National Association of the Deaf (United States)
Encyclopedia
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1880 as a non-profit organization run by deaf people to advocate for deaf rights. The first president of the organization was Robert P. McGregor of Ohio. It includes associations from all 50 states and Washington, DC. It is also the United States member of the World Federation of the Deaf, which has over 120 national associations of Deaf people as members. The office of the headquarters is in Silver Spring, Maryland. All the presidents of the NAD were late-deafened until the 1970s. The NAD is in charge of the Miss Deaf America Ambassador programs that are held during the associations conventions. The NAD has advocated for deaf rights in all aspects of life from public transportation to education.
While the NAD works for deaf people it also works to promote knowledge about the rights, culture, and language of deaf people to hearing people.
. 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. 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.
Mission statement
The NAD describes their aims and objectives:
"The mission of the National Association of the Deaf is to promote, protect, and preserve the civil, human and linguistic rights of deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the United States of America."
While the NAD works for deaf people it also works to promote knowledge about the rights, culture, and language of deaf people to hearing people.
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 VeditzGeorge Veditz
George William Veditz was a former president of National Association of the Deaf of the United States and was one of the first to film American Sign Language.-Early life:...
. 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. 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
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University is a federally-chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing, located in the District of Columbia, U.S...
in the Deaf President Now
Deaf President Now
Deaf President Now was a student protest at Gallaudet University. The university, established by an act of Congress in 1864 to serve the Deaf, had always been led by a hearing president...
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.
Legal Rights for the Deaf Individual
Not only does the NAD advocate for rights of the deaf individual, it makes sure that deaf people know what their rights are when it comes to certain issues. The NAD provides step-by-step details of what is legal and what is not legal when it comes to deaf people's rights in the United States. It is clearly stated on the NAD's website what a deaf person is entitled to as a deaf individual in the United States of America.Milestones for the NAD
- 1896 the first woman (Julia Foley) was elected to the board of the NAD
- 1960 the Junior NAD was established
- 1964 women members were first allowed to vote
- 1965 black members were first accepted into NAD
- 1972 the first Miss Deaf America Pageant is held at the NAD Convention in Miami, Florida
- 1980 Gertrude Galloway takes office as the first female president (elected 1978)
State Associations
State Associations are affiliated with, but are independent of the NAD. All 50 states and Washington, DC have a state association. Many states provide a dual membership with their particular state and the National Association. The state associations do receive their bylaws from the NAD.See also
- Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is a law that was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1990. It was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H. W. Bush, and later amended with changes effective January 1, 2009....
- Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973The Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Title V, was put in place to correct the problem of discrimination against people with disabilities in the United States. Affirmative action programs were established in Title V, Sections 501, 502, 503, and 504...
- Disability subsection on Accessibility
- Deaf CultureDeaf cultureDeaf culture describes the social beliefs, behaviors, art, literary traditions, history, values and shared institutions of communities that are affected by deafness and which use sign languages as the main means of communication. When used as a cultural label, the word deaf is often written with a...