and 1pm – 3pm

Deaf employment rights
November 25, 2006, 10 am – 12 Noon and 1pm – 3pm

Safety at home
December 30, 2006, 10 am – 12 Noon and 1pm – 3pm

Classes take place at the OCDAC classroom. RSVP is required and 8
students maximum per class. Reply back with reservation choices. And
the seminars are always FREE.

-------------< ANNOUNCEMENT >

Even though most of us working on computers only work on one, the
average American depends on more than 264 computers per day—from the
tiniest microprocessor to the largest mainframe! That is a lot of
people depending on a lot of computers! Think of how much money could
go to the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center if 264 supporters bought
one computer each at www.iGive.com/ocdac, where up to 26% of every
purchase is donated to the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center! At
www.iGive.com/ocdac, membership is free! So hurry up and visit the
Mall at www.iGive.com/ocdac, where you can shop at 600+ stores for all
your favorite electronics and computers from Dell, HP Shopping, Buy,
Computers4SURE, The Apple Store, SONY, and Gateway!

-------------< DEAF GRAPEVINE >

www.RidorLIVE.com

Allright! For so so so long we've been relying on news from big deaf
news media. Yes relying on pretty news and news that sounds like the
"All Is Well" midnight buggle call. Pretty boring it can be to some
people seeing the voice of the deaf community sounding like a pretty
field of roses.

Now no more! It's time for spice and you can see it at
www.RidorLIVE.com the home to the most arguably controversial deaf
blogger that feels hot as Fahrenheit 911. This is a place where
anyone can drop their hot 2 cents on any subject.

Give it a visit and you can either drop your hot thoughts or just
observe and do not interfere.

-------------< BULLETIN >

EDITOR'S COMMENTARY ON GLAD'S SCARECROW SIGN

It seems that one of the reasons why we have had a strong surge in
client traffic is that the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness
(GLAD) has a sign at the entranceway that drives people away from the
agency.

The GLAD agency gets millions of dollars from the state each year and
they're driving people away leaving the underfunded agencies like ours
to do their work. The California Office of Deaf Access should be
disbanded for giving out millions of dollars to organizations that
have scarecrows in their front yards.

You can see pictures of the GLAD's scarecrow at this newsletter photo
album. The pictures dont lie and they're the real pictures of the
scarecrow at GLAD.

Richard Roehm

-------------< ANNOUNCEMENT >

Please visit our bookstore that has related books and different kinds
of assistive living devices at http://store.deafadvocacy.org

-------------< OUTSIDE NEWS PART 2/3 >

Speaking up for the deaf
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2006/3/23/lifefocus/13725289&sec\
=lifefocus


Crossroads: An Asian-American Deaf Woman's Journey
http://calendar.gallaudet.edu/?EventID=1935

Deaf studies conference starting April 6 at UVSC
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635193791,00.html

Chup Chup Ke - Preview
http://movies.indiainfo.com/preview/2006/cck-230306.html

Kenya: Archdiocese Starts Pastoral Care for Deaf Christians
http://allafrica.com/stories/200603210658.html

Plan to disband Idaho School for Deaf and Blind put on hold
http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-mar2106-deaf_and_blind_school.4\
9180b0f.html


Tour highlights School for the Blind's quality education
http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060322/NEWS01/603220\
15/1002


So, what did Rani do on her big day?
http://www.ibnlive.com/article.php?id=7121§ion_id=8

Deaf and dumb boy country's youngest scuba diver
http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=29636

Elementary sign language proves popular with kids
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_3626873

-------------< ADVOCACY NEWS >

National Direct Service Workforce Resource Center

CMS is pleased to announce the opening of the National Direct Service
Workforce Resource Center. CMS created the Resource Center to respond
to the large and growing shortage of workers who provide direct care
and personal assistance to people with disabilities and older adults
in the community. The direct service workforce includes direct support
professionals, personal attendants, home health aides, certified nurse
assistants, and others.

The Resource Center strives to support efforts to improve the quality
of the workforce and to enhance recruitment and retention of direct
support professionals by providing information, resources and
assistance to state and local governments, policy makers, researchers,
employers, workers, and consumers.

www.dswresourcecenter.org

1-877-822-2647

The Resource Center Offers.

a.. A comprehensive on-line searchable database
(www.dswresourcecenter.org) of resources, current research, best
practices and policy briefs related to recruitment and retention of
direct support professionals, including program materials such as such
as worker and supervisor training curricula, guidance on measuring
workforce outcomes, recruitment materials, and peer mentorship program
designs.

b.. Access to information, resources and advice from a diverse and
experienced team of direct service workforce policy professionals
through a national toll-free telephone number (1-877-822-2647).

c.. Individualized, in-depth technical assistance for selected State
Medicaid Agencies awarded through an annual application process. The
Resource Center Provides Assistance To.

Any state or local government, not-for-profit organization, employer
or professional in the field can access the Center's resources and
expert advice through the website or toll-free telephone number.

State Medicaid Agencies can apply for in-depth technical assistance
(TA) on an annual basis. CMS is specifically targeting this TA to
State Medicaid Agencies because of the key role they play in quality
assurance, worker education, supervisor education for workers and
consumers, wages and benefits, and provider reimbursement. States
can apply for assistance with existing initiatives aimed at improving
the home and community based direct service workforce, or for
assistance with a new initiative. Visit the Resource Center website
(www.dswresourcecenter.org) for more information.

The Resource Center's Team of Experts Includes.

a.. The Lewin Group
b.. Institute for the Future of Aging Services
c.. Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute
d.. Research and Training Center on Community Living, University of
Minnesota

Adrienne M. Delozier
Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group
(410) 786-0278

-------------< DEAF QUOTES >

"But the equal-rights requirement is not clear-cut for small
enterprises, which may not have to provide services that impose an
undue burden" said Andrew Imparato of the American Association of
People with Disabilities.

-------------< ANNOUNCEMENT >

Do you shop at Albertsons or Sav-on stores? You can get a free
community partners card at those stores and then add it to our list of
supporters. A percent of what you buy will go to helping our Deaf
youth program. If you already have a school or other program that you
are supporting, don't worry, you can add your card to support our
program too! There are two ways to add your card. You can email your
First and Last name with your phone number and community partners card
number to [email protected] or you can download and print our
Albertsons / Sav-on Community Partners signup forms at
http://www.deafadvocacy.org/community/AlbertsonsSignup.pdf and have
your friends, neighbors, associates, and relatives sign up as
supporters and then mail the form to the address on the form. To reach
our funding goal we need 25,000 supporters who shop at Albertsons /
Sav-on. And remember to use your community partners card when you shop
at Albertsons or Sav-on.

-------------< COMMUNITY BULLHORN >

NAD Moves to New Headquarters at End of March

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) will move at the end of
this month to its new Headquarters offices in downtown Silver Spring,
a few blocks away from its old building. The current Halex House
location has been home to the NAD Headquarters for the past 35 years,
is now in the process of being sold.

"It was a proud moment in the history of the deaf and hard of hearing
community when the National Association of the Deaf purchased Halex
House in 1971 with donations from supporters around the country," said
NAD President Andrew J. Lange. "These supporters and others who
contributed to pay off the mortgage in 2002 are making it possible for
the NAD to shift gears and begin plans to build a deaf-friendly NAD
Headquarters that will be a center for community involvement."

The NAD Board of Directors made the decision to sell Halex House more
than a year ago. The building needed millions of dollars in
renovations to provide adequate and safe working conditions – money
that the NAD does not have. The NAD Board also considered constructing
a new building on the land, but realized that this, too, would require
millions for an architectural plan, construction, and temporary staff
relocation.

The real estate market in downtown Silver Spring has become very
attractive with its booming development including the relocation of
Discovery Channel headquarters, new retail outlets, restaurants, and
office space. Several buyers expressed interest in the NAD property,
and the NAD has been working with a prospective purchaser since last fall.

"Halex House sale net proceeds will be invested with two overriding
objectives: preservation of principal funds and generation of interest
income. The latter will enable the NAD to cover lease expenses for its
new Headquarters offices in downtown Silver Spring," said Nancy J.
Bloch, NAD Chief Executive Officer. "Clearly, the original investment
in Halex House has grown in such a way that the NAD is now able to
`shift gears' and begin planning for the next and most extraordinary
chapter in its illustrious 125-year history."

Time Capsule

On April 22, 1982, NAD staff members, tenants and friends buried a
Time Capsule in front of Halex House. The Time Capsule was a gift of
the Alabama Association of the Deaf and was presented to the NAD
during the Centennial Conference in 1980 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Time
Capsule contains historical documents, materials and objects
contributed by State Associations, organizations and agencies of, by
and for deaf people. The Time Capsule is scheduled to be opened in
2080 on NAD's 200th anniversary. The Time Capsule will be moved to the
new NAD Headquarters, where it will be put on display.

New NAD Headquarters "Look"

The NAD is moving to a modernized and visually pleasing environment,
where it expects to bring in state-of-the-art video communications to
showcase the many possibilities that affordable and accessible
broadband holds for American Sign Language (ASL) users. Over time, the
new Headquarters space will be complemented by works of art by
established as well as up-and-coming American deaf artists. Also
planned are exhibit displays to highlight the 125-year advocacy
history of the NAD to complement the visual emphasis of the new offices.

Mailing Address: The new address, effective March 30, 2006 is:
National Association of the Deaf
8630 Fenton Street, Suite 820
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Telephone Numbers:
All telephone numbers for the NAD remain the same.
301-587-1788 Voice
301-587-1789 TTY
301-587-1791 FAX

-------------< OUTSIDE NEWS PART 3/3 >

Pakistan deaf squad wins cricket series against India
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C03%5C27%5Cstory_27-3-2006_p\
g2_8


Library helps mark major event for Deaf community
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0603/S00160.htm

Master lip-reader overcomes obstacles
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14193813.htm

KSD graduate vying for Miss Deaf America title
http://www.amnews.com/public_html/?module=displaystory&story_id=20506&format=htm\
l


DEAF, SPANISH-SPEAKING KIDS FIND COMMON GROUND
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/14203698.htm

Deaf demand special news
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/489719

Court orders hospital to improve services for hearing-impaired
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/03/27/court_orders_\
hospital_to_improve_services_for_hearing_impaired/


Panel on deaf to meet April 22
http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060327/NEWS02/603270380/1014

National Deaf Poker Tour Lets Deaf Poker Players Go All-In with Major
Tournament Action
http://www.poker777.com/20060326/national-deaf-poker-tour-lets-deaf-poker-player\
s-go-all-in-with-major-tournament-action_0d42_ogajfr.php


Grief talk offered for deaf community
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060327/LIFE/603270313/10\
04/LIFE


-------------< DEAF FRIENDLY BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES >

Begin your journey toward self-sufficiency by becoming a Discovery
Toys consultant! Discovery Toys focuses on learning through play,
with products specifically designed to maximize learning moments, has
proven to be a success as the company has now witnessed an entire
generation grow up with Discovery Toys. Many parents and their adult
children credit DISCOVERY TOYS® products with helping them to develop
core skills and self-esteem, which contributed to their later life
accomplishments and success as adults. Beth Koenig is your Discovery
Toys consultant. Her Discovery Toys website is at
Http://www.discoverthetoys.net and this is a great business
opportunity for people disabilities. Discovery Toys is one of our
supported activities through our Community Business Enterprise Program.

-------------< LETTERS >

!!COMMUNITY ACTION NEEDED!!

Call, write, or email to the following radio stations in Northern
California!
(forward this text to as many people as you can)

WHAT's GOING ON?!

We as members of the Deaf Community, need to tell those radio
broadcasters that their mockery, insensitive, and mean-spirited
statements about Deaf persons and the recent tragedy are NOT acceptable!

As many of you may have heard, a Deaf teenager who won the Miss Deaf
Texas title and was going to compete at the National Association of
the Deaf convention in California this summer, Tara McAvoy, was struck
and killed by a train in Austin two days ago while crossing railroad
tracks in a residential area. Apparently she had been paging and was
unable to see the oncoming train in time.

STATION 94.9

Wild 94.9 a "popular" hip hop radio station in the Bay Area has picked
up the story and are making light of "the Miss Deaf Texas who died in
the train accident" with comments such as "why was she on a cell phone
texting...so she has some hearing??" And "we want to hear from the
Deaf people (said in a joking way)". They were also making loud train
wreck sounds (on air) with the calls they're getting and "pretending"
they couldn't hear the callers. According to one of the listeners,
they are saying "it's only a few people calling in to complain - that
they are people who work with "deaf special ed. kids" and saying they
are "special".

It's one thing to be politically incorrect and another to be
insensitive. This affects everyone in the Deaf community and beyond.
Write/call and let them HEAR from us.

Contact information for the radio station:

Wild 94.9
340 Townsend Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

Phone nbr of main office - 415 975 5555
Fax nbr of main office - 415 975 5475

The person who made the comments at WiLD 94.9 was Rick Delgado. His
direct number is (415) 538-5940. Best time to reach him is after 10 AM
to 5:30 PM.

STATION 104.1
104.1 HAWK is where the mockery comments made by Bob and Tom
(www.bobandtom.com) were heard:

"She is not d e f (as in being cool) but D E A F, ha ha, I repeat, she
is not d e f but D E A F, haha. Why would a deaf girl walk by the
train? Of course, the train killed her."

Email at [email protected]

Mailing address is: KHKK-FM, 1581 Cummins Dr #135 Modesto, CA 95358

Fax Nbr: 209 572 0540

Let's speak up!

(Thanks go to Sylvia Wood, Hugh Lafler, Vanessa Sanchez, Greg
Hettwier, and David Eberwein for sharing information)

FROM 'DREN' - Deaf Rights Equal Now

-------------< EPILOG >

If you wish to contribute to this newsletter, feel free to send in
news, stories, and opinions relating to the disability community. Your
support in this effort to move the disability community forward will
be greatly appreciated. We will continue to aggressively pursue
justice, fairness, and equality for the disability community as it has
been doing since November 1996. We have chosen
that EDUCATION is the best way to accomplish this objective.

The Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center is a community based
organization that puts people with disabilities first in their
advocacy for equal opportunities in safety, health, and productive living.

The Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center provides services for disabled
individuals and their families in our community who need help in
navigating the social services maze. Every day people go without
proper food, shelter, and essential medical care every day due to a
variety of factors including low wages, job loss, injuries, illness,
age, domestic violence, or divorce. While all of us are susceptible to
hard times, disabled individuals are at the most risk. With the
generous support of people like you, we are able to help many of these
families and individuals not only to meet essential daily needs, but
to work toward a brighter future with programs in job training,
education, counseling, elderly assistance, and temporary housing.

Feel free to forward this email message to anyone and any of your
personal mailing lists so we can get the important messages out far
and wide and encourage them to sign up for our weekly newsletter.

DISCLAIMER: The OCDAC Newsletter is designed to share information of
interest to people with disabilities, their friends, associates, and
relatives and promote advocacy in the disability community.
Information circulated does not necessarily express the views of The
Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center. The OCDAC Newsletter is
non-partisan. OCDAC Newsletter does not sell advertising space.
To subscribe to this newsletter go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocdacnewsletter/ or send a blank email
to [email protected]

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