Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center Newsletter - End Of Year 2010 Issue

Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center Newsletter - End Of Year 2010 Issue

Greetings Friends!

2010 has been a year filled with tough challenges and we've been able to deal
with them while providing optimal services for our clients and being on the
guard for our stakeholders. Our major achievement this year has been our
capacity building project. Another notable achievement is being able to keep in
touch with our stakeholders using a variety of independent mediums that are not
subjected to deaf politics. Our highlight of this year is Zany Zone which is
our website for deaf and disabled children. We've also made ourselves stronger
with a new highly diverse board. We've brought down the costs of providing
services and our facilities costs as well. We've diversified our fundraising
and you will see that in this newsletter.

2011 will bring us even more challenges in our capacity building and growth in
the field of changes.

We hope you all have a safe holiday and a joyous new year.

Richard Roehm, Chairman
On behalf of Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center

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Our ebay store has been a great challenge. While we have had a goal of 1000
items to be listed, our customers have been busy keeping it below 900 which is
alright by us. We have been able to develop over a dozen new products. This
goes to say a lot about our organization and the stakeholders that support us.

Our ebay store http://stores.ebay.com/OCDAC-Adaptive-Equipment-and-More

Your support is always needed. Please visit the store and see our new items.

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Deaf ship designer wins DoD award

A deaf Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) engineer received the Department of
Defense's 2010 Outstanding Employee with a Disability Award Dec. 7 at an awards
ceremony in Bethesda, Md. Anthony Battisti received the award for his work in
improving Sailors' standard of living aboard ships.

http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=57659

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Help us raise some funds with our tupperware fundraiser.

Our tupperware fundraiser http://shortlinks.deafadvocacy.org/tupperware

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Current Hearing Loss Statistics

*About 17 percent of American adults report some degree of hearing loss.

*Men are more likely to experience hearing loss than women.

*Risk of hearing loss increases with age: 18 percent of Americans ages 45 to 64,
30 percent of those 65 to 74, and 47 percent of people 75 or older have a
hearing impairment.

*About 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born deaf or
hard-of-hearing. Nine out of every 10 children who are born deaf are born to
parents who can hear.

*It's estimated that 15 percent of Americans ages 20 to 69 have high-frequency
hearing loss because of exposure to loud sounds or noise at work or in leisure
activities.

*Only 1 out of 5 people who could benefit from a hearing aid actually wears one.

*About 188,000 people worldwide have received cochlear implants. In the United
States, roughly 41,500 adults and 25,500 children have received them.

*About 4,000 new cases of sudden deafness occur each year in the United States.
Only 10 percent to 15 percent of patients with sudden deafness know what caused
their loss.

*About 615,000 individuals in the United States have been diagnosed with
Ménière's disease, a disorder of the inner ear that causes severe dizziness,
ringing in the ears, hearing loss and a feeling of fullness or congestion in the
ear. About 45,500 new cases are diagnosed each year.

*About 3 percent to 6 percent of all deaf children and perhaps another 3 percent
to 6 percent of hard-of-hearing children have Usher syndrome. In developed
countries such as the United States, about 4 babies in every 100,000 births have
Usher syndrome.

*Of those 65 and older in the United States, 12.3 percent of men and nearly 14
percent of women are affected by tinnitus, a condition in which ringing,
roaring, clicking or hissing sounds in the ear are constant.

http://www2.godanriver.com/lifestyles/2010/dec/19/tdflair06-some-with-hearing-lo\
ss-choose-cochlear-i-ar-718770/


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Our board president, Beth, has a holiday wish.

During this holiday season, I'm hoping my friends and family will join me to
raise $500 for OCDAC Deaf Blind Services. It's a great cause that... gives
people who are deaf blind the training and skills needed to be as independent as
possible.

I chose OCDAC Deaf Blind Services because... I have seen first hand the
wonderful results.

Beth's Holiday Wish http://wishes.causes.com/wishes/141093

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Travelers with Disabilities and Medical Conditions

If you need to communicate with the Security Officer, inform her/him of your
disability and the way in which you can communicate. TSA Security Officers are
trained to provide whatever assistance they can to persons with hearing
disabilities.

More information
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/specialneeds/editorial_1380.shtm

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Paypal is one super online payment system we all come to know for now. However a
new company called Paybox is rising up using the same babysteps as paypal. They
need at least 3 million members before they can open up to the public and your
help is needed. We will get $10.00 for each new paybox signup. New signups
will be given $25.00 in startup funds. Now isn't that a win win situation for
you and our organization?

Paybox http://www.paybox.me/r/ocdac

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Gallaudet University's Identity Struggle Continues

After two protests which rocked Gallaudet University, positive changes are being
made but Gallaudet University still does not fully embrace Deaf culture and
respect American Sign Language.

In Gallaudet University's 2010-2015 Strategic Plan, the top five priorities for
research, development and outreach as outlined in Goal E, may include "hearing
enhancements" and "genetics".

Read more at
http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=31628&pageid=16&pagename=Opi\
nion


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For over 37 years, Labels for Education® has supported organizations across the
country by providing more than $110 million in free educational merchandise.
This year, the Labels for Education program is getting even better with a new
look and focus on the Arts, Athletics and Academic enrichment programs that can
spark children's successes. Labels for Education is also adding new partnerships
and resources. With your help, the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center can make
this year the best ever! To meet our goals, we need to collect 1,000,000 points.

Campbells Labels For Education Program http://www.deafadvocacy.org/campbells

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Theater chain sued over lack of captioning

Deaf and hard-of-hearing moviegoers filed suit in Alameda County Tuesday against
Cinemark, the nation's third-largest theater chain, for refusing to install
closed-captioning equipment that would let them read the dialogue in films they
can't hear.

Read more at
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/30/BAMJ1GJO6I.DTL

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**********************
**** 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 herein 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.

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 IN ITS ENTIRETY 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.

Our physical address is P.O. Box 4339, Santa Ana, California, 92702-4339 and
this email is in compliance with CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Beth Koenig's Holiday wish!



My Holiday Wish: Raise $500 for OCDAC Deaf Blind Services!
Hello, and thanks for checking out my Holiday Wish!

During this holiday season, I'm hoping my friends and family will join me to raise $500 for OCDAC Deaf Blind Services. It's a great cause that... gives people who are deaf blind the training and skills needed to be as independent as possible.

I chose OCDAC Deaf Blind Services because... I have seen first hand the wonderful results.

Please consider giving to my Holiday Wish, and together we can make the world a better place for the deaf and blind. If you can't afford to donate, I'd really appreciate if you'd share this page with your friends.

Thanks so much,

Beth Koenig