President's Message

Greetings! Another New Year has begun. My colleagues and I wish to thank you all for your support in 2011. This had been a challenging year for our organization. Our outgoing interim president brought enormous energy to our team during our transitional period and mini-projects were completed in timely fashion.

Being at the helm of the OAD is both a privilege and a great responsibility. I am indebted to my new officers and OAD members in good standing for their faith in me. I will do my best to prove my worth as your state association leader. However; success comes from your involvement in OAD activities and willing to make a difference. Your active voice on deaf issues would help make OAD a viable organization for all Deaf Ohioans.

We, OAD finally have a permanent VP phone number. It is (216) 200 – 7222. You may call if have any questions or inquire about some resources. You may also be able to leave a message for the OAD president or other officers.

Our 2011 Biennial Conference held in Hudson, Ohio last August ended on a positive note. Twelve energetic deaf adolescents from Cleveland, Akron, Warren and Columbus took part in the 2-day Youth Leadership Workshop presented by Libby Pollard and Iosif Schneiderman. Expenses for the workshop came from Advocates for Kids, whose director is Mike Repas, former CEO of Deaf Services Center of Columbus. Mrs. Libby Pollard, past president of the National Association of the Deaf did an outstanding job coordinating the workshop. All of the youths were assigned adult deaf mentors. They took an active part in group activities, and they enjoyed the learning experience. The highlight of our conference was an inspirational speech made by Dr. Edward Corbett, former superintendent of the Ohio School for the Deaf. He spoke on the founding of the OAD fifty years ago, and the growth of the deaf schools in the early part of the 1800s, especially the Ohio School for the Deaf, established in 1829. Our past presidents shared with the conference guests their memorable experience with the OAD during their term in office.

Your new president and treasurer attended the 2-day leadership training program in Minneapolis, Minnesota last September. This program was sponsored by the National Association of the Deaf. We learned new strategies to improve leadership qualities.

DEAFair in Columbus last November made substantial progress. We had 32 vendors representing local, state and national level organizations, and it drew about 1,000 attendees, both deaf and hearing. I would like to recognize the efforts of OAD members and volunteers who gave up their free time by selling raffle tickets during our event: Charles McCrory, Greg Frink, Phillip Cassese and Frank Stephan. If I miss other names, I apologize. I realized we had volunteers who were willing to give up their free time to make sure that each event attendee had proper colored paper bracelets for official admission to DEAFair. Thank you for making the event a success!

We have several projects lining up this year; one is working with a medical team from the Ohio State University College of Medicine. They are interested in working with the medical professionals to increase awareness of deaf patients' rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Many Ohio hospitals are clueless on deaf patients' right to an interpreter under ADA. We still have work to do to achieve this goal with the medical team from OSU.

We are cooperating with the National Law Center for the Deaf to resolve legal issues involving deaf clients. One is the Chase Bank lawsuit. And several others such as Wells Fargo, and Netflix. We are also focusing on job discriminatory practices involving deaf professionals.

The Ohio Supreme Court is relying on Bruno Romero's expertise in appointing certified interpreters for court hearings. Bruno Romero is using OAD's help with the development of guidelines for certified court interpreters in Ohio. OAD and OCRID were invited to take part in this process a few years ago, and this is an on-going project. GOOD NEWS... Beginning January 1, 2013, all Ohio courts MUST use certified / qualified ASL interpreters. ASL interpreters must complete 80 hours of legal interpreting training workshop to qualify as court interpreters for deaf clients and certified by Ohio Supreme Court. They must show affiliation with the Registry of Interpreters of the Deaf (RID), a national organization whose members are qualified or certified ASL interpreters.

District chapters of the Ohio Optimist Club are hosting an Oratorical Contest for Deaf Youths in March. Deaf youths who are attending Ohio School for the Deaf and the Ohio Public Schools are qualified to take part in the competition. Deaf / hard of hearing contestants must be 18 years old and younger to enter this competition. If your deaf child is interested in this competition, you may wish to log onto: www.optimist.org/ccdhh/to find out if the Optimist Club is in your area or contact: Atty. Dean Ferris, Optimist Club member of Austintown, Ohio for more information. His office number is 330-533-0052.

We are pleased to announce our selection of two individuals to our standing committees: Frank Stephan on OAD by-Laws Committee, and Linda Mahmood, Lottie Fears and Nikki Henslee as OAD Youth Program Coordinators. We will need more people on the By-Laws and Youth Committee. If interested, you can call me at 216-200-7222.

With our newly-elected officers working together, I am confident we can achieve several goals to meet Deaf Ohioans' needs for 2012. We realize it won't be an easy road to accomplish our goals. We are working with CSD, a Communication Service for the Deaf agency based in South Dakota. We support the use of Project Endeavor. OAD finds Project Endeavor a resourceful communication tool to use. Contact one of OAD officers to make arrangements for a demo.

We depend on YOU to voice important concerns before we work on resolutions to improve quality of life for all Deaf Ohioans. We are also working on ideas for member recruitment and benefits. We look forward to working together to make 2012 a successful year for OAD. Happy 2012!

FYI: Mark on your calendar for our 2012 events:

Kings Island June 2nd and October 6th

Cedar Point August 4th and October 13th

Verne E. Taylor, Jr.
OAD President

PS... Don't forget to send OAD membership dues to: Linda Mahmood at 22455 Lake Road, #308 A, Rocky River, Ohio 44116.

[Home]