Deaf Literacy Initiative

https://mailchi.mp//summer-newsletter-from-deaf-literacy-i

Please remember to share this resource, "Accessibility Tool Kit" with your community to educating about accessibility for the Deaf and DeafBlind community. https://www.deafliteracy.ca/accessibility-tool-kit

National AccessAbility Week - May 31 to June 6, 2020 https://www.canada.ca//ca/national-accessability-week.html

https://youtu.be/8Ld2ao8Kp_4

UPDATE TO DEAF COMMUNITY ABOUT INTERPRETATION SERVICES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ... The Ottawa Hospital is excited to announce that in collaboration with the Deaf PFAC (Deaf Patient Family Advisory Committee), they have taken the lead in ensuring that Deaf communities have access to ASL and LSQ on the TOH website regarding interpretation services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement is available on the TOH website in English, French and ASL. The LSQ version will come very soon. The following is a link to the ASL version of the announcement: https://www.ottawahospital.on.ca//accessib/interpretation/ ASL and LSQ icons will soon be posted on the main page of The Ottawa Hospital website: www.ottawahospital.on.ca. Once you click the preferred language (English or French), it will automatically take you to patients/visitors/accessibility/interpretation page where you will see ASL or LSQ icons. When the LSQ version of the announcement is on the website, we will let you know. Regards, Monica Elaine Campbell and Beth Hutchison (members of Deaf PFAC at TOH)

Dear SLSP and KODA Camp Parents and Caregivers, We are reaching out to send our thoughts and support to you all during this difficult time; we hope everyone is ...safe and healthy. Silent Voice is still open online, with all staff working from home. We are starting to see warm weather, and summer plans may be starting to feel uncertain for many of you who want to send your children to our Sign Language Summer Program, including the KODA Camp. For 45 years, Silent Voice has delivered an accessible and valuable day camp experience for Deaf and Hard of Hearing children and their siblings and Children of Deaf Adults - we understand the influential role our camp has in your children's journey with our community and we are committed to providing your children with opportunities to connect, interact and meet new friends and role models during this critical time. At the moment, the safety of all staff and campers is paramount to us and we will follow the advice of our medical officers during the pandemic. It is still too early to tell if summer camps will be allowed to run this summer, and what the financial impact of the pandemic will be on Silent Voice. There is a possibility that due to decreased funding as well as continued social distancing and public health guidelines we may not be able to run SLSP on site as planned. We are doing our best to explore all possible options, including an online SLSP camp. We will continue to communicate with parents throughout the weeks and months to come as more information becomes available. For now, we are continuing to accept applications for the camp through a new "soft" registration process on our website. It will be launched very soon and you all will be notified. That way, we can effectively communicate with you all once we know what will happen to the camp this summer. At the moment, we are only accepting online registration or telephone/video registration. Mailed registrations will not be accepted. We will continue to communicate with all of our Parents and Caregivers throughout this challenging time. Please continue to check our website at www.silentvoice.ca and follow us on social media. In the meantime, please do your part to stay home and keep your distance from people while keeping in close contact with one another. Our sincerest best wishes to your family. Stay safe.

The Deaf Literacy Initiative is a member of the Disability Coalition Leadership Group, "Creating an Accessible Canada". DLI works to ensure information and issues affecting the Deaf and DeafBlind Community are raised and presented to the Federal Government for changes/improvements.

Information about Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) - shareable!

Want to learn more about the ASL translation at the daily COVID-19 briefing? Watch our behind the scenes video. Thanks to Sarah and Vera, the interpreter team ...helping deliver #COVID-19 information to all Toronto residents. Watch the daily briefings live at 3:45 p.m. on our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/thecityoftoronto See more

(French follows -- Le français suit) CAD-ASC are asking all of every Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing Canadians to #StayHomeSafe during this COVID-19 pandem...ic. Stay connected and keep touch with your friends, families and anyone in our communities via video! // L’ASC-CAD demande à tous les sourds, sourds-aveugles et malentendants canadiens #RestezSécurisésChezVous pendant cette pandémie de COVID-19. Restez connecté et restez en contact avec vos amis, votre famille et tous les membres dans communautés par vidéo!

COVID-19 Update #4 Hello, my name is Behishta. I am a literacy instructor at DDS. Today I am giving you an update about Canadian Hearing Services (CHS) regardin...g Video Remote Interpreting (VRI). What is VRI? Video Remote Interpreting enables communication for Deaf and hard of hearing people through video. For safety reasons, Interpreters are not meeting with Deaf individuals in person. Interpreters will stay home and will connect with Deaf clients via video. You can connect to VRI using phones, IPAD, computer or tablets. When can you use VRI? When you are going to the family doctor's office, dentist, hospital or police station. How does it work? Deaf clients have to ask their Doctor to give them their email for VRI to send the Doctor the link. The Doctor can open it for deaf clients to see the interpreter. The Doctor will communicate with you and the interpreter. It is very confidential. CHS only hires professional interpreters who have past skills-based screening. They keep all information confidential and WILL NOT share with anyone else. They want to provide you services in the safest possible way. You can also contact CHS VRI for mental health, contacting police about an emergency, and much more. The CHS website (www.chs.ca) will have up to date information. For requesting interpreting services: you can contact [email protected] for any appointments. For emergency interpreting services: you can contact [email protected]. Thank you, and a reminder that if you have any questions feel free to contact either me at [email protected] or Stefanie Gibbons at [email protected].

Is one of your licences or cards from Services Ontario going to expire soon, or is already expired? For example, your health card, driver's licence or photo ID. Watch this video for important information.

Thanks to you we have 640 individuals who have subscribed to our Deaf Literacy Initiative link to receive Newsletters and information. If you haven't subscribed then go onto our website www.deafliteracy.ca and click the News tab then click Subscribe :) Thanks!

Folks, go onto our website www.deafliteracy.ca then click NEWS and you can click VIEW the Spring 2020 Newsletter (April)!! Enjoy and oh... if you have not signed in to SUBSCRIBE the do so now so that in the future you will not miss our newsletters :) THANKS and STAY SAFE!

DLI Spring Newsletter coming out very soon! Be sure to go onto our website, click News tab then click Subscribe and add your email. If you have already subscribed then thanks :)

This is the Deaf Literacy Initiative Board 2020-2022 and Chris Kenopic serving as the Executive Director. For more information please visit the DLI website at www.deafliteracy.ca

Durham Deaf Services will not open on Monday, April 6th. The instructors in the literacy program have contacted all of the students in the program. Students in ...the literacy program are encouraged to contact Stefanie or Behishta if you have questions, need support, or to clarify information that you don't understand. If there are any individuals in the community who are deaf and need assistance with any forms or understanding regarding COVID-19, please contact Stefanie Gibbons at [email protected]. We ask you to keep checking our Facebook page for updates as well as our DDS website. Our staff is available to members of the deaf community in the Durham Region. If you wish to contact us, you can send an email to [email protected] or if you check our Facebook page you will see other ways to contact us, for example, Glide or Skype. Premier Doug Ford is posting announcements with ASL interpretation. These announcements will keep you up-to-date as to the government's position on physical distancing/social distancing. It is still important for everyone to stay home. Please make sure that you wash your hands on a regular basis and do not touch your face, etc. If you have to go out please maintain a 6 foot or 2-metre distance between you and the next person. The only way that we will contain the spread of this virus is if we stay home. More information and updates of stats can be found on the government's website for COVID-19. The Premier of Ontario Doug Ford has announced a state of emergency where only essential services are to remain open. The state of emergency is in effect until Monday, April 13.

Part 3 COVID-19 meanings

Part 2 COVID-19 meanings