Issues
The NAD advocates for any issues that are associated with deaf rights. Starting early on the NAD worked to preserve sign language especially under president George Veditz. During his time as president, Veditz and other members of the NAD used new film technology to capture individuals signing to ensure that their language would never be lost. Although African-Americans were not permitted to be members until later starting in the early 1900s the NAD advocated for vocational training for the "Colored Deaf" population. Because of the lack of rights afforded to people of color in NAD, several Deaf Advocacy focused on people of color were formed, included National Black Deaf Advocates. The NAD has also fought to keep deaf teachers teaching deaf students and for the opening of deaf residential schools across the country. In 1909, President William Howard Taft signed a law allowing deaf individuals to take civil service exams only after the NAD fought to have this as a law. It was a strong advocate for having captioned films and in 1958 President Eisenhower signed a law requiring this. The NAD strongly supported the students and faculty of Gallaudet University in the Deaf President Now protests of the 1980s. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 was also strongly fought for by the NAD. Most recently the NAD has advocated for professional sports stadiums to provide captioning for the referees calls and for the announcers comments. The association has worked to require insurance companies to have deaf people as clients and landlords to have deaf tenants. Hotels are now required to provide "deaf-friendly" alarm clocks and smoke detectors because of the NAD's persistence in the matter. The NAD always fights for the right of deaf individuals to be able to use American Sign Language and to be provided an interpreter. The NAD website gives information on all the rights deaf individuals have and how to go about gaining these rights. As technology advances and the world changes, the NAD's issues will change also, but if an issue can be related to deaf rights, the NAD will work to achieve whatever is best for the deaf individual.
Read more about this topic: National Association Of The Deaf (United States)
Famous quotes containing the word issues:
“I can never bring you to realize the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
“Your toddler will be “good” if he feels like doing what you happen to want him to do and does not happen to feel like doing anything you would dislike. With a little cleverness you can organize life as a whole, and issues in particular, so that you both want the same thing most of the time.”
—Penelope Leach (20th century)