Why are the Deaf Schools closing? WAD DOP Update Mayfest 2011
Transcription
Why are the Deaf Schools closing? WAD DOP Update Mayfest 2011
Winter 2011 Special points of interest: Why are the Deaf Schools closing? WAD DOP Update Mayfest 2011 Letter from Ministry of Education Page 2 Deaf Ontario News Editor’s note Hello there, Lianne Valiquette is no longer the OAD staff/editor. She did a great job for OAD and DOP. She will be missed. We are looking for anyone interested in volunteering as edi- We are hard at work planning our big event… OAD’s 125th Anniversary! We are excited to host the 125th with Belleville Association of the Deaf in Belleville on November 11 & 12 2011. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the policy of Ontario Association of the Deaf. Articles from OAD NEWS may be reprinted with permission from the editor and authors. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. We reserve this right. On cover page, Vanita Dama is one of the models at World AIDS Day on December 1 2010. © 2011 Ontario Association of the Deaf tor. OAD will pay an honorarium fee. We hope that you will be more than glad to volunteer for OAD and DOP. This edition explores a wide variety of issues. We also have information on DOP’s World AIDS Day. And on that point, a friendly reminder of OAD’s events: * Mayfest on May 13, 2011 * OAD Knickers Golf on Aug 4th 2011 * OAD 125th Anniversary – Belleville on November 11 and 12 2011. More information on OAD’s website. Please mail us your resume. Inside Board of Directors Directors at Large President Jackie Plant Vanita Dama Georgetown Toronto Vice President John Mans Shelley Ryall Mississauga Oshawa Secretary available Gilbert Guerin anywhere Sudbury Treasurer (acting) John Mans Mississauga Michael Zagozdzon Milton Staff Executive Director Dean Walker Educator/Planner Kevin Canning Communications Coordinator Lori Archer HIV Health Promotion Director TBA News for today Contact us Co-Editor and Layout/ Design: Dean Walker Office: 2395 Bayview Avenue Toronto, Ontario M2L 1A2 [email protected] Co– Editor and Copy Editor Lori Archer Contributors: Dean Walker Lori Archer Jackie Plant Kevin Canning John Mans Ontario Association of the Deaf www.deafontario.ca tty 416.513.1893 fax 416.413.4822 voice 416.413.9191 Deaf Outreach Program www.deafontario.ca/dop tty 416.413.1093 fax 416.413.4822 Page 3 President’s note Hello OAD members!! Happy New Year to all of you and I hope the year of 2011 will bring the best for you all. I would like to express gratitude to OAD members for voting for me as president. I am also looking forward to working with you. I will be Vice President/Treasurer. Secretary position vacant till further notice. Board at Large: Shelley Ryall, Gilbert Guerin, Vanita Dama, Michael Zagozdzon. tion of HIV Health Promo- tion Director. Right now, we are working closely with the Belleville Association of the Deaf for our next AGM. We are I must thank Christine Ehrlich-Brady for two wonder- looking forward to celebrating OAD’s 125 anniversary. ful years as President. I am This is huge! At the same thrilled that she remains on board as past President. I time, we will be celebrating BAD’s 25th anniversary. am looking forward to This is something that we all willing to sit down with you working with her. can celebrate!! It’s a bonus! and listen to your concerns, your wise advice, and your Welcome aboard and let us As for Mayfest, please be begin to work! aware that there is a new rich history about OAD. I am excited to meet the important people in govern- I would like to say thank you to OAD staff for their ment, other organizations, efforts to make OAD suc- such as CAD, CHS, BRCD, Silent Voice, OCSD and cessful in many ways. OAD staff: Dean Walker as Ex- more. Feel free to contact ecutive Director, Kevin me at [email protected] Canning as Educator/ Planner, Lori Archer as I would like to say welcome to our new 2011-2013 board members: Jackie Plant as President, John Mans as Communications Coordinator, and former staff Lianne Valiquette. Dean will seek a candidate for the new posi- location. We must thank TD Bank Group who is proud to be the presenting sponsor of the event again in 2011 Check our website. Thank you Dean for doing a wonderful job with the OAD website. OADly yours, Jackie Plant OAD President “Let OAD grow strong as we all keep working hard and grow stronger! “ Jackie Plant OAD President 125th Anniversary 1886 to 2011 On behalf of OAD, I am excited Deaf (BAD) is willing to work with OAD, and we will to inform you that the Ontario jointly host our anniversary celebration in Belleville on Association of the Deaf will November 11th and 12th 2011. The theme is called proudly celebrate our 125th An- Celebrate the Spirit of Community. Our Chairperson niversary this year. Wow, we is Gayle Cronin. She is excited to work with BAD and can’t believe that the OAD or- OAD together. ganization has actually been in Please hold the date and we will have more informa- operation for this length of time! tion coming very soon ( newsletter and OAD website.) Ex: combo tickets, workshops, tourist info and We are fortunate that the Belleville Association of the more. Page 4 Deaf Ontario News Executive Director’s note Dean Walker Executive Director Greetings my fellow members and citizens, I hope that you have had a good winter. There was a lot more snow in Toronto than last year. This year is even more exciting than last year with so much happening! I would like to tell you more news of what we having been working on. I received some letters from different areas from Queens Park. I mailed the letter to the Ministry of Children and Youth Service again in regard to the Ministry’s Infant Hearing Program that restricts Deaf children’s learning of signed language. We did try our best and explained about many issues and concerns about deaf infants and children. We are looking out for the best interests of everyone. I believe that one problem is within the Ministry’s Early Years Programs Unit as there are no staff who are experts with Deaf children and use American Sign Language (ASL) or Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ). The Ministry’s Early Years Programs Unit acknowledged that the children who are Deaf and their parents need information. They recognized ―the strong feelings from advocates on both sides of this issue‖ however, the Ministry’s Early Years Programs Unit still favour the auditory-verbal therapy programs. We stated ―Unfortunately, the system is through an advisory committee that is anything but unbiased.‖ We learned that the one person we had been working with left the Ministry’s Early Years Programs Unit. We hoped that they would look for someone to be his replacement but we are not happy with the job posting via Ontario’s web. The position title is Consultant: Speech Lan- about VRS. Treasurer John Mans and (Bell stakeholder committee) are required to set up a meeting. One staff from Bell has responded, and they will have the meeting next month. That is all guage Pathology, Audiology. We are very disappointed with this and we would like to see individuals with a wider range of experience in the Deaf community be able to apply for this type of position. There is already a great number of staff for now, and we will advise you when we have news from Bell or CRTC. with the Speech Language Pathology qualifications. We look forward to having new staff that support or know about ASL in that unit. It would be a good move for the Ministry’s position of being unbiased. What’s more, the position stated ―Mandatory Requirements: - You must be a registrant of the College of Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists of Ontario‖. There is no hope for any deaf candidates and I feel that this is being done on purpose. Absolutely, it is favoritism. I received the response from MCYS Senior Advisor and set up a meeting for sometime this month. Will keep you posted. On another topic, I wrote a letter to the Ministry of the Attorney General about many issues with interpreters in both small claims court, and the courts in general in Ontario. It is a fact that OAD continues to receive ongoing complaints from our clients and members about these matters. I got a response from the Director, Corporate Planning Branch Court Services Division and they may contact us to set up a meeting with them soon. Also, I was invited by Bell for the program for Bell’s Mobility Deferral Account Proposal. I don’t have an update yet I attended a meeting by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. The purpose of the Accessibility Roundtable is for participants to advise the Deputy Minister and senior management on the barriers and challenges that persons with disabilities face when interacting with the Corrections system. They learned a lot about the Deaf community from my presentation. I will wait for a report from them. They may contact us again in the future. I was interviewed by Steve Paikin for TVO The Agenda. They posted the interview into the TVO ―The Agenda‖ blog website. (http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/ tvoorg/theagenda) A few days ago I received information with some serious concerns regarding Deaf-Blind people. The Ministry of Community and Social Services is making cuts to funding for intervenors. This means that many of the Deaf-Blind will lose a lot of our intervenors services. I have already contacted our area riding MPP Kathleen Wynne, and hope to hear from her shortly. The tireless staff at OAD and I are still busy completing our winter work. I am always busy with OAD/DOP staff and with DOP volunteers, buddies and clients. DOP continued to page 5 Page 5 Deaf Outreach Program New Project Funding Last year DOP applied for special project funding from ViiV Healthcare- Shire Canada. They are a global specialist HIV company established by Glaxo Smith Kline and Pfizer to deliver advances in treatment and care for HIV communities. Our proposal was successful in receiving $12,000.00 from ViiV Shire’s Positive Action Canada Innovation Program. The name of our project is the Deaf Outreach Project HIV/AIDS Terminology Development in ASL. clear communication with regards to medical terminology. DOP will work on creating name signs for many of the most frequently used terms. The next step will be to hold workshops for interpreters and the Deaf community to teach everyone the new signs. We hope to be able to produce a DVD in future that will outline the new name signs. We are very appreciative of ViiV Healthcare- Shire Canada for making this possible! DOP recognized the need to develop name signs in ASL for many of the complex and lengthy medical terminology. It is a tedious task for interpreters to constantly finger spell things like human immunodeficiency virus and other complicated terms. There is an urgent need for continued from page 4 has not been quiet these past few months either, especially while Lori and Kevin were busy preparing for the big event, World AIDS Day (WAD). We hosted it on Dec 1st 2010 at the Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art. We invited some important people to attend. It was very successful. In other issues, we continue to work on DOP’s strategic plan. Kevincent had the first meeting recently with Lori and the committee members. The volunteer steering committee helped us a lot, and we are excited to continue to work with them. You know that Lianne left from OAD/DOP and moved to Belleville last November. OAD hired a new HIV Health Promotion Director for the Deaf Outreach Program. She then got an better offer from another company. She left here. So we will seek another candidate soon. I hope that she/he will look for- ward to the opportunity to promote health awareness and public relations in the HIV field. I attended the Ontario Community HIV/ AIDS Reporting Tool workshop last month. I learned more about updates and results. I have the book here. You may come and look at it any time. Lori and I have a pretty difficult situation with the Queen Elizabeth Building at Exhibition Place for Mayfest 2011. However, we must move on. We will try our best for you all. It looks good for our Mayfest. It is a much bigger and better space with a lot of available inexpensive parking. It will also be good for school field trips. We will be creative and hold mini workshops, art and culture displays and more. We are excited that the TD bank group will once again support our event. Please let us know if you would like volunteer for our planning meeting. I studied current membership, past membership, and surveys in local clubs in Ontario. We will start to work on a database on the computer. (We need to improve our database management system). We are lucky to have many old membership forms in the filing cabinet we can utilize. We will send mail to former members to renew their memberships and also send surveys. We need to determine who to approach for core funding for OAD’s operations and much needed new programs. You know that we have booked August 4th, 2011 for our second annual Knickers Golf tournament. Come on out and join us for the fun! Look at OAD’s site for more information. That is all for now. Please visit us in our office anytime. Thank you for reading here. Deaf Ontario News Page 6 Lori Archer - Communications Coordinator Hello Everyone Starting January 2011 my title has been changed from Event Planner to Communications Coordinator. I will still be working on Event Planning, however I will also be spending more time writing and editing reports, correspondence, articles, and website information. This is exciting for me personally, as I love writing and looking for the best methods of communicating in clear English. Of course I am also still working with DOP, assisting wherever possible. You will see FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) below regarding the change of location for Mayfest. I would like to provide a little more background here, so everyone can better understand the situation. We explained why we had to look for another venue; however what I would like everyone to know is that we spent considerable time and effort trying to find another location. It was really difficult! In the past we had many complaints about the lack of accessibility for wheelchairs. The aisles were narrow and it was not easy for people to navigate. We knew we wanted to find a place with more space to alleviate this problem. I cannot begin to tell you the high costs at many of the venues. What works well for corporations and businesses who can afford to pay top dollar, is definitely not within our non profit organization budget. We unfortunately ran out of options. After months of checking places out, and comparing space and costs it was clear that the Queen Elizabeth building would best suit our needs. We were very excited to sign the contract to have a good location with more space that also allows better accessibility, better parking, and the opportunity to hold mini workshops. The negative side we learned later after signing the contract ,was finding out the costs of things like electrical, internet connections etc. The staff at Exhibition Place have apologized profusely for neglecting to be clear on the costs and provide us with the exact expense and financial forms. We know that it is not the best to have these additional charges, but we simply did not have any other options at the time. It had to be booked last Fall and it wasn’t till January we learned the other costs were much higher than we anticipated. Exhibition Place is now offering a 10% discount on electrical service costs to non profits that provide their charitable registration number. Please see the revised form on our website We know we face some challenges with the new situation and new location. We will make the best of this, and hope that we have an enjoyable and successful Mayfest at the Queen Elizabeth Building. Maybe we will discover the location is wonderful and the extra costs are really worth it! We invite all of you to offer your input and ideas on an alternate venue for the future. We want to know what you think about Mayfest 2011, in order that Mayfest 2012 will be everything you want! Lori greets Wayne at Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art Kevin Canning - DOP Educator / Planner Here’s the update of what DOP has done in the last few months. There were so many things that we- the staff, board and volunteers have worked on. You will see what I mean. DOP Strategic Plan Our first Strategic Plan Steering Committee’s meeting was held last October. We continued to meet monthly for 3 months; brainstorming, discussing, and revamping two brochures (one for Deaf Youth and one for the General Population, such as Hospitals, and AIDS Service Organization). We will have a Phase 2 with a new committee, along with some former com- mittee members, and shall have a meeting of Phase 2 sometime in early March. We will then focus on Deaf Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (DPHA is a new word for you, because in the hearing community, we say ―PHA‖ as Persons Living with HIV/AIDS). DOP is very appreciative and grateful to those people who were on the committee. They are Patricia Bass, Michelle Bourgeois, Joni Harvie, Darren Holst, Sally Palusci, and Wayne Watts. HIV 101 at the Deaf School I was asked to give a presentation at continued to page 7 continued to page 6 Page 7 Ottawa Mayfest is an annual cultural event in the Deaf and chase a demonstration booth for our day activities. The event Hard of Hearing community. This celebration has taken place will be at Ron Kolbus Lakeside Center at 102 Greenview in Ottawa since 1991. We are a non-profit organization. This (Britannia Park Area, West Ottawa) from 9:00am to 4:00pm event draws attendees from across Ontario. Family, friends on Saturday May 28th, 2011. and supporters in the community come together to recognize their culture, provide community awareness, and raise funds to Proceeds are donated to the community such as Deaf and support program initiatives. Hard of Hearing Children’s camp and other local projects. We are hoping that we will be able to work together and support The Ottawa Mayfest Planning Committee is a group of repre- this wonderful event. Thank you in advance for your time and sentative stakeholders. These people are from various agen- consideration. Please do not hesitate to contact us for any cies and clubs that work with Deaf, Deafened, and the Hard of questions you may have. Hearing. Our traditional day event consists of games for the children and information booths from the different organiza- Kind Regards, tions, Kari English Your presence at our event will help raise awareness in the Ottawa Mayfest 2010 community about your services. We hope that you will pur- [email protected] continued from page 6 the Metro Toronto School for the Deaf (MTSD) on January 28th, and the students were brilliant! They asked some really good questions. The teachers were very pleased that I went, and that the students were eagerly asking questions. I had one volunteer with me, and he did a bit of an explanation of how tcells work. Gay Men’s Sexual Health Summit I attended the 7th Annual Gay Men’s Sexual Health Summit on Feb7th to 9th, and it was very beneficial for DOP to better understand about Gay people’s struggles in life. What we need to see here is to look at the positive side. I learned a great deal about Pre- and Post- Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP) for HIV. It’s very complicated to summarize here, but I will be more than happy to explain in person or by ASL. I also learned about Resilience, and it was very helpful for my work. If you want to learn more or need to know anything, feel free to let DOP Educator know. Ontario Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf Symposium: Building Alliance in Queer Communities: Bridging the Gap between Deaf and Hearing People will be hosted by ORAD and Community One on Feb 25th at the 519 Community Centre. It’s Free. The flyer is attached here. I’m on the committee for that. Volunteer Appreciation Evening We had our fun night showing our appreciation of our fabulous 53 Volunteers on February 9th. It was postponed; due to a storm the week before. We had about 20 people showing up that night, even in the cold weather! They received nice certificates and some prizes that were donated by an anonymous angel. It’s interesting to look on how many volunteers we had from year to year. Kevin signs at World AIDS Day on December 1, 2010 Year 2003: 44. Year 2004: 42. Year 2005: 30. Year 2006: 32. Year 2007: 34. Year 2008: 35. Year 2009: 46. Last year we had 53 volunteers. Deaf Ontario News Page 8 Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Dean has been told, and realizes that many people are not knowledgeable and/or are confused about two issues, Ontarians with Disabilities Act and Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Dean decided to give you more information about the Page 9 and socially. Through the act and the accessibility standards, the goal is to make Ontario accessible by 2025. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 calls on us to make Ontario accessible by breaking down barriers. The government will do this by developing, implementing, and enforcing accessibility standards. Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. (AODA) What are barriers to accessibility? Back in 2001, the government passed a bill called the ―Ontarians with Disabilities Act‖ The Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 remains in force. This means that public sector organizations are still legally required to: prepare annual accessibility plans make them available to the public. Public sector organizations are: Ontario government ministries municipalities hospitals school boards colleges universities public transportation organizations. It is not enough however, for law. On June 13, 2005, the government passed the ―Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005‖. The act: It makes Ontario the first jurisdiction in Canada to develop, implement, and enforce mandatory accessibility standards, and it applies to both the private and public sectors. Ontario needs to be more accessible to people with disabilities. It makes good sense — economically Barriers are obstacles that prevent people with disabilities from doing the kinds of things many of us do without thinking. Things like catching a bus, going to work or school, and buying groceries. What is a standard? A standard is an agreed way of doing something. Accessibility standards are the rules that businesses and organizations in Ontario will have to follow to identify, remove, and prevent barriers to accessibility. Ontario is developing standards in many important areas of life: customer service employment information and communications public transportation built environment (buildings and other structures) How are standards being developed? Committees of people from the disability, business, and public communities: develop proposed accessibility standards submit an initial proposed standard for public review revise the proposed standard to incorporate public input, and submit a final proposed standard to the government for consideration as law. continued to page 17 Deaf Ontario News World AIDS Day - Page 10 Spotlight Fashion Show at Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art On December 1st, communities around the world host events to educate the public about AIDS, put a stop to the spread of HIV, and provide support to those living with HIV and AIDS. The Deaf Outreach Program of the Ontario Association of the Deaf provides access to HIV/AIDS education, prevention, and support in American Sign Language (ASL). This year DOP celebrated WAD at the unique Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art in the 401 Richmond Street Complex. DOP partnered with Jill Andrew Media/Curvy Catwalk to host Spotlight- a fashion show. The Curvy Catwalk professional models- Aisha Fairclough, Rochelle Reid, and Stephanie Conover were both beautiful and entertaining ―strutting their stuff‖. Vanita Dama and Rali Popcheva were crowd pleasers and amazingly professional in volunteering to model for the event. Jill Andrew did a fabulous job curating the fashion segment. We were also fortunate to have the services of Anselmo DeSousarenowned Deaf filmmaker/director/and actor to act as Master of Ceremonies for the evening. OAD President Christine Ehrlich Brady presented, and along with Kevin Canning lit the commemorative candle while we all observed a minute’s silence for those we have lost. Entertainment was provided by Elizabeth Morris doing an ABC story about HIV/AIDS and a poem entitled The Last Word. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed her performance. George Brown College interpreting students volunteered at the event assisting with everything from selling tickets, bar tending, and serving food. People enjoyed delicious appetizers and hors dourves from A la Carte Catering. Attendees were happy to have the opportunity to buy raffle tickets for a draw. The lucky winners took home a TV/DVD, Hi-Def camera, and an easy share HDTV dock! DOP was proud to have planned an enjoyable and entertaining evening commemorating International World AIDS Day. Why does the government continue to close the Deaf Schools in Canada? Page 11 By Dean Walker Many Deaf alumnis go through heartbreak when they learn that the schools they attended and have so many fond memories of, are being forced to close in some provinces. They have contacted their MP’s and MPP’s, but unfortunately they never seem to understand why all alumni believe that it is important for the schools to be kept open. I know it has been stated that the funding does not permit them to continue pay for the Deaf schools. The government must have misinformation from people who are not supportive of Deaf schools. Let me ask: Did the government calculate the budget in the best interest of Deaf students? I don’t think so. Did the government survey overall deaf students, teachers and alumni? I don’t think so. Did the government factor in the cost for interpreters for deaf students in mainstream schools? I don’t think so. Did the government think about the long term effect for the Deaf students? I don’t think so. Did the government assume that the teachers can learn sign language easily? I don’t think so. Will it impact the government’s financial picture in the future? Oh yes - most definitely! We are concerned that there will be a big crisis for the Deaf students’ futures. For example, each Deaf student whose language is ASL, will need two or three ASL interpreters in every mainstream school. Other Deaf students, whose language is English, will need different interpreters. An interpreter’s annual salary is approximately $50,000.00. The expense will be multiplied with Deaf students in mainstreamed schools in the province. What’s more, Deaf/blind students need intervenors too. The cost will be high for our taxpayers. The government cannot afford to pay thousands of interpreters and other staff for Deaf students’ needs. The result will be a catastrophe in their post secondary education, and it will mean more funds required for welfare for Deaf adults if they cannot go to college or university. The impact on the Deaf students will be one of frustration and anger which could manifest itself at school, at home, at community events, and basically anywhere in their daily lives. If the Deaf schools remain open, the cost will be reasonable and there will be no crisis for everyone! On behalf of OAD, I encourage you tell your area riding MPP and MP to listen to the Deaf Community right now. Page 12 Deaf Ontario News Deaf Canada Conference 2012 John Mans wishes to announce to you and all Deaf Ontarians that OAD will proudly be hosting the Deaf Canada Conference 2012. More volunteers are still needed for DCC 2012! There will be mini workshops and luncheon awards over a three day period. John also wants to inform you that he is appointed as Co-chairperson, Treasurer, and Booth information contact for now. Marc Noble is Cochairperson and is still looking for volunteers for the entertainment committee, hospitality committee, book program committee, call for papers committee, and grant committee. Feel free to contact John Mans or Marc Noble ([email protected]) Page 13 Mayfest 2011- FAQ Why did OAD Mayfest move to the Queen Elizabeth building at Exhibition Place this year? Two reasons. First – the St Lawrence Market had planned renovations. We were not allowed to book it in advance for 2011. We needed to find an alternate location. We had to book in advance at Exhibition Place. Second, the St Lawrence would not allow OAD to use the building on the Friday night because the farmers market needed to set up for next day. (Originally we were hoping to book it for the evening also). Will Mayfest be back at the St Lawrence Market next year? It depends on the St Lawrence’s plans. We don’t know at this time. The Exhibition Place manager hopes that we will continue there for the long term. If they make a good deal for us, we may use there for day and night in the fu- ture. Are we aware it is more expensive than the St .Lawrence? We expected that there would be changes for our business one day. We have to prepare for this situation. Yes we know, and we are working with this as best we can. We must learn to live with it while doing our best especially for non profit organizations like ours. Must the exhibitor pay the electrical and internet? We know that it is very expensive but it is up to you. If you can manage without electrical you can save your money. Exhibition Place is now offering a 10% discount on electrical service costs to non profits that provide their charitable registration number. If you bring a laptop, you need three extra batteries for the laptop, For internet, you could try to check continued to page 24 Deaf Ontario News Our Annual Volunteer Appreciation Night Volunteers Left to Right Front Row: Victoria Bispham, Sally Palusci, Connie Dignan, and Grazyna Biala Middle Row: Travis Turcotte, Luis Alcobia, Ashraf Khan, and Chris Butler Back Row: Wayne Watts and Dave Cooper Page 14 Volunteers 2010 Our annual volunteer appreciation night was held February 9th in the dining room at BRCD. Over the years, the numbers of volunteers has grown. We are proud to count 53 wonderful dedicated individuals as volunteers in 2010. These loyal supporters volunteered in a variety of duties at Mayfest, Pride Day, OAD’s Knickers Golf Tournament, Scotiabank’s AIDS Walk for Life, World AIDS Day, and at times in the OAD/DOP office. Each volunteer received a certificate of appreciation signed by the OAD Board President and the Execu- Page 15 tive Director. After mingling and enjoying refreshments, we held a draw for prizes. One of our generous supporters donated some wonderful items that five lucky volunteers took home. It was fun to see who would win! There are many opportunities throughout the year for you to get involved as a volunteer! Some may offer experience that is beneficial to your career by learning new skills. Some may offer you the chance to meet new people and make new friends. Whatever your interest in volunteering, you can be sure that it gives you the opportunity to have some fun while giving of your time and expertise to the Deaf community. If you are interested in volunteering for any of our upcoming events, or want to learn more, please contact us at [email protected] or on our website at www.deafontario.ca/ volunteers.html We recognize... 1 Ahmet Kocak 22 Jenny Shimano 2 Amanda Weingarten 23 John Paul Ward 3 Andrea Krause 24 Joni Harvie 4 Andrew Ellis 25 Jordyn Thomspon 5 Ashraf Khan 26 Julio Rodriguez 6 Catriona Revell 27 June Grant 7 Chris Butler 28 Kimberly Pellet 8 Chris Corsini 29 Luis Alcobia 9 Connie Dignan 30 Lyn Haliburton 43 Tala Jalili 10 Corene Gruppuso 31 Melissa Santini 44 Taylor Bouwmeester 11 Crystal-Anne Booth 32 Michelle Bourgeois 45 Terry Jordan 12 Darren Holst 33 Pat Bass 46 Tiffany Mark 13 Dave Cooper 34 Phunky London 47 Travis Turcotte 14 Desiree Wint 35 Rali Popcheva 48 Vanessa Floros 15 Edwina Neault 36 Robyn Sauks 49 Vanita Dama 16 Eric Savage 37 Ryan Kraft 50 Victoria Bispham 17 Franklin Banooed 38 Sally Palusci 51 Wayne Watts 18 Grazyna Biala 39 Samir Siddiqui 52 Wil Zoller 19 HoFai Chau 40 Sara Bettencourt 53 Will Beck 20 Jan Strakhov 41 Shari Maracle 21 Jeff Panasuik 42 Shelly Nafshi In closing, a big THANK YOU to our fantastic volunteers. Without you, we simply could not do what we do! Thank you! Deaf Ontario News Letter from Ministry of Education Page 16 Page 17 Hon. Leona Dombrowsky, Minister of Education Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act continued from page 9 The government then decides what will become law and when. What happens when standards become law? Once developed and made into law, these standards will include the steps and timelines that businesses and organizations will have to follow. Where are we now? The Accessibility Standards for Customer Service Regulation is now law. It came into effect on January 1, 2008. Public sector organizations have to meet requirements under this standard by January 1, 2010. The private sector and non-profit organizations will follow January 1, 2012. As of January 1, 2010, Ontario’s hospitals, schools, municipalities, and other public sector organizations are now required to comply with the requirements. The remaining standards are being finalized now. Is it good enough for the Deaf community? Last year I was invited by the Ministry of Community and Social Services in Queens Park with some representatives from CHS including Gary Malkowski for the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, (AODA) to celebrate the fifth anniversary. We did not see anything for Deaf consumers in the video and the program book. We were very disappointed. I already discussed this with the Minister of Community and Social Services, Madeleine Meilleur, and I encouraged MCSS to work with Deaf consumers in AODA now. I think that she realized about the needs of Deaf consumers. There is more information on line, Check the web. Here is the link: http://www.accesson.ca/en/mcss/programs/ accessibility/ Make sure that you tell your friends, co-workers, your boss, your local stores and your location riding MPP about AODA and your needs. Page 18 Deaf Ontario News OAD proudly sells our products here. OAD must fundraise for our important operations. We try to provide products for everyone to buy. We will be thrilled if you show your support by buying one or more. The order form is on the next page. In the Store for sale DOP T- Shirts - Sign Hands “D” “O” “P” Book - SAMUEL GREENE By Clifton Carbin On sale - $20.00 each. On sale - $29.95 each. DVD - Classic Ontario ASL Name Signs By John Hemingway On sale - $40.00 each. Golf Divot On sale - $25.00 each. 2011 Calendar Deaf Ontario Now On sale - $25.00 each. On sale - $14.00 each. Check on http://www.deafontario.ca/products.html for more information and details Page 19 Deaf Ontario News Media Information Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Deaf Ontario News WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK! OAD has a new website layout. Please take some time to check out our new format. Do you feel it is an improvement? Is there better communication? Do you find it easy to order products? We want your opinions! Please email us at [email protected] and tell us what you think. All suggestions welcome. Thank you! At the AGM, the motion was made that members will have two choices for subscribing to Deaf Ontario News. The choices are email or regular mail. Please let us know which you prefer. Next issue, we will send an enewsletter either to your email account, or mail a newsletter to your home address based on your choice. Please advise us by Email to [email protected] Thank you. Page 23 Ontario Association of the Deaf OAD Knickers Tournament Royal Ontario Golf Club 6378 Trafalgar Road Milton, ON, Canada The board and staff are excited to host our 2nd Annual Golf Event on August 4, 2011. We hope you will join us for a fun day at our OAD Knickers Tournament! We think you will enjoy golfing and wearing the unique knickers yourself. We are encouraging everyone to wear the Knickers clothing. There will be awards for low score, longest drive etc. and BEST CLOTHES! To assist outfitting you with the knickers clothing we have arranged some good discounts and special deals for your team. Contact our representative Allan Hume from Golfknickers.ca at golfknickers@nor -del.com Thursday, August 4, 2011 1:30 - Shotgun Start 7:00 p.m. Dinner and Awards The guys wear the Knickers clothes The 2010 OAD Knickers continued from page 13 your service provider (Bell, Rogers, TELUS etc) to buy the wireless stick plus data plan. Will people pay for the parking pass? Where can the exhibitor find motels? There are several hotels and motels about 5 km to the west on Lake Shore Blvd. No, parking passes are only for exhibitors who will unload and load their stuff. Other people can pay for parking anywhere in the CNE. What about transit? Will there be better accessibility and lots of parking in CNE? TTC (street car and bus) See detailed information with the Yes there is the Go Train, Absolutely! It is a lot better than the St Lawrence. Wheelchairs map on our website. will be glad for the extra space. There will be more space for www.deafontario.ca/ mayfest.html everyone to chat. Also the school bus drivers will enjoy the parking lot. Will someone provide/sell the refreshments inside? We must use the on site services of Exhibition Place. They are working out a menu for us. We will post more information when we have it. SPONSORED BY
Similar documents
Special points of interest - Ontario Association of the Deaf
authors. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity.
More information