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President Melissa gives an update about the month of June and a new parent advocacy app, watch to find out the details!


VIDEO DESC & TRANSCRIPT: The NAD logo appears on bottom right corner as a watermark. Melissa Draganac-Hawk is standing in an empty room.

MELISSA: Hello, I'm Melissa. I wanted to share that the NAD shared in the release of a new parent advocacy app developed with three other groups, the American Society for Deaf Children (ASDC), Gallaudet University's Clerc Center, and Hands and Voices. All four groups worked together to develop an app for parents with deaf children. Oftentimes, when a parent finds out their child is deaf, they don't know where to find resources. We believe this app will be a great tool for them. The app itself has many different features, I'll share three examples. First is it has a resources feature that includes many different articles, books, and links. In fact, one link takes you to stories shared by parents themselves. The second feature is related to education planning -- such as Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings, this feature educates parents on what their rights are and suggest goals for their deaf child. This feature also includes resources for parents with deaf children who use Section 504, to better learn what accommodations their deaf child can get at school. And finally, the third feature is related to different education advocacy strategies for parents who want to learn how to better advocate for their deaf child, including soft skills. This will also allow deaf children to emulate their parents' advocacy so that they can later be able to self-advocate for themselves. There's more information in the app, go ahead and explore -- it's a free app! Please encourage any parents you know that to download this app and benefit from it. I also encourage all organizations, parent groups, non-profit organizations, and schools and programs for the deaf to help get the word out about this great app. My next topic is about the month of June, which is the month for Pride. It is an important month for us to take the time to recognize, celebrate, and listen to LGBTQ people's stories about their journey. June is also a busy month for the NAD board! Each board member has been attending various conferences and events in our community, throughout the month, at all levels: local, state, or national. Several state associations have their state conferences this month. Some of us attend and take the time to listen to ideas and important conversations there. Some of us also attend events on a national level such as Deaf Women of Color Conference, ASL Teachers Association (ASLTA) Conference, Deaf Interpreter Conference III (DIC), National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA), and many more! It is very important for us to show up and join these events so we can gather information and bring it to the NAD Board. An important conference also happened this month hosted by the NAD Deaf Education Section -- the National Deaf Education Conference (NDEC) in Austin, Texas. NDEC is for teachers, administrators, families, and recently graduated students who are interested in studying education. Many of the attendees brought their knowledge, experience, and ideas to share. For example, as someone who works at a deaf school, I thrive on learning new things -- this year I learned about transition programs and I'm excited to bring it back to the school where I work. Thank you!

Video cuts to grey background with the NAD logo quickly changing in different bright colors from teal to white to black to hot pink to green to orange to teal to yellow to purple to finally the official NAD logo with copyright text underneath “The National Association of the Deaf (c) 2019 All Rights Reserved”.