MDAD Recognizes and Celebrates the National Deaf Awareness Week

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Image Description:

MDAD logo in the color of yellow, red, and white which represents Maryland state flag appeared, then transitioned to a red screen with white title “Deaf Awareness Week 2022”, The image then transitioned to the next clip where Kirsten Poston sitting in a green chair with white background and signing in ASL:

Hello!! My name is Kirsten Poston. Let me describe myself physically. I have light skin with salt peppered hair in a bun. I am wearing a black shirt with a logo of MDAD in the color of yellow, red, and white which represents Maryland state flag.

As we are celebrating Deaf Awareness Week this week, the theme is: Building Inclusive Communities. That matchesthe current Board’s vision! MDAD Board of Directors is committed to be inclusive and engage with all communities to ensure that you all have a voice in the community representing Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind.

For deaf babies, American Sign Language and English is critical for language development. Deaf babies can pick up and comprehend signs,which will help set them up to learn English later.

Full access to health care and health-related information is a quite important basic human right for all. When we go to hospitals, doctor offices, etc. , we may experience barriers and discrimination that can be very degrading to us.This needs to end now!

Deaf communities are quite diverse which includes socio-economic, ethnic background, gender, sex, religion and more. Maryland Association of the Deaf supports the concept of inclusiveness and welcomes everyone to join. Thanks for celebrating the Deaf Awareness Week. Look forward hearing more from us

We also want to recognize leaders who have contributed many hours, weeks, and years of volunteering service to MDAD. We need you to be involved. We look forward to 65 more years of continuing support, action, and unity for the future of the deaf, deafblind, youth, deaf senior citizen communities. Welcome to you all! In closing, I want to say thank you for celebrating the deaf awareness week with MDAD.