DEB: Public Testimony [updated]

Posted on March 9, 2010
Last Modified on March 10, 2010

Alaska Advisory Board for the Education of Deaf & Hard of Hearing Students (DEB)

Public Testimony on March 11, 2010 from 4 PM to 5 PM

4600 Debarr Road – 3rd floor conference room.

Updated: There will be posted signs to direct people to the third floor for public testimony.

Please come and provide testimony regardingthe education of deaf and hard of hearing students statewide. If you want to call in to provide testimony, you can do so by calling 1-800-315-6338 #8991

What’s Up With the Deaf Bilingual Coalition

Posted on February 16, 2010

Picture attached with First Lady Sandy Parnell, Erica Hossler, Tami Hossler, John Egbert, and John Miranda (Alaska Deaf Council)

Hello from Alaska…Yes ALASKA. That is where the Deaf Bilingual Coalition is this week. John Egbert, Erica Hossler, and I are here advocating for Deaf babies and their families. The Deaf Council with the support of the Governor’s Council asked DBC to come and present… and here we are.

Yesterday we presented to a group of 30 people including their state EHDI (Early Hearing Detection and Intervention) director and several other EHDI agency folks, state commissioners for education, school administrators, audiologists, parents and First Lady Sandy Parnell. Yes that is right the Governor’s wife!!

We had from 10:00 to 4:00 for our presentation. It was wonderful to have so much time to cover everything from A to Z. We opened up their eyes on bilingualism through ASL and English and how important it is in early intervention where parents get their first information on what to do, how to communicate with their children and later how to educate their children. We were interviewed on Channel 2, 11, and 13 and made the news Thursday and Friday.

On Friday, DBC presented for two hours to a group of 80 professionals who were mostly school district administrators, state directors, educators, early interventionists, and parents.

Today, Saturday, February 6th, we will present to the Deaf community for another two hours to assist them in following through with the 7 Recommendations that the Deaf Council along with the Governor’s Council on Disabilities made to the Department of Education this past December.

We have gotten a tremendous positive response! Alaska School for the Deaf has the same issues as most states. The population of students is dwindling, audiologists are referring parents to directly to cochlear implant surgeons rather than to early intervention, lack of Deaf professionals in all parts of the early intervention system in directorships, and in Deaf Education.

Read more at DBC website...