American Association of the Deaf-Blind

• January 2012

~No report submitted by the President/Secretary.~

 

• February 2012

Submitted by: Jill Gaus
Hello Membership here is the January activities in this report. It is that time again for our monthly report. Some members have suggested we do our reports every 2 months; the board would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Most of the committees are hard at work, and we are working as a team to rebuild AADB. We have the Law Committee that is still working on the wording for the confidentiality forms and also the bylaws, the Finance Committee working on the 2012 budget, 5 Year Strategic Planning Committee working on a survey to hear from members and nonmembers what they would like to see the mission of AADB become. We also have the SSP Committee who has sent out a survey and the Office Committee hard at work to keep the bills paid, paperwork up to date and receiving phone calls, VP calls, emails and faxes. Last but not least we have the Multi Media Committee hard at work with the website, databases, membership forms and more. Please read below for more detailed reports.

Many have ask questions about the AADB office, we are still looking for someone to sublease but it is mostly emptied. Some of the board at our own expense went to the office for 10 days to work. We have donated, archived, shredded and stored many of AADB properties. I was able to negotiate with the landlord and Grady Management will not increase rent as they usually do in April of every year.

• March 2012

Submitted by: Jill Gaus
As I have mentioned before, the chairs of each committee are totally responsible for their committees and their work. I am working on fundraising. I flew to New York this past week and was filmed to talk about AADB and why AADB is so important to the members for the Giving Library, which is set up by The National Philanthropic Trust. Out of thousands of nonprofits, they chose 500, and AADB was one of the first 250 that were chosen. Anyone will be able to go into this library online and look it over when the videotape is completed. At this time I do not know when it will be completed but as soon as this is released I will let all of you know.

We have set up a board challenge for each board member to raise $2,000. So far we have some board members who have really rolled up their sleeves to do this challenge. It is exciting to see the board take more action on fundraising.

Forever Yours,
Jill

• April 2012

Jill Gaus is unable to send the President’s report this month because of a family emergency. However, she plans to include her report in next month’s report.

• May 2012

Submitted by: Jill Gaus
I wanted to let all of you know that Scott Davert has resigned from the AADB Board of Directors due to his job and personal life. Let’s all wish Scott the best in his future endeavors. Thank you, Scott, for all of your hard work!
I also wanted to thank Elizabeth Spiers for all of her hard work compiling monthly reports and getting them out these past two months.
A new committee has been set up called the AADB Review Committee. This committee is reviewing the IT Committee report sent to members in March to revise the report and add more accurate and complete information. This committee consists of Jill Gaus, Randy Pope, Elizabeth Spiers, Kacie Weldy, Mark Gasaway and Darran Zenger.

The membership form that Randy Pope and I had worked on a few years ago has been given to the Networking and Recruitment committee. This committee will start working on this.

The accountant who has been working on QuickBooks is almost finished; minor changes need to be done. Once this is complete a 2012 budget will be reviewed and voted on again to override the temporary budget that was voted on and passed a few months ago. Also, once the CPA is working on the Form 990 and as soon as this is finished and reviewed, we will inform you this is available and be posted on the website.

An Election Committee is being set up at this time. I have asked two Active (Deaf-Blind) members if they are willing to become Co-Chairs. As soon as this committee is set up, we will announce the chairs and a call for nominations will be made.

 

Update from the National Task Force on Deaf-Blind Interpreting

The National Task Force on Deaf-Blind Interpreting (NTFDBI) has had some recent changes in membership.

 

One of the co-chairs, Susie Morgan Morrow, who has been the RID representative to the Task Force since its inception in 2005 and was instrumental in the establishment of the Task Force, has stepped down. We wish to thank her for her six years of service and the significant contributions she has made to the accomplishments of the Task Force.

 

CM Hall, who has been one of the representatives to the NTFDBI from the National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers (NCIEC), along with Richard Laurion, will add another hat and be our new RID representative and co-chair. She brings experience in both interpreting and teaching interpreting with deaf-blind people and is also the secretary of the RID Deaf-Blind Member Section. She will serve along with Rhonda Jacobs, who remains as the AADB representative and co-chair.

We are please to announce six new members of the Task Force:
- Bryen Yunashko, Illinois
- Patrick Galasso, Vermont
- Joan Pellerin, Vermont
- Keri Ogrizovich, Vermont, RID CDI representative
- Steven Collins, Maryland, RID CDI representative
- Jan Humphrey, Florida, CIT representative

 

We also have a new RID staff liaison:
- Matthew O’Hara, Virginia

 

They will be serving along with continuing members:
- Ashley Benton, North Carolina
- Jill Gaus, Michigan, AADB Board liaison
- Jeanette Ocampo Welch, Massachusetts
- Janice Cagan-Teuber, Massachusetts, RID Board liaison
- Pearl Veesart, California, NFADB representative
- Richard Laurion, Minnesota, NCIEC representative
- CM Hall, Oregon, Co-chair, RID representative; NCIEC representative
- Rhonda Jacobs, Co-chair, AADB representative

 

We are very much looking forward to working with all our new members to advance our mission of establishing a standard of effective practice to ensure the quality and availability of interpreters for deaf-blind people. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please send an e-mail to NTFDBI@gmail.com.

Forever yours,
Jill Gaus, President

 

• September 2011

~No report submitted by the President/Secretary.~

• October 2011

Submitted by: Debby Lieberman

Report from the National Task Force on Deaf-Blind Interpreting

The National Task Force on Deaf-Blind Interpreting (NTFDBI) was established by a motion at the 2005 RID conference to address the communication access needs of deaf-blind individuals. The mission of the task force is to establish a standard of effective practice to ensure the quality and availability of interpreters for deaf-blind people. The NTFDBI is a collaboration among RID, AADB and the National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers (NCIEC). Other member organizations are the Conference of Interpreter Trainers (CIT), the National Alliance of Black Interpreters (NAOBI), and the National Family Association of the Deaf-Blind (NFADB). The Task Force also includes consumer and interpreter members as well as representatives of stakeholder organizations.

Since its inception, the task force has undertaken a number of projects and trainings to address issues of skills, instructor resources, information and resource availability and dissemination. Among the accomplishments thus far:
two face-to-face meetings to move the work of the Task Force Bibliography of Deaf-Blind Interpreting, done in conjunction with DB-LINK, the information arm of NCDB

a national survey of interpreter educators and program administrators on deaf-blind interpreting education
the development of a Curriculum Guide for Infusing Deaf-Blind Interpreting into an Interpreter Education Program

a paper titled “Deaf-Blind Interpreting: Many Paths on the Road,” which lists many ways for interpreters to become involved with the deaf-blind community and develop their skills as interpreters and Support Service Providers

training sessions and presentations at numerous regional and national conferences on working with deaf-blind people, curriculum infusion and results of data gathering the establishment of a website - http://www.deafblindinterpreting.org/

several information gathering sessions with interpreters and interpreter educators regarding needs, programming, challenges and future steps

the establishment of an e-mail distribution list used to send out periodic announcements of trainings and conferences

the development and teaching of a deaf-blind mentorship program to prepare interpreters for working at the AADB symposium in 2011. This was a collaborative effort with the Gallaudet Regional Interpreter Education Center, the Western Regional Interpreter Education Center, the CATIE Center and AADB.

Future Steps:
Information was gathered from stakeholders at the last Conference of Interpreter Trainers conference in 2010 to inform the future work of the Task Force. The next step is for the Task Force to have another conference call to discuss these items and set the course for future work.

Current membership of the Task Force:
Co-chairs:
Rhonda Jacobs, AADB Representative; Maryland
Susanne Morgan Morrow, RID Representative; New York

Members:
Aimee Chappelow Bader – Deaf-Blind; Kansas
Ashley Benton – Deaf-Blind; North Carolina
Janice Cagan-Teuber - Massachusets Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing; Massachusetts
Jane Hecker Cain - Conference of Interpreter Trainers; Maine
Richelle Frantz – Interpreter; Washington
Jill Gaus - AADB Board; Michigan
CM Hall - National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers; Oregon
Richard Laurion - National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers; Minnesota
Michelle Moore - National Alliance of Black Interpreters; North Carolina
Ellie Savidge – CDI, Washington
Pearl Veesart - National Family Association of the Deaf-Blind; California
Jeanette Ocampo Welch – Interpreter; Massachusetts

RID Board Liaison:
Lewis Merkin, CDI - Member at Large, New York

• November 2011

~No report submitted by the President/Secretary.~

• December 2011

Submitted by: Debby Lieberman, Secretary

 

At this time my main responsibility as secretary is to manage correspondence to and from AADB. Because our office has no staff at this time all US Mail comes to me. Since I started receiving mail for AADB we have received almost 200 pieces of mail. These include memberships, donations, bills, and certificates allowing AADB to receive charitable donations in each state, and, of course, junk mail. I have sent almost 100 letters for AADB. These are mostly membership acknowledgements and thank you letters to donors.

I keep a record of all incoming and outgoing mail, copies of all checks received and deposited, and send copies of deposited checks and deposit slips to Lynn Jansen, who is responsible for keeping track of financial transactions in Quick Books. If you have any questions or concerns please contact me at debbyaadb@mindspring.com or 505-259-4991 (v).

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