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Concept Cue
Concept Cue
Community Organization and Activism is also a part of reaching our community involvement and interpreting goals. An issue that I am passionate about is access to mental health services. The Sego Lily Center for Abused Deaf (SLCAD) offers mental health services and resources to Deaf victims of domestic violence and other kinds of abuse. Last semester I helped with a fundraising event for this organization. My plan is to volunteer to become a victim advocate at some point after graduating. Becoming a victim advocate is a two-year commitment, involves monthly meetings and a 40-hour training course on domestic violence. The size of this commitment is a little intimidating, but I view it as a way to give back to the community. After certifying, I can volunteer interpreting services as well, which I may do eventually. I believe that as an interpreter, activism can best be done by plugging myself into service opportunities that already exist.
Community Partner Report
Community Partner Report
Another issue that I am passionate about is eduaction. When a deaf child is born to parents who can hear, the first advice they receive tends to come from doctors. Doctors may have a lot to say about the level of hearing loss and possible treatments, but they are often ill-equipped to address the emotional, social, and linguistic aspects of raising a deaf child. This is where a Parent Infant Program (PIP) can come in.
Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind - Parent Infant Program for Deaf/Heard of Hearing
Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind - Parent Infant Program for Deaf/Heard of Hearing
I became aware of USDB's Parent Infant Program when it was mentioned in one of my ASL classes. I looked up USDB's PIP online, and learned more about them. Later, when there was an opportunity to volunteer, I jumped at it. In February 2023, there was a PIP event hosted by USDB Sprinville. It was a retreat/meeting for the parents of deaf and hard of hearing children. Volunteers were needed to care for and provide activities for the children while the parents were in their meeting.
Vision:Â For Deaf and hard of hearing children to reach developmental appropriate language and become preschool ready.
Mission: Empowering families as an unbiased guide to help the child reach their potential in language, social, emotional, and academic development (https://www.usdb.org/programs/deaf-and-hard-of-hearing/parent-infant-program-pip-for-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-children/).
Issues Addressed: An issue that affects the Deaf Community is language deprivation. "If spoken language is not fully accessible to the deaf child and sign language exposure is delayed, then there is a strong possibility of permanent brain changes" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5392137/). Parents are not always made aware of this, and instead get stuck in an outdated, either-or approach to teaching children sign-langauge or speech. Pinning their hopes on surgery and other treatments, they miss a critical window for langauge (and relationship) development with their child. A Parent Infant Program, like USDB's provides parents with information, classes, home visits, resources, the opportunity to learn/teach their child sign langauge, and to meet other parents and children that are going through the same thing.
This organization serves the parents and families of deaf children, which in turn serves the Deaf community.
I can see myself volunteering with them again. I support any organization that advocates sign language for deaf babies. It is ironic that popular baby sign langauge programs are considered beneficial for children that can hear, but is sometimes dicouraged in the education of children that are deaf. This is because of an outdated and unsupported idea that teaching children to sign will somehow impede their abilty to learn speech.
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